08 769 on King's Dock Swingbridge, Swansea Docks.Photo Taken : 14.08.1987.
 

Having collected covered coil wagons from no.1 quay at Swansea King's Dock 08 769 has to propel its train across the swing bridge that links the Prince of Wales Dock and King's Dock. Having cleared the bridge the train will run round in ABP Prince of Wales Dock Yard before proceeding with the empty wagons to BR Swansea Burrows Yard. The Shunter is seen running alongside the wagons trying to release a dragging brake by pulling the brake release chords.

08 769 in Swansea Docks Prince of Wales Yard. Photo Taken : 14.08.1987.
 

08 769 is seen in Swansea Docks Prince of Wales Sidings having just run round its train formed of a raft of S.U.W. covered coil wagons. The empty steel wagons having come from nearby Swansea Kings Dock no.1 quay will then be tripped to Swansea Burrows Yard on the BR network. At this time all shunting within the ABP Swansea docks was carried out by two class 08's manned by BR crews. A third class 08 was allocated to shunting and trip duties in Swansea Burrows Yard. The Docks allocated Shunter tended to be the last vacuum only examples based at Landore while the Burrows Yard pilot would generally be dual braked.

08 769 at Prince of Wales Dock. Swansea. Photo Taken : 14.08.1987.
 

Swansea Landore allocated and vacuum only fitted 08 769 is seen negotiating the tight curves within the Swansea Docks complex. The loco having run from Swansea Burrows Yard to collect empty steel wagons in King's Dock.

1987 view of Swansea Docks from King's Dock Jct. Signal Box .Photo Taken : 14.08.19

This view of rapidly approaching dereliction was taken from the abandoned Swansea King's Dock Junction signal box. The group of sidings rising to the left are Swansea Docks Tin Yard where some sidings were still operational on this date despite the demolition of the last remaining coal drops a few months earlier. On the right and out of use by this date is Swansea Docks Violet Sidings once used for stabling empty wagons returning to the Western Valleys coal mines. The expanse of water to the left being the King's Dock once so heavily associated with coal export. What coal was still being loaded was being done by crane from a heap on the quayside.

08 895 in Swansea Burrows Yard. Photo Taken : 14.08.1987

   Of three class 08's allocated to the Swansea Docks area in 1987 two, generally vacuum braked examples were used in the ABP owned docks area while a third generally a dual braked example was employed by BR itself to shunt Swansea Burrows Yard and perform local trip jobs to various terminals and private sidings in the immediate area. Locations served behind Swansea Eastern Coal Depot, Port Tennant Wagon Works, Swansea Ford Motor Co. Works and Gower Chemicals at Danygraig.

   The sidings at Swansea Burrows were fairly busy at this time with a mixture of block and wagonload trains. The view here shows Grain wagons destined for repairs at Port Tennant behind the loco and H.E.A. house coal hoppers from the Eastern Coal Depot plus some engineers vehicles. To the extreme far right of the shot can be seen the saw tooth roof outline of what was once Danygraig Steam Depot. This facility closed to steam in January 1960 and finally to diesel traction in March 1964 When Landore depot took over as the main depot in Swansea. The extensive building which also included a wagon repair works was retained and leased to Gower Chemicals as a warehouse well into the 1990's.

   As for 08 895 it had been a Western Region machine for all its life moving from Laira, Plymouth to Landore, Swansea in November 1984. It moved again to Cardiff Canton in September 1993 on paper but in reality remained at Margam Depot near Port Talbot stored out of use. It was offically withdrawn on 10.09.1993 and never left its last resting place being shunted across to Margam Wagon Works in November 1993 and cut up on site by Raxstar Metals in July 2000.
 

08 646 at Swansea Burrows Junction. Photo Taken : 25.09.1989.

08 646 in BR two tone railfreight grey livery is seen arriving back at Swansea Burrows Yard passing Burrows Junction with the trip working from Port Tennant Wagon Works
 

Burrows Sidings Signal Box, Swansea.Photo Taken : 13.02.1987.

Burrows Sidings is a Great Western Railway built manual box which one controlled the lines into Swansea Docks from the Vale of Neath line. In 1987 it was a fringe box to Port Talbot Power Box and had control of the line towards Jersey Marine in the east and the branch to Swansea Eastern Coal Depot in the west. It also controlled movement towards the Swansea Docks complex where it passed trains to the control of King's Dock Junction signal box located in the docks complex. The structure has subsequently been demolished but I have no date for this.
 

King's Dock Junction Signal Box. Swansea. Photo Taken: 13.02.1987.
 

'No.2' (Hibberd 3601/1953) Port Tennant Wagon Wks. Swansea. Photo Taken : 25.09.1989.
 

This small 4WDM Shunter with its bizarre non standard buffers and other modifications is seen during shunting moves in the yard of Port Tennant Wagon Works operated by Railcar Services Ltd. The 'Planet' type loco had started life owned by Butterley Engineering Co. In Derbyshire and saw use at their Codnor Park Forge, Ironville. Some time after 1979 it was sold to Wagon Repairs Ltd and moved to their Sheep bridge Works also in Derbyshire. When this location closed it moved again with the company to Stoke Wagon Works in the early 1980's. It worked at this location until taken out of use in early 1989 by this date the Stoke Works had changed ownership to Marcroft Engineering Ltd from 1988. It was this company that also ran Port Tennant Wagon Works where it arrived in March 1989. Returned to service to work alongside the Baguley built Shunter it finished its days here being scrapped in November 1993. The works itself shut in 2003 leaving just the larger site at Stoke in Staffordshire carrying out wagon repairs
 

'Jack Lee' (Baguley 3590 of 1962), Port Tennant Wagon Wks. Swansea. Photo Taken : 25.09.1989.
 

0-4-0DM (Baugley 3590/1962) stands inside the wagon repair shops at Port Tennant Wagon Works devoid of wheels during a major overhaul. At the time the works was owned by Railcar Services Ltd but later became part of Marcroft Engineering Ltd however it closed in 2003. The locomotive was delivered new to Bass Mitchell & Butler Ltd, Burton-on-Trent before being sold to Wagon Repairs Ltd Port Tennant in 1968. With the run down of the works this locomotive was sold in 1998 to Staffordshire Locomotives Ltd a hire company and has since moved again to Smith's of Lye at Lye Cross in the West Midlands