Barry Scrapyard

Locomotives at Barry Scrapyard (Wikimedia Commons)

Barry Scrapyard is the colloquial name for Woodham Brothers Ltd, formerly Woodham & Sons, of Thomson Street, Barry, Wales. The scrapyard was responsible for saving more than 200 steam locomotives, including 15 now based at the SVR.

Contents

History

The business was founded in 1892 by Albert Woodham. After his retirement in 1947, the business was run by his youngest son Dai Woodham. It employed around 200 people and encompassed Transport, Marine and Metals as well as the scrap metals business for which it is best known.

Under the Modernisation Plan for British Railways, announced in 1955, more than 500,000 redundant wagons were put out to tender for disposal by BR. Woodham Brothers were one of the scrap dealers invited to take part, and began cutting up wagons in 1957. At the same time BR were withdrawing locomotives faster than their own yards could dispose of them, leading to growing stockpiles of redundant locomotives at Works such as Swindon. Woodham Brothers and other scrap dealers approached BR seeking to scrap these as well as the wagons, and by 1959 Woodhams would become involved in the scrapping of locomotives. The first four locomotives arrived at Barry on 25 March 1959, numbers 5312, 5360, 5392 and 5397.

Locomotives were acquired initially from Swindon and the Western Region and by 1964 from the Southern Region as well. Around 100 steam locomotives were eventually scrapped at Barry or re-sold for disposal elsewhere, of which around 40% were scrapped in the first three years. Thereafter the rate slowed and by 1965 Woodham Brothers decided to concentrate on the simpler process of disposing of wagons in order to generate funds to pay for the locomotives already purchased and acquire others. Post-1965, purchases of locomotives continued at a slower rate but also included a number from the London Midland Region.

By the late 1960s, more than 200 locomotives had reached Barry and were attracting the interest of fledgling preservation groups such as the SVR. The first locomotive to leave the yard was no 43924 in September 1968, destined for the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. Acquisitions continued even as more locomotives were sold, although the greatest number of locomotives in the yard was thought to be around 221 in mid-1968.

By the early 1980s around 150 locomotives has been ‘saved’ from Barry, with groups such as the ‘Barry Steam Locomotive Action Group’ and ‘Barry Rescue’ being formed to help preserve those remaining. The last ten locomotives passed into the ownership of South Glamorgan County Council (and latterly the Vale of Glamorgan District Council) with the intention of establishing a Welsh Railway Museum. However further sales from the ‘Barry 10’ followed and now in 2016, only 2 ex-Barry locomotives remain at the site which is now the home of the Barry Tourist Railway.

SVR ex-Barry locomotives

Of the 25 locomotives currently resident at the SVR that were owned by BR or the ‘Big 4’ companies, 15 were rescued from Barry. 6 others came direct from BR (1450, 43106, 45110, 46443, 47383 and 48773), 3 from the NCB (813, 1501 and 7714) and one from London Transport (5764).

The current SVR residents ex-Barry are as follows:

Locomotive	Arrived Barry	Left Barry	Left for	Leaving number
4566	Aug 1962	Jul 1970	SVR	8
80079	Jan 1966	May 1971	SVR	13
4930 Hagley Hall	Jun 1964	Jan 1973	SVR	29
5164	Nov 1963	Jan 1973	SVR	30
7819 Hinton Manor	May 1966	Jan 1973	SVR	31
75069	Jun 1967	May 1973	SVR	37
42968	Jun 1967	Dec 1973	SVR	45
7812 Erlestoke Manor	May 1966	May 1974	Dean Forest Railway	56
4150	Aug 1965	May 1974	Dean Forest Railway	57
2857	Nov 1963	Feb 1988	SVR	69
7325	Nov 1964	Aug 1975	SVR	70
7802 Bradley Manor	Jul 1966	Jan 1979	SVR	109
34027 Taw Valley	Dec 1964	Apr 1980	NYMR / Hull	112
6634	Nov 1964	Jun 1981	Cranmore	131
34053 Sir Keith Park	Mar 1966	Jun 1984	Hull / Sellindge / Swanage	153

Of these locomotives, only 4150 and 6634 have yet to steam in preservation.

A number of former residents were also rescued from Barry, of which 46521, 4141, and 78019 began their preserved life on the SVR before moving elsewhere. 3612 was purchased from Barry in 1978 as a source of spare parts for the SVR's other panniers, but the frame was later cut up after wheels, boiler and other components were re-used.

The SVR also acquired a quantity of track fixtures and fittings from Barry during visits in 1981, including chair keys, pandrol clips, fishplates and rail anchors.

References

The Barry Story, Beckett and Hardingham, 2010

Links

Woodham Brothers on Wikipedia