Dunrobin’s mystery hooks…
On a number of visits to Bridgnorth we have on several occasions pondered the purpose of four hooks mounted on each corner of Dunrobin’s bufferbeams. There was some speculation that it could be snowplough related, but they didn’t suggest anything very solid, and wandering snowploughs could be considered both an operational nuisance not to mention being rather hazardous!
However, Ray Nolton of the Highland Railway Society has kindly shed some light on this and confirmed they are for mini-snowploughs. The HRS archivist also pointed out some images showing ploughs both fitted and stored and these have enabled me to make something of a rough and ready sketch of what might have been fitted to Dunrobin…
The view below shows the wooden plough which is hung by chain to the bufferbeam hooks. The all important stiffness is provided by a stay rod which is fitted to the top of the plough and which is linked onto the drawgear, taking the place of the coupling. This is a stage 1 sketch, but as Dunrobin will be in demand at Beamish all year round, a snowplough would be a very useful asset…
Terrific piece of scholarship on Dunrobin’s mystery hooks. The satisfying thing about Victorian engineering is that, while the thing may be beautiful to behold, absolutely everything had a function. And you’ve discovered that one. As even one plough would be quite heavy and cumbersome, I guess there was only one, transferred from one end of the locomotive to the other as necessary. This is probably correct as your sketch shows the drawhook is fouled by the plough. All very interesting. Best wishes, Rod Low
Hi Rod, thanks for the comment. I would presume that one plough was used, but it must have been quite a quick change from one end to another. Possibly it would be disconnected over a foot crossing or similar then turned 180 degrees while the engine ran around it so as to save carrying what must have been quite a heavy piece of equipment. The Jones Goods in the Glasgow Riverside Museum appears to have hooks on the tender but not on the loco, possibly removed as surplus later in its life. I will now work on my sketch to scale it then produce working drawings (scaled to Dunrobin) and a cutting list/component list for us to cost and then maybe seek some funding for. It would seem to be a worthwhile exercise! I have now been accused of an obsession with snowploughs after building the replica of the narrow gauge Rookhope plough, seen some time ago on this blog – there are worse things to be accused of though! It is amazing how many aspects of railway history we still only fleetingly know about or understand, and this is a good example, hopefully the research into the removable ploughs being of use to others as well as adding something small to the record.
Now – what about a tramway snowplough…