Iron ore opens to remain in Rutland

Former National Collection wagon pair gifted to accredited museum.

ROCKS by Rail (RBR) at Cottesmore has added two original iron ore wagons to its collection following a transfer from the National Railway Museum (NRM).

The two wagons – BR built 27 ton iron ore tippler No. B383560 and 22 ton iron ore hopper wagon No. B436275 – had been on loan from the National Collection for a number of years to the venue that was formerly known as the Rutland Railway Museum.

The tippler wagon had seen occasional use in the accrediated museum’s demonstration ironstone quarry trains on open days, while restoration work was undertaken by the museum’s volunteers on the hopper wagon.

RBR applied to the NRM to retain the two wagons within its own collection of standard gauge ironstone quarry rolling stock.

Ore wagons of these types were commonly found working at ironstone quarries in Rutland and the East Midlands from the early 1950s until the quarries closed at the end of the 1960s.

In early September, RBR was notified that the application had been successful and that the two wagons are now officially part of the museum’s collection.

The wagons will continue to see occasional use on public open days where they will be included in demonstration quarry trains operating within the mock ironstone quarry at the museum, thus helping to re-create local ironstone quarry heritage for the benefit of museum visitors.

Ed Bartholomew, lead curator at the NRM, said: “The two wagons have been well looked after at Rocks by Rail for many years and as permanent parts of the collection they will help tell the story of the railway’s important role in the transportation of iron ore.”