Hook Norton Ironstone Co.

This range of models portrays the Hook Norton ironstone calcining plant which operated in rural south Oxfordshire from the 1870s until the late 1940s. Initially, Gwen, one of the five locos at the plant has been produced and more may follow. The loco Russell of Welsh Highland Railway fame worked at Hook Norton before being sold into eventual preservation and, as she is already available on the DLS you can download her to add to the range. The works operated a 2ft gauge industrial network and was served by standard gauge sidings off the GWR's Banbury to Cheltenham line. The scenery items are particularly important if you wish to recreate a typical ironstone plant from this era. The centrepiece is the calcining plant itself; it requires the kiln to be downloaded as these are placed in position using attachment points. You should not use the kiln as a separate structure. The other distinctive buildings on site are also modeled and you can also add similar small industrial models to add to the variety. A suggested layout for the works is given below the models list, together with a brief history of the plant.

History

Ironstone was extracted and processed at Hook Norton from the mid-1870s until after World War II. It was part of the swathe of oolitic ironstone deposits that runs from north-east England to Devon in the south west. Three companies originally mined the ore in open-cast adits but by the early 20th century only that operated by the Brymbo steel works remained commercially viable. The raw ironstone contained about 44% iron ore in beds about 5 feet thick located near the surface. The adits were simply cut into the terrain at a slight angle, allowing the ironstone to be shovelled directly into hopper wagons. The ironstone had a relatively high water content and it was in order to remove this along with some of the impurities that it was cooked (calcined) on site before being transported to the Brymbo steel works in north Wales.

The plant comprised two or more kilns served by a gantry with elevators. Hoppers were pushed individually onto the elevators, taken to the top of the gantry and then moved to tipplers where they were rotated to dump the ironstone into the top of the kilns. The calcining process was gas fired. Coal (town) gas burners were located at three levels in the lower part of the kiln. Once the ironstone had been calcined the reduced ore was released through chutes into standard-gauge wagons. The coal gas was manufactured on site in a basic retort housed in a brick building. Prior to firing, gas was temporarily stored in a large tank and was fed to the kilns through large-diameter pipes. In addition, there were two large horizontal gas storage tanks. The plant also included one or two workshops for repairing wagons etc., and a locoshed for the narrow-gauge locomotives.

Operation in Trainz

The calcining plant (2 or 4 kiln version) is animated but is not industry enabled. Place the plant as a scenery item as usual. Then place a 'multi-industry new' track across the two narrow-gauge turntables (see below), lining it up so that it is at right angles to the plant and positioned in the middle of the two turntables. Attach whichever 2ft gauge track you wish to use to the ends of the multi-industry track and set it up to consume ironstone/iron ore or whatever you wish. Similarly, you can place a multi-industry track under the chutes on either side of the kilns. Set the track closest to the elevators to consume iron ore, and set the furthest multi-industry track to consume ironstone/iron ore, or alternatively place an ordinary siding there. Both of the tracks under the chutes should be standard gauge (4'8").

In the screenshot below a multi-industry has been placed across the (non-working) narrow-gauge turntables and a light-coloured ballasted track chosen to clearly illustrate its position. A darker ballast or rails-only would be better, of course, the latter with a suitable terrain texture. Two standard-gauge sidings have been placed to illustrate their correct position. A multi-industry track should be placed parallel to the narrow-gauge track, between the winding house and the kilns. The rear line can be a multi-industry but you should perhaps raise the terrain a little so that the kiln bases are parly buried into the embanked side of the terrain.

Two screenshots from Bob Ellis's testing of the calcining plant and associated buildings showing placement of the multi-industry new tracks. Note that Bob has raised the standard-gauge lines varying amounts to give a prototypical effect.