Mike m0llart

Beeston sleeper works, was on the east side of Beacon Road, on the opposite side of the road was Beeston Boilers, Beeston Creosote works was alongside the Main Line to Nottingham, , it covered where Paige Road is, and stretched halfway along the University playing Fields, l spent many hours there. riding ED4 and ED 10, also on the narrow gauge steam loco, but it was very cramped on the footplate, also l used to fire the twin boilers that heated the creosote when the sleepers were put in the cylinders,

My dad worked there. he was in charge of the boilers that pressurised the long cylindrical tubes where the sleepers on the narrow gauge wagons were pushed into, l had lots of rides on the Bagnall narrow gauge loco, also on ED 10, , My first job on leaving school was to work in the Beeston North signal box, located near the bridge into Boots, after half an hour, l left, l could not take responsibility of all those trains flashing by . l finished up working at Players, for three years, and then a DJ at the Locarno during the Rock and Roll years, in Nottingham, Great times,

l still have a love for the Steam locos, enjoying them at Great Central Ruddington and Loughborough. lve been lucky enough to ride footplate on the Duke of Gloucester, Canadian Pacific, Bahamas, witherslack, hall, black 5s, and some tank locos, My dad worked at Beeston creosote works, and l used to go there sundays riding on the Narrow Gauge steam loco, and the diesel ED 10, My Dad also fired the two stationery class 4 boilers there, and l used to enjoy throwing the coal in and enjoying egg and Bacon fried on the shovel

l was lucky enough to live on Kennington road, late 40s and 50s, our garden backed on to the railway line,l remember when there was e field across the line before the firbeck estate was built, we used to go swimming in the water tower at Radford sidings, the traffic on the line was mostly 8fs taking empty wagons to Wollaton pit and returning with full loads,Express trains were usually hauled by Jubilees, l only saw one Beyer Garratt on this line, l and my mates used to walk the line, filling buckets with dropped coal, When coal trains were stopped at the Radford station junction. we used to c