Following my article in Railway Modeller (November 2024), Max Birchenough was kind enough to email me with recollections from his childhood and notes from subsequent conversations with Ron Dyer (of 9C shed 1945-63). It included an account of the demise of Hibel Road turntable which I quote with permission.
Closer inspection of this photo from November 1960 (Ron Dyer collection) shows two wagons parked to stop locos driving into the turntable pit, exactly as described.
"The turntable became increasingly decrepit as the 50s wore on. Hand worked, it demanded everyone available to turn an engine when one came on shed, and the 2-6-4s were invariably turned if possible. The arrows on the wall only appeared later on in the decade, as it became impossible to turn the table the other way.
" One day, a Stanier tank from Stoke came on shed and ran onto the table as usual. To everyone’s surprise, the table seemed to be turning more easily than normal. That was, until it got halfway round, when, with a great crash, the main centre bearing came through the top of its housing. The tank rocked, everyone scattered, and the table slowly juddered round to leave the engine facing the way it had come. After this it would no longer move at all. But as it provided the only access to one end of the shed, it had to be propped up with sleepers to make a sort of bridge. Wagons were parked at the ends of the two outer roads to stop any engines travelling into the turntable pit. As the shed’s days were numbered, it wasn’t thought worth repairing the table."
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