William Brown sent us the following query about two shovels.
Hello I am a retired railwayman living in Aberdeen and presently helping The Alford Valley Community Railway, in Alford, Aberdeenshire with one or two little renovations re relics recently found.on site.
I am attaching a picture taken yesterday in the maintenance she which appears to show, two very long handled (7 to 9/10 ft.ft.) shovels used , in my opinion , perhaps for helping with the coaling of steam engines which did operate the line from Kintore to Alford up to the Beeching cuts.
The AVCR now have a 2ft narrow Gauge railway in operation but I have no idea where these shovels have been. Any idea as to their age or use would be very much appreciated. Photo below.
Two metal shovels in centre of picture , no wood at all.
These do appear to be fire pan or locomotive shovels as shown in a John Wooldridge Catatlogue circa 1905 and a Parkes catalogue circa 1930. Any further confirmation would be helpful.
