Ruston 88DS 338416 - Crabtree

Ruston 88DS 338416 - Crabtree Crabtree is an 88DS diesel mechanical locomotive. It was built by Ruston and
Hornsby (R&H) in 1953.

Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 diesel-mechanical 'Princess Margaret' (W/No.376 of 1948) and hiding behind it is our own Ruston and...
15/08/2025

Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 diesel-mechanical 'Princess Margaret' (W/No.376 of 1948) and hiding behind it is our own Ruston and Hornsby 88DS 'Crabtree' (W/No.338416 of 1953) both out of use at British Gypsum, Erith on 30th January 1985, shortly after rail traffic had ceased. The Erith plant alongside the River Thames, opened in 1934 and manufactured plasterboard with imported product from Canada. Both locos survived into preservation of course and were residents of the North Downs Steam Railway. The Barclay is now at Tyseley. Pictures of Crabtree looking anything less than 'grotty' in industrial service are somewhat rare.

© Copyright Gordon Edgar (with permission)

If you are a fan of industrial railways, not only in the UK but also overseas, then Gordon's Flikr site has over 15000 images.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/12a_kingmoor_klickr/

Here's a couple of archive pictures from circa 1998 with 338416 a couple of years after delivery to what was then known ...
12/08/2025

Here's a couple of archive pictures from circa 1998 with 338416 a couple of years after delivery to what was then known as The Coventry Steam Railway Centre. Of course the site went on to become the Electric Railway Museum, but by then Crabtree had fallen out of use and would spend several years without any activity.

Greetings from a very wet Nantmawr
05/12/2024

Greetings from a very wet Nantmawr

Crabtree made a brief appearance on national television today when Bargain Hunt visited the Tanat Valley Light Railway f...
01/11/2024

Crabtree made a brief appearance on national television today when Bargain Hunt visited the Tanat Valley Light Railway for a short segment featuring the monorail. The locos wasp stripes can be seen here between TVLR’s Mark Hignett and presenter Danny Sebastian.

The episode is available on iPlayer - Season 69 Episode 26

As the resident depot shunter 338416 has had the job of collecting stock delivered to the Tanat Valley Light Railway at ...
25/08/2024

As the resident depot shunter 338416 has had the job of collecting stock delivered to the Tanat Valley Light Railway at its southernmost point, Blodwell Quarry. Very little has come in this way but each item that has, has been collected by Crabtree. Pictured here at Blodwell is the delivery of the SECR hand crane on May 14 2022 and also the GWR Toad brake van, 35978, just over a month later on June 22 2022. Of all the items at the TVLR 338416 has traversed the whole length of the line more than anything else.

25/04/2024

News on another 88DS that has found a new home.

Sorry there hasn’t been any news on the loco of late, as you can see from the photos Crabtree is currently trapped by tr...
17/03/2024

Sorry there hasn’t been any news on the loco of late, as you can see from the photos Crabtree is currently trapped by track relaying which is planned to be completed in April.

There is a lot of stock that needs moving around at the Tanat Valley Light Railway in May and June so the loco will be brought back to life for that. Once that work is done we can start thinking about the list of tasks that needs doing including a full repaint. Livery ideas welcome..

We're back on site next month to crack on with some more work on the loco, until then here are a couple of archive pics ...
28/08/2023

We're back on site next month to crack on with some more work on the loco, until then here are a couple of archive pics from the TVLR. Firstly the loco parked under the A495 bridge near Blodwell Quarry on delivery day and then again at Nantmawr in December 2020 after shunting the 107 DMU vehicles in preparation for their departure from the TVLR.

A productive day on the loco today at Nantmawr. The oil priming pump was swapped with one from the donor loco and the he...
26/06/2023

A productive day on the loco today at Nantmawr. The oil priming pump was swapped with one from the donor loco and the headlights now work for the first time in decades.

Images from 2021 and 2022 of the loco showing it is still capable of doing the job it was built to do.
19/06/2023

Images from 2021 and 2022 of the loco showing it is still capable of doing the job it was built to do.

Crabtree at the North Downs Steam Railway, Stone Lodge, Dartford 1994/1995.
19/06/2023

Crabtree at the North Downs Steam Railway, Stone Lodge, Dartford 1994/1995.

19/06/2023

Flashback to May 15th 2018 and Crabtree is ready after less than six months work. The loco is making a short test run at the Electric Railway Museum site to show off the results of the hard work carried out by the team.

Address

Nant Mawr Visitor Centre
Oswestry
SY10 9HW

Website

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