RY Pickering & its Locos

Robert Young Pickering (1849-1931) was born in Shildon.   His father moved the family with teenager Robert to Wishaw in North Lanarkshire, where they went into rolling stock manufacture.   RY Pickering was established around 1880 to continue & expand the business, which produced thousands of carriages & waggons for home & abroad before being wound up as Norbrit-Pickering in the 1980s.

TR carriage No.3, seen here behind Horden, is an RY Pickering product

RY Pickering builder's plate - as attached to TR carriages 3 & 4,
built 1948 as 20 ton ballast brakes to a NER design.
In 1979 we removed 8 tons of cast iron ballast from each of 3 & 4,
fitted more windows, seats, wooden side duckets, vac brakes, etc.

The firm had 4 locos, Nos.1 & 2 being Barclays.   These were followed by No.3 (R&W Hawthorn 2009 of 1884) from Adams of Newport in 1937 & No.4 (Sentinel 9559 of 1953) from Rugby Portland Cement of New Bilton in 1968.   Nos.3 & 4 were moved to Tanfield Railway in 1979.

No.3 being shunted by No.4 in May 1969 at the Wishaw works
(photo courtesy of  Gordon Edgar  collection)

Nos.4 & 3 together in the yard at Marley Hill - both will leave soon,
No.4 to North Tyneside & No.3 to be rebuilt off site