The Quartet: The Goldendale Iron Company Limited, in North Staffordshire's Chatterley Valley, once sported a fleet of four outside-cylinder 0-4-0 tank engines built by the Yorkshire Engine Company at its Meadow Hall Works in Sheffield. They had distinctive ogee shaped saddle tanks and when I remember them they were painted brown and lined out with a black band with a thin yellow line on either side. They had bright red solid wheels, coupling rods and buffer beams. The ironworks, located just to the south east of the Harecastle canal and railway tunnels, was connected to the former North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) Up main line by a trailing connection near Chatterley Junction. A short spur crossed the Trent Mersey Canal by an overbridge taking the railway into the main works complex. During the time of my visits the main finished products were a special grade of cast iron for the Black Country motor trade, cylinder blocks and heads. The firm had supplied the motor trade for many years.
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