32m56: Waggon turntable, Railway St/Wellington St, 1982- Old Town
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A view of Hull
Still Occupied
Images on this site are arranged into rough areas by location as in my book 'Still Occupied', available on Blurb. Eventually this site will contain all the images in that book and more.
Waggons inside the dock area would be mainly moved either by horses or gangs of men, or could be pulled by chains or ropes around capstans from hydraulic winches or locomotives. They also turned waggons through 90 degrees on turntables like this, moving them at the end of the dockside onto rails leading out from the dock, where they would be coupled into trains. Maps show there was an extensive system of rail tracks in the area, particularly into the large goods shed of the Railway St Goods Station which was on the site of Hull's first railway station.
At left is one of the dockside sheds of Humber Dock Basin, and to the right the outer gates of Humber Dock, with the Minerva pub (circa 1820, Grade II listed) and Waterguard Offices, 1909 (a customs watch house, now private housing.) The dockside in front of these was Steam Packet Wharf, one of many locations in Hull from which goods and passenger services once ran. The Minerva pier can just be seen beyond , along with two curious round-headed cylinders, part of the hydraulic mechanism for opening and closing the dock gates.
Peter Marshall
01784 456474