'Planet' History

No, the Nystrup Gravel blog hasn't changed subject to astronomy, but a few facts about the gravel company's 'Planet' 6 hp self-propelled skip has come up. The vehicle was a unique specimen in the Danish industrial narrow gauge world, and I have been searching the archives for some answers to how the motorised skip came in service of the Nystrup Gravel company.

My 1/19 scale interpretation of the Nystrup Gravel 'Planet' was recently finished. Two employees review the result.

To begin with the 'Planet' 6 hp Motor Driven Truck, as it was called at the time of its development, was a lightweight industrial narrow-gauge self-propelled skip designed in late 1920's. The typical customer was a small industrial enterprise that needed a cheap and lightweight motive power for a small industrial railway. The original Hibberd-vehicle used a smal skip frame fitted with a 6-horsepower engine. The standard model featured a flat platform, with options for a wooden box or a 1 cubic-yard standard skip available for users having different needs. As F.C. Hibberd & Co.’s factory in West London was bombed during World War 2, and the company's archives, original design blueprints, and historical records were destroyed, not much is known about these charming little motorised skips. 

Archive illustation showing a 'Planet' self-propelled skip almost identical to the one in use at Nystrup Gravel.

Considering the size of Nystrup Gravel's production the average spectator may think that the company had far too many locomotives. But in reality the company rarely had more than 3 servicable locomotives at a time. The years after the German occupation of Denmark were difficult years with much infrastructure and machinery totally worn out and very hard to replace. Consequently some of Nystrup Gravel's acquisitions during those early port-war years were 'buy what is available' and didn't last long - or were used very little. My recent research documents that the 'Planet' was exactly such an investment. Usefull when nothing else was available and falling out of use as soon as it could be replaced by better machinery. 

The only picture known to show the 6 hp 'Planet' at Nystrup Gravel. Photographed in the yard with a view over the meadows north of the gravel works. The number '12' is clearly visible on the cab front.

The United Kingdom was a major Danish trading partner before World War 2 cut off all connections. Due to a large Danish export of agricultural products the currency policies of the times made it profitable to buy British industrial products. This is clearly visible when glancing through the locomotives that Nystrup Gravel had: no less than 3 locos had UK origin. 

From 1944 to Autumn 1946 a Schöma built KML-5 worked on Nystrup Gravel. Supplied by the German authorities to speed up gravel production for military use, Nystrup Gravel held on to the loco as long as possible. When the owner in Germany, contractor Wilhelm Müller, took the case to court the company management finally let the loco go. 

In a very thorough search in the immediate post-war part of the company archives from Nystrup Gravel I found a preserved page from a local paper for Wedensday 14. November 1945. The article was headlined 'Lucky Nystrup Gravel' and is with a very high degree of probability a mention of how the 'Planet' came to Nystrup Gravel. For the community around Nystrup a new machine arriving to a local business was always good news and fortunately Nystrup Gravel director Holm never missed giving a tip to a local journalist. 

November 1945 - Nystrup and Denmark slowly recovering after the German occupation. Nystrup Gravel's little railway trying to cope with a lack of traction power.

In the article Nystrup Gravel Director Holm is quoted: “We received word that Askholm Hovedgaard (a large estate farm) had just decommissioned the track system used to transport manure from the cowsheds. The farm had a motorised skip in use, which we have now taken over. The self-propelled skip will be used by us to transport foundry sand.” Only few Danish farm used narrow gauge railways for internal transports of e.g. manure and the use of a motorised skip is unique for Askholm. The foundry sand product 'Multisand' was a result of the discovery of a small deposit of high quality sand in one of Nystrup's gravel pits. The sand was manually excavated to avoid contamination, refined and dried before it was loaded in 50 kg sacks. The volumes were minimal and usually only a train or two a week took away sand for refining. Consequently a single 'Planet' could keep the foundry sand production running leaving additional trains free for gravel transport. 

The newspaper also mentions that Nystrup Gravel since the liberation in May 1945 "has only had one steam locomotive and two diesel locomotives in service: one Danish and one German. The company’s large British diesel locomotive is not yet ready for service due to a shortage of spare parts". The German locomotive mentioned in the newspaper is most likely the Schöma provided by the German military and the large British diesel is without doubt the Fowler, Nystrup Gravel No. 8.

Another photo of my model of Nystrup Gravel No. 12 here seen passing my version of one of the large wooden buildings at the company's works in Nystrup.

How long the self-propelled skip was in service at Nystrup is not known. When the Fowler got back into service and more locomotives was acquired its mission of keeping the foundry sand business going must have lost importance. Now a train or two a week could provide transport for the sand. As Nystrup Gravel kept much of its worn out equipment long after it fell out of use, it is possible that the 'Planet' stayed with the company well into the 1950's. No evidence of its sale or scrapping has been found so far.