COAL FOR CARS

Series

Series Name: Mining Review 11th Year

Issue

Issue No.

Date Released

Jan 1958

Stories in this Issue:

Story

Story No. within this Issue

3 / 3

Summary

NoS synopsis: the part coal plays in the British motor car industry illustrated at the Ford factory in Dagenham
NCB Commentary - As in any big industry, motor transport today plays a big part in the operation of the coal fields and, inevitably, coal itself plays a big part in the production of the British motor car industry.
Down on the Thames Estuary is the only fully integrated car plant in the country.
Here, coal ships from Durham berth alongside the 1800 foot long wharf to discharge their cargoes at six tons a bite. Iron-Ore is unloaded by the same equipment too.
Most of the coal will be turned into coke, for coke, iron-ore and limestone are the essential ingredients in the production of iron.
Of the coal, over 400 tons a day goes to the power house. More than 900 tons a day will be fed into the coke ovens.
Big coal stocks are kept on hand at the factory to meet the demand.
With the blast furnace in the background, the coke ovens produce more than 600 tons of coke a day and, of course, gsa for heating, and by-products.
The blast furnace is charged automatically. Down below it’s time for tapping.
Every four hours 135 tons of molten iron is poured from the furnace into huge ladles before it’s carried away for pigging.
In the foundry 3000 men turn out about 50-thousand castings a day, from small parts up to crank shafts and cylinder blocks.
As everywhere else in the factory, the flow of production is always on the move.
Automotive, here, is at a high level.
On the transfer line, both 4 and 6 cylinder blocks are bored, milled, drilled, tapped and reamed automatically in the correct sequence.
Engine assembly looks easy when you known how, and when you have the right tools at hand.
After running on the bench, final assembly of engines, suspensions and bodies is carried out on the line.
Along the six miles of conveyor system the right part is somehow always at the right place at the right time.
Would you think that this, too, started as coal?
At the end of the line the car is driven off under its own power.
Over 1650 completed units a day are coming out of this factory, mostly for immediate delivery to customers at home and overseas.
Once again it all starts with coal, and the 43,000 people who work here depend for the continuity of their employment on the regular arrival of those coal ships from County Durham, with more than 400,000 tons of coal each year.

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