37406 & 37416 Walcot (Shropshire) 29 October 2005

The Allscott sugar factory dominates the background as 37406 The Saltire Society & 37416 pass Walcot with the Kingfisher Railtours 1Z37 06:24 High Wycombe to Pwllheli 'Snowdonia Explorer' railtour on 29 October 2005. This scene has changed dramatically since this picture was taken, as the factory closed the following year and was demolished in 2008. The Allscott sugar factory was opened in 1927 and at its peak processed more than 850,000 tonnes of sugar beet annually. The three silos visible in the background had a combined capacity of 37,000 tonnes, and during the autumn beet season over 350 lorry loads of beet arrived daily.