MC Metals

MC Metals was a metal recycling company based in the Springburn area of Glasgow, Scotland. The "MC" stands for McWilliam & Christie, both names being associated with separate railway scrapyards that previously existed in the Glasgow area. The company was made famous through the scrapping of huge numbers of British Rail diesel locomotives in the 1980s and 1990s.^[1] They operated on railway-owned land adjacent to the British Rail Engineering Limited St. Rollox railway works. A condition of their lease was that only ex-railway scrap could be processed there. They also carried out asbestos removal work on stock destined for preservation. Rail vehicles arrived from all parts of the UK via a rail connection or by road. The site is now occupied by a Tesco supermarket.

Contributions to Railway Preservation

Despite being a metal recycling company, this facility played a role in helping some locomotives, primally diesel locomotives, find new lives at various heritage railways. One example was BR Class 20 No. D8098 in the early 1990s. This locomotive now works at the Great Central Railway.^[2] Another example is BR Class 26 No. D5301/26001 which was rescued in the mid-1990s and now works at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway.^[3] One railcar belonging to the BR Class 111 No. 59575 was rescued from here as well.^[4] One BR Class 45 locomotive No. 45125 was rescued from this facility during the late 1980s and early 1990s and now works at the Great Central Railway.^[5]

References

Further reading

• Hunt, John (13–26 August 1997). "Breaking up isn't hard to do". Rail Magazine. No. 311. EMAP Apex Publications. pp. 20–25. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.
• Dunn, Pip (27 August – 9 September 1997). "PDQ". Rail Magazine. No. 312. EMAP Apex Publications. p. 39. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.