MC Metals

MC MetalsIndustry| Recycling

|

Founded| 1987
Founder| Jim MacWilliam
Headquarters|

Springburn

Scotland

MC Metals was a metal recycling company based in the Springburn area of Glasgow, Scotland.

## History

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MC Metals was founded by Jim MacWilliam in 1987. The company was made famous through the scrapping of huge numbers of British Rail diesel locomotives in the 1980s and 1990s.[1] It operated on railway-owned land adjacent to British Rail Engineering Limited's Glasgow Works. A condition of its lease was that only ex-railway scrap could be processed there. It also carried out asbestos removal work. 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.[2]

## Contributions to Railway Preservation

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Despite being a metal recycling company, this facility played a role in helping some locomotives, primarily diesel locomotives, find new lives at various heritage railways.[3] One example was Class 20 No. D8098 in the early 1990s. This locomotive now works at the Great Central Railway.[4] Another example is Class 26 No. D5301/26001 which was rescued in the mid-1990s and now works at the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway.[5] One railcar belonging to the Class 111 No. 59575 was rescued from here as well.[6] One 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.[7]

## References

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1. ^ "Breaking up is not hard to do". The Herald. 16 February 1994. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
2. ^ MC Metals Rail issue 171 1 April 1992 pages 26-29
3. ^ MC Metals Rail issue 172 15 April 1992 pages 34-36
4. ^ "D8098". Great Central Railway. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
5. ^ "D5301, Class 26 (BRCW)". Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway. Design Work. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
6. ^ "59575 Class 111 Trailer Second Buffet Lavatory". The Railcar Association. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
7. ^ Butcher, Shannon. "DERBY TRAINMAN: '45' NOT OUT". Rail Express. Mortons Media Group Ltd. Retrieved 21 January 2020.

## Further reading

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

55°52′23″N 4°13′37″W﻿ / ﻿55.8731°N 4.2269°W﻿ / 55.8731; -4.2269