continued to be used to bring coal to Hexham. There were still 3,000 in use in 1975 and 900 when the Richmond Vale Railway closed in September 1987. "Non-air" wagons came in different capacities between 7 and 12.5 tons. Large letters on the side of the wagon identified the owner, and small letters its capacity. The Hunter River ports Ships bound for the river ports of Newcastle (Port Hunter), Stockton, Carrington, Port Waratah, Hexham and Morpeth had first to enter the river mouth between Nobbys Head and Stockton. The mouth of the Hunter was difficult for sailing ships heading south to Sydney. Sailing ships leaving port could not negotiate the east-north-east facing channel leaving the river, when winds favourable to a southern passage were blowing. From 1859, these ships were towed out by steam tugs and the situation improved. The construction of the breakwater and land reclamation between Nobbys Head and Newcastle increased the safety of the port. Just to the north of the river mouth is the notorious Oyster Bank, actually a series of shifting sandbanks. At least 34 vessels were lost on the Oyster Bank. The shape of Nobby's was altered by lowering its height, so that its wind shadow did not cause sailing ships to lose steerage and end up on the Oyster Bank. Construction of the northern breakwater somewhat reduced the hazard to shipping entering the river. Around the same time as the northern breakwater was built over the Oyster Bank, a southern breakwater was extended from Nobby's on the southern side of the river, using material taken from the top of Nobby's.The shallowness of the entrance to the Hunter River continued to be a limitation on shipping into the 1920s and a hazard during bad weather. Work continued to improve the river mouth, during the 1930s, culminating in the excavation of a deep channel 600 feet wide, with 27 feet of water depth, effectively removing the rock bar at the river's mouth. The improvements to the river entrance were a major engineering project for their time and a paper on the work won a Telford Premium award from the Institution of Civil Engineers for Percy Allan in 1921. Newcastle (Port Hunter) Coal was shipped from Newcastle to Sydney, from around 1801 onward. Initially mines were located in what is now the inner-city of Newcastle and coal was loaded from wharves on the southern bank of