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Index - History -
The Wagons - The Containers -
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Acknowledgements
Wagon Summary:
B505313, B507397,
B507489, B737695.
The Wagons
British Railways built over 20,000 'Conflat A' wagons to six different
designs or 'diagrams', although all were basically similar. The most
numerous were those built to diagram 1/069 which numbered almost 12,000;
these were built in 13 batches or 'lots' including a single lot of 5,550
wagons built by Pressed Steel; it is not surprising, therefore, that
three of ours come from this batch.
Even within each 'diagram' there were design variations, most notably
the official rating of the vehicles which seemed to vary between 11 and
14 tons.
The Great Central Railway's
Conflat collection currently consists of the following wagons:
- B505313 13T 'Conflat A' built by
Pressed Steel, 1958.
Photo © P. Hetherington 12/06/05.
Arrived 06/06/05. (NT)
Built to diagram 1/069 as part of lot 3153, this wagon ended its
working life at Wolverton carriage works where it was allocated
Internal User number 024881. It was used, along with several
others, for moving bogies and other heavy components around the
site.
However, it had evidently been out of use for several years
as, on arrival, the brakes were found to be seized on and the
axleboxes were either dry or full of water. These basic problems
were overcome shortly after arrival; the rest of the wagon
appears to be in fairly good condition.
In April 2008 the owner fitted this wagon with a new floor; as
with B507489 (below) this has been made to cover the chain
pockets.
Photo © P. Hetherington 12/06/05.
- B507397 13T 'Conflat A' built by
Pressed Steel, 1958.
Photo © P. Hetherington 25/03/05.
Arrived 23/03/05. (NT)
Built to diagram 1/069 as part of lot 3153, this wagon ended
its working life at Wolverton where it was allocated Internal
User number 024875.
The main problem with this wagon is that the outriggers (part of
the frame) have rusted to almost nothing, therefore some serious
welding will be needed before this wagon is returned to traffic.
It also needs one Oleo hydraulic buffer repairing or replacing,
and as with the other ex-Wolverton examples it also needs new floor
timbers.
Photo © P. Hetherington 25/06/05.
- B507489 13T 'Conflat A' built by
Pressed Steel, 1958.
Photo © P. Hetherington 25/03/05.
Arrived 23/03/05. (NT)
Built to diagram 1/069 as part of lot 3153, this wagon ended its
working life at Wolverton where it was allocated Internal User
number 024885.
One of the axlebox covers was missing when this wagon arrived;
a replacement has already been made and fitted. Two of the Oleo
hydraulic buffers had failed, but replacements have now been
sourced. Apart from the missing floor timbers, the most obvious
bodywork problem is that the bottom of the chain pockets has
rusted away and has been replaced by a functional but
non-authentic wire mesh. As this is only visible by crawling on
the floor, this should not prevent a quick return to service!
Early in 2006 the owner fitted this wagon with a new floor. As
it will be some years before there is a container ready for this
wagon, the timbers have been made to cover the chain pockets.
This allows the wagon to be used as a p.way flat in the meantime.
- B737695 11T 'Conflat A'
built by BR Ashford Works, 1959.
Photo © P. Hetherington 30/01/05.
Arrived 25/01/05. (PH)
Built to diagram 1/069 as part of lot 3107 (400 wagons), this
wagon ended its working life at the Queenborough Rolling Mill on
the Isle of Sheppey, where it was their test weight wagon. It was
preserved from there, probably around 1999, and moved to the
Lavender Line in Sussex, but little work was done before it was
sold to a dealer in Norfolk in early 2001, from whom it was
purchased on 5 December 2004.
This wagon is basically complete apart from a number of chain
shackles and pocket lids, some brackets and pieces of pipework
from one end, and a few knocks and dents. The dragboxes were
badly wasted, but these have now been rebuilt, with new metal
welded in early in 2007. Full restoration will not take place
until the completion of Palbrick B B462772, but parts are being
gathered which should speed the process.
The restoration of this wagon will be followed online via the
above link.
Future plans
There are enough containers in the
collecton to justify several further wagon arrivals. It would be
particularly nice to get some examples of the earlier designs. At present,
though, the focus is on restoring the examples already on site.
One 'longer term' plan is to find an example of a Conflat B. 70 of
these vehicles were converted from Pipe wagons (a sort of open wagon)
and if, as suspected, the design is now extinct, the plan is to find
a redundant Pipe wagon and use it as the basis for the 71st conversion.
This will be used to display two AFP containers which, hopefully, will
be restored to their original 'Birds Eye' livery.
You might like to visit the website of my other wagon, Palbrick B
B462772. I am currently focussing
on this project - which explains the apparent lack of progress on the
Conflats.
There are some railway links here.
© Phil
Hetherington
Last Modified: 29.04.08