PROTOTYPE QUESTION OF THE MONTH
I would like to assemble a rake of BR bogie ballast hoppers. What’s the difference between a ‘Sealion’ and a ‘Seacow’? And did they work together?
Andy Mortimer, by e-mail
George says: British Railways’ 40t bogie ballast hopper designs can be traced back to the 1920s and a wagon type pioneered by the Southern Railway. Many of these vacuum-braked wagons were absorbed into BR ownership and christened ‘Walrus’.
BR later introduced a 50t bogie ballast hopper, the ‘Whale’, which not only boasted a larger payload capacity, but was also equipped with air brakes. However, these were not successful and a return to a 40t design followed, again with air brakes being fitted from new. Classified as ‘Sealion’ and ‘Seacow’, the difference between the two came down to the fact that the ‘Sealion’ also received vacuum brake equipment, while the ‘Seacows’ were air brake only, albeit with a through vacuum pipe, allowing the two types of vehicle to operate together. Furthermore, most other existing ballast hoppers remained vacuum brake only into the 1980s.
The bulk of the ‘Seacow’ and ‘Sealion’ fleet was built at BR’S Shildon Works, with the balance constructed at Ashford. A notable modification was rolled out during the 1980s, whereby a metal framework and mesh screens were erected over the end platforms to protect workers from overhead live wires.
During the 1990s, vacuum brake gear was removed from some ‘Sealion’ hoppers and these wagons were recoded as ‘Seacows’.
Also during the 1990s, a small number of wagons were equipped with a small electric generator, mounted on one of the end platforms within a steel enclosure.
The electricity would be
60 mins
‘Dalmarnock Wharf’ Ready for the knacker’s yard: The ‘COND’ legend daubed onto the side of the hopper denotes that this wagon’s useful life is over and the scrapyard beckons.
Paint it red: It’s not quite the Forth Bridge, but painting these railings looks like a time-consuming job. The painter’s dust sheet on the ground is a realistic touch.
The old and the new: A horse-drawn hay cart resting beside a tractor suggests a farm of the post-war era, when the adoption of new technology was a gradual process.