Loram to rebody Network Rail MRA side tipper fleet
Initial order will see conversion of 250 wagons to carry reusable static containers.
WITH many MRAs effectively operating as box wagons without tipping capability, NR has contracted Loram UK to make this a permanent solution by equipping them with new bodies.
One of the more innovative freight vehicles to emerge from Thrall Europa during its short tenure at York Holgate, the MRA 90-tonne bogie side-tipping ballast wagon was a large modern update of the classic two-axle ZJV ‘Mermaid’ that was used from the mid-1950s through to the mid-1990s, which was itself based on a 1930s Great Western Railway design. With a capacity of 58 tonnes between its two compartments and a maximum speed of 60mph they were designed to significantly enhance the delivery of ballast to possession, primarily for the base layer.
Following the completion and successful testing of a prototype (JQA No. THMC 28200) in mid-2000, Railtrack acquired 60 five-unit sets, totalling 300 vehicles (Nos. 501001-501300), which were delivered during 2001-2. Each semi-permanently coupled set included a generator wagon and could be operated by remote control allowing precise tipping of ballast. These were joined by a further 20 sets (100 wagons, Nos. 501301501400) in 2004 that were built by Astra Vagoane in Romania and delivered in Network Rail yellow, although five sets (25 wagons) were traded to Metronet/ GB Railfreight in 2006.
DOWNGRADE FOR BULK BALLAST USE
After the cessation of the Metronet contract all 400 wagons were owned by NR, with a significant number subsequently downgraded for bulk ballast use with their generator and tipping equipment rendered inoperable.
However, the MRAs are inefficient in this role, carrying a lot of unnecessary tare weight that reduces their overall capacity. To resolve this issue NR has signed a multi-million-pound contract with Loram UK to repurpose the majority of the fleet – initially some 250 vehicles – with reusable non-tipping static containers.
The new boxes will be designed by global testing and certification company TÜV Rheinland Risktec Solutions, which has a UK office at Pride Park, Derby, and the two
year rebuilding programme will be undertaken by Loram at its workshops at the former RTC site opposite Etches Park. No further details are known at this time, such as whether the wagons will remain in five-unit sets, or potential new TOPS codes and/or numbering.
The first five MRAs for conversion, generator vehicle No. 501016, ‘inners’ Nos. 501166-501168 and ‘outer’
No. 501067 were moved to Derby RTC on November 19 by ‘Choppers’
Nos. 20205 and 20007 in charge of a 6Z69 13.40 ex-Doncaster Wood Yard.