WAGON REPORT
THE Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has begun to scrap its older flask carriers following delivery of new wagons from W H Davis – Nos. 11 70 9229 001-6 to 040-4. Removed from MOD Longtown and sent to Workington Docks for disposal have been FNA’s Nos.550045/0 47/052/054/056/058/059.
Canadian firm Procor built the wagons during 1988-89 to design code FN 003F, Nos. 550027-060. They were among the last mainline vehicles to appear from the former Charles Roberts works at Horbury Junction, Wakefield.
Recent deliveries to London Underground have been two
KOA-K KRC250LUL ‘Multitasker’ 25-tonne telescopic jib cranes – Nos. 99 70 9319 014-5/015-2. Also part of the order placed with Kirow AG, Leipzig, are eight IFA-R tilt-table track panel carriers – Nos. 99 70 9358 001-4/002-2/003-0/0048/005-5/006-3/007-1/008-9.
Transplant will use them for renewals of pointwork on the sub-surface railway(SSR).
Two ‘Railvac’ ballast vacuum extraction system machines – RAUK 4/5 – were in use at Wolverhampton station during the holiday period, and remained stabled in Bescot down yard on January 1 –
Nos. 99 70 9515 004-8/005-5.
Also present in the Up sidings was RAUK 6 – No. 99 70 9515 006-3 previously reported as working in Europe.
Manufactured by Railcare AB, Sweden the main plus factor of the ‘Railvac’ (BVES) system is that it is non-intrusive.
Cabling and wiring doesn’t need to be isolated for the machine to operate. Vacuum extraction can be used to remove ballast, mud and clay from the trackbed. Drainage cleaning, repair and installation can also be undertaken.
Brakevans are no longer seen on the mainline.
Although they were in use for around 175 years there was little real innovation, other than the introduction of duckets and lengthening of the standard wheelbase to 16ft. Both were attempts to increase the safety and comfort of guards, as freight train speeds rose.
There were some experiments. In 1929 Temple Mills works completed 20-ton van No. 158355, constructed from concrete panels. It was reasonably successful, but not repeated.
During the Second World War there was an attempt to design a standardised Railway Clearing House or RCH van.
Four prototype vans were built at Derby and sent to each of the ‘Big Four’ companies for trials – Nos. E 260948,
M 731742, S 56060 and
W 35927.
No consensus was reached and existing designs continued to be built. After Nationalisation there was no attempt to revive the design, instead British Railways opted for a version of the LNER ‘Toad D’ van.
One brakevan still in regular use, albeit without its bodywork, is No. ADB 951496, which is employed by Gemini Rail Services at Wolverton works to transfer EMU stock around the site. It carries internal user No. 024916.
Redundant coal hoppers rebuilt to carry aggregates by W H Davis at Langwith Junction have included HYA’s Nos. 37108 4/086/089/091/093/104/109/11 0/112/114/117, IIA’s Nos. 37 70 6791 001-0/004-4/0077/010-1/020-0/030-9/0531/089-0/092-9 and Nos. 37 70 6955 200-0/202-6/203-4/2059/206-7/210-9/211-7/2125/213-3/215-8/216-6/217-4/ 220-8/221-6.
During conversion one or two hopper bays are removed, depending on the type of donor wagon.
Disposals include YLA ‘Mullet’ railflats Nos. DC 967500/ 520/529/531/533/543/555/559/ 574/576/613, scrapped by
C F Booth, Rotherham.