McAlpine’s Fawley Hill flat moves up to the Moors
THE North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) Wagon Group’s latest major project is a ‘Conflat A’ following its acquisition from the late Sir William McAlpine’s wagon collection at Fawley Hill.
After arrival at Pickering on July 21, work started just three days later on No. B502855, built by Pressed Steel Company in 1958 to Lot No. 3153 and the accompanying Type A container.
Work required to return the vehicle to operational condition will involve a full mechanical strip down of the vacuum brake system, a new timber floor, the overhaul of all four buffers and four springs – plus shot blasting and painting of the main steel underframe and some replating of wasted areas.
The container mainly requires a full replank on the external timber skin and repaint. Once complete, the ‘Conflat’ will fill an important gap in the NYMR’s goods train by helping to tell the story of how the modern day container trains in the UK first started out.
Formed in 2011, the NYMR Wagon Group currently has around 25 wagons under its care with 12 wagons currently in operational condition.