Polybulk wagons

[Domagoj Vu]

Hello, can someone told me what exactly happened to Traffic Service LTD London company from 80's? I tryed look everyone on net but i can't find any information about this company, what they offer, etc.
In march (20 and 21.3.2021, i hunted one of these ex Belgian (SNCB) Polybulk grain wagons manufactured by Fauvet Girel in 1974 in Vinkovci and Vukovar, Croatia.
These wagons are currently owned by French renting company Millet S.A.S.

This is how these ex SNCB (Polybulk) wagons look today!
Vinkovci 20.3.2021


Hunted next early morning on freight train to Serbia.
Vukovar - Borovo Naselje 21.3.2021

TSL used to rent these wagons in 80's.
This is how these wagons looked like in mid 70's and on beginning of 80's
Author:Paul Bartlett
Original Polybulk green livery



Standard grey livery which they started use it by end of 70's. (note the TSL logo on right)

(link to more photos: https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/belgianpolybulk )

Thanks in advance for the answers! Good night from the Croatia.

I apologize if there is already a topic about TSL, considering that I was last active on the forum in 2017.

If there is a suitable topic, let the moderators feel free to move them to the appropriate one.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Traffic Services Limited, an English limited liability company which was incorporated in 1986, and which had a registered office in Farnham, Surrey, and whose principal activity was transport via railways, was dissolved in 2003, and so, is no more.

Presumably that was your company?

 

[Domagoj Vu]

Nope, i'm just a regular trainspotter who knows anything about freight wagons
Just been curious about that company since i hunted their wagons.

 

[WesternLancer]

Traffic Services Limited, an English limited liability company which was incorporated in 1986, and which had a registered office in Farnham, Surrey, and whose principal activity was transport via railways, was dissolved in 2003, and so, is no more.

Presumably that was your company?

The company's wagons must have been quite common? - different wagon of course but I'm assuming that because modelled by Hornby Dublo / Meccano Ltd back in the 1960s - emblazoned with the company name as shown here - so was the company incorporated differently prior to the 1986 date you mention I wonder?

Hornby Dublo 4679Dublo 14T Tank Wagon 500836 'Traffic Services'

hattons.co.uk Hornby Dublo 4679Dublo 14T Tank Wagon 500836 'Traffic Services'

www.hattons.co.uk

Hello, can someone told me what exactly happened to Traffic Service LTD London company from 80's? I tryed look everyone on net but i can't find any information about this company, what they offer, etc.
In march (20 and 21.3.2021, i hunted one of these ex Belgian (SNCB) Polybulk grain wagons manufactured by Fauvet Girel in 1974 in Vinkovci and Vukovar, Croatia.
These wagons are currently owned by French renting company Millet S.A.S.

This is how these ex SNCB (Polybulk) wagons look today!
Vinkovci 20.3.2021
View attachment 99292

Hunted next early morning on freight train to Serbia.
Vukovar - Borovo Naselje 21.3.2021
View attachment 99291
TSL used to rent these wagons in 80's.
This is how these wagons looked like in mid 70's and on beginning of 80's
Author:Paul Bartlett
Original Polybulk green livery
View attachment 99293


Standard grey livery which they started use it by end of 70's. (note the TSL logo on right)
View attachment 99294
(link to more photos: https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/belgianpolybulk )

Thanks in advance for the answers! Good night from the Croatia.

I apologize if there is already a topic about TSL, considering that I was last active on the forum in 2017.

If there is a suitable topic, let the moderators feel free to move them to the appropriate one.

Nice pics by the way!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Not be the first time that one or more UK limited liability companies have had the same or similar names (shouldn't really happen at the same time though) and noting that the OP was specifically enquiring about the company of that name that was in existence in the 1980s.

 

[Greetlander]

Just to prove you can bring Woodhead into anything. Last train.

 

[Domagoj Vu]

Yesterday on long grain train i caught another one of these ex Polybulk grain wagons, i came to station at 5:45 hours to do regular morning trainspotting to 12:30 (since afteroon i dont have that much time to spent on railway) and when i exited waiting room, i notice suspicious shape of wagon, and of course when i look over it its another former British Railway Polybulk wagon.

Heres photo of him when i exited waiting room.


The wagon is now registered as French and its owned by Ermewa.


The train has leaved the station at 12:00h.

The wagon number is: 33 87 F-ERSA 9383 003 - 9 Uafoos . Former UK number is 33 70 9280.

Author: John Dedman


Link to authors photo

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks for posting - and nice to see those pics! Well done for your early start.

 

[Domagoj Vu]

Thanks, the reason why i go so early becouse Croatia Railways are one of worst becouse there are lack of freight trains, all of them are just same, generic containers, all same generic looking trains you see everyday.
We used to have many mixed freight trains, including tankcars, etc but now we have all generic trains which they are extremly boring and thats why i prefer Hungarian railways (for hunting freight wagons of course) over Croatian ones! I saw former STS BR Uafoos also in Budapest but i dont have photo becouse it was parked too far away, but i saw also one Uafoos passing Vecses (near Budapest airport) 5.5.2019 in 2:00 clock in dark night.
In Hungary you can catch any wagon you want, unlike here in Croatia, hope ill have photo of Uafoos by spring. I hope ill catch more UK Gauged wagons here, i saw also the Habfis (GE Rail ex Cargowaggons are also seen there).

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks, the reason why i go so early becouse Croatia Railways are one of worst becouse there are lack of freight trains, all of them are just same, generic containers, all same generic looking trains you see everyday.
We used to have many mixed freight trains, including tankcars, etc but now we have all generic trains which they are extremly boring and thats why i prefer Hungarian railways (for hunting freight wagons of course) over Croatian ones! I saw former STS BR Uafoos also in Budapest but i dont have photo becouse it was parked too far away, but i saw also one Uafoos passing Vecses (near Budapest airport) 5.5.2019 in 2:00 clock in dark night.
In Hungary you can catch any wagon you want, unlike here in Croatia, hope ill have photo of Uafoos by spring. I hope ill catch more UK Gauged wagons here, i saw also the Habfis (GE Rail ex Cargowaggons are also seen there).

Thanks - my hunch is that you maybe have more interesting variety than in UK freight these days! Hungary sounds good however.

 

[Domagoj Vu]

Yesterday (21.10.2021) i caught another ex British Railways wagon, this time not in Vinkovci, but near Vinkovci i caught it this time.
The long empty grain train from Rijeka arrived at Strizivojna Vrpolje station at 11:01 hours at the station it stopped to change locomotive from electric to diesel to pull that train on unelectricfied line, according to piece of paper, the train is sended from Rijeka to Drenovci.
Arriving at station.


Unfortunely the wagon is very messy with graffiti's


When the train finally stopped.










Builder's plate


These wagons are former STS Uafoos grain wagons. According to Paul Bartlett, olny 30 of these wagons are made.
Pohoto: Paul Bartlett.

British registered STS Polybulk Diag E574

A batch of 30 polybulks built by Fauvet Girel in 1984 for STS FREIGHT and finished in an unusual pink off white (do not request more details of this) Allocated Diag E574 In use on mainland Europe in 2024 33 70 938 2 100-129 reemerged as 33 87 938 2 022-051. various owners including VTG

paulbartlett.zenfolio.com

I really have no idea what this STS company is since there are no information either, mostly likely it was taken by another company, as i can see on photo the Belgian CITA logo appears on right edge of wagon, which i assume the STS either used to rent these wagons or they took over STS company.

 

[GusB]

The photo of the polybulks in Grainflow and United Distillers liveries brought back a few memories. I used to see them in the sidings at Burghead Maltings, just along the road from me. I never actually saw any movement, despite being there quite frequently. Sadly the branch is now closed and the sidings are gone.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

The photo of the polybulks in Grainflow and United Distillers liveries brought back a few memories. I used to see them in the sidings at Burghead Maltings, just along the road from me. I never actually saw any movement, despite being there quite frequently. Sadly the branch is now closed and the sidings are gone.

When I worked for Speedlink - we got a massive one-off order for grain to Roseisle (sic) from East Anglian loadng points (some mess up with coastal shipping) , so within 48 hours the local engineers fettled up the branch and we put n special workings , no problem from Inverness as there was an available 37 to use , but although we could filter traffic through to Millerhill a special was needed.

So a pair of coal class 20's were found for an additional overnight Millerhill to Inverness yard , load 8 Polybulks - retimed on the second run for a 20 min "W" stop at Perth. This was to put extra coolant into the 20's for the slog north.

Excellent co-operation from the unified railway. (and in particular Scotrail) - of course I had to go up and see it and personally thank the staff. Two nights on the sleeper I recall.

 

[eastwestdivide]

I really have no idea what this STS company is since there are no information either, mostly likely it was taken by another company, as i can see on photo the Belgian CITA logo appears on right edge of wagon, which i assume the STS either used to rent these wagons or they took over STS company.

STS was Storage & Transport Systems, a wagon leasing company. They leased a lot of tank wagons in the UK
in the 1970s/1980s. Now defunct. This page:

Freight in the BR Blue TOPS Era | Preston & District Model Railway Society

says it was acquired by CAIB.

 

[GusB]

When I worked for Speedlink - we got a massive one-off order for grain to Roseisle (sic) from East Anglian loadng points (some mess up with coastal shipping) , so within 48 hours the local engineers fettled up the branch and we put n special workings , no problem from Inverness as there was an available 37 to use , but although we could filter traffic through to Millerhill a special was needed.

So a pair of coal class 20's were found for an additional overnight Millerhill to Inverness yard , load 8 Polybulks - retimed on the second run for a 20 min "W" stop at Perth. This was to put extra coolant into the 20's for the slog north.

Excellent co-operation from the unified railway. (and in particular Scotrail) - of course I had to go up and see it and personally thank the staff. Two nights on the sleeper I recall.

Interesting story - how long ago was this? I had always assumed that Roseisle was only served by lorry after a certain point in time. I knew there were sidings there, but I'd never seen any rail vehicles at all so I assumed they were no longer in use.

 

[Adrian Barr]

Hello, can someone told me what exactly happened to Traffic Service LTD London company from 80's?

Thanks for the photos, good to see these wagons having a second life in continental Europe!

I've got a bookazine (book in magazine format) called "Rail Express Train Formations Handbook" which has various historical information on different types of UK trains. It has a 6 page article on grain traffic with various photos of Polybulk wagons. I'll quote a bit of it below - the bookazine can be purchased as a digital download if you are interested, from https://www.classicmagazines.co.uk/product/5542/bookazine-rail-express-train-formations-handbook

Traffic Services Limited... had begun operating 58t capacity Polybulk bogie covered hoppers in 1974 to carry Anglo-French flows of animal feed to Pinhoe and malted barley from Newmarket... In 1980 it launched "Grainflow", a joint initiative with British Rail intended to increase grain and grain derivatives traffic from less than 100,000 to over 500,000 tons per year by 1986.

Initially 30 of TSL's Belgian registered slab-sided* Polybulks were transferred to domestic flows before three new batches of British registered Polybulks, totalling 81 wagons in all, were introduced between 1981 and 1984.

Unfortunately all grain traffic ceased in July 1991 with the closure of the Speedlink** network and the TSL and STS wagons were transferred to France.

*i.e. the E442 type with straight sides
**mixed "wagonload" freights with different commodities and wagon types on the same train

There were a few occasional movements of grain after speedlink ended, and some Polybulks remained in use in the UK on other traffic such as china clay, but a lot of the grain wagons went to Europe and stayed there.

This webpage (written in 2003) also has a few references to TSL and STS - http://igg.org.uk/rail/4-rstock/modpo.htm

...Storage & Transport Systems (part of the Belgian CAIB group) and Traffic Services Ltd. (which started life as Petrochemicals Ltd. in the 1950's) all buy or lease rolling stock and offer other shipping services to their customers.

...Storage & Transport Systems Ltd is the sole UK distributor for Fauvet-Girel and they began marketing the Polybulks in about 1974. Early deliveries were mainly used for china clay being exported to Switzerland and also occasionally for coal. 'Polybulk' wagons were subsequently hired by TSL for work in the Grainflow system...

...Grainflow was actually a total distribution package offered by TSL, the wagons were painted in a green and grey livery with yellow lettering and were moved in Speedlink trains.

One photo of a Traffic Services Limited Polybulk from 1993 (when it appears to be in use for china clay) has a CAIB logo on it: https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/polybulk/h3f0399a1#h3f0399a1

CAIB UK eventually became part of VTG, and on the history page of VTG it says

Delving further back into history the company can trace its roots through Procor, STS, BRTE and Traffic Services

https://www.vtg.com/uk/about-vtg/history

***

There's a nice book by David Ratcliffe called "International Train Ferry Wagons in Colour for the Modeller and Historian."
It has some good photos (print quality is excellent) of Polybulks with detailed information on the traffic they worked: https://www.amazon.co.uk/International-Wagons-Colour-Modeller-Historian/dp/0711034044

About the Belgian Polybulks with the straight sides it says:

Built by Fauvet Girel in 1974 were 66 Belgian-resistered slab-sided polybulks (E.442).... suitable for grain and plastics...also carried imported poultry feed to Pinhoe, but by 1982 they were in domestic grain traffic. After purchase by CITA and renumbering the Belgian Polybulks became less common but still occasionally turned up loaded with malted barley from the continent

Some more UK photos of them in use with CITA: http://www.railalbum.co.uk/railway-wagons/ferry/belgium-bogie-hopper-cita-1.htm
http://www.railalbum.co.uk/railway-wagons/ferry/belgium-bogie-hopper-cita-2.htm

I'd not heard of CITA before reading this thread, but the data panel in one of those pictures reads "International Agricultural Transport Company N.V. CITA S.A" with an address in Brussels. On the link you gave in the first post there are photos with CITA branding and an STS logo on the same wagon, or CITA branding with a TSL logo which you mentioned earlier.

From all this information I would guess that CITA and TSL were focused on operating grain traffic in Belgium (CITA) and the UK (TSL), perhaps owned some wagons and leased others from STS which was part of CAIB, and that CAIB eventually absorbed all these companies as part of its wagon-leasing business.

***

The Transcereales wagon 338793830039 in your pictures was from a batch of 30 to diagram E826 built in 1981. That particular wagon left the UK in November 1993 on the Dover - Dunkerque train ferry after being stored at March Whitemoor yard for some time. The last recorded UK working is an empty movement from Montrose (Hillhouse) in Scotland - probably just before Speedlink ended in 1991.

***

About those STS wagons like 338793820428 (diagram E574), the International Train Ferry Wagons book says:

In 1984 thirty more covered hoppers (E574) were built by Fauvet Girel for Storage & Transport Systems Ltd to handle imported grain derivatives such as rape seed and tapioca from a new trans-shipment point at New Holland, near Immingham. ...the STS wagons were also regularly seen in international traffic, carrying animal feed, malt and sugar

Those wagons were originally bright orange, but it looks as if the paint faded over time!

The same book says the first Polybulks in use in the UK were a batch of 65 wagons to diagram E431 built in 1974:

Initially they worked in block trains of 11 wagons carrying feed grain from France to Pinhoe, near Exeter, but by the late 1970s the majority were in china-clay traffic from the West Country to Switzerland

Some pictures here: https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/polybulk

I remember seeing those wagons at Exeter yard during an open day in the early 1990s, when they were used on china clay export traffic. They were impressive vehicles, I like the curved shape of the Polybulks, and seeing them got me more interested in wagons. This bit of wagon news from Rail Express magazine describes how 26 of this type were sent for scrap at the end of 2017 - https://www.railexpress.co.uk/594/presflos-and-polybulks-head-for-scrap/

The last of the grain Polybulks I remember seeing in use were a few of the old "Scottish Malt Distillers" wagons (30 built to diagram E538 in 1983), in their faded and stained blue and white livery, on the front of the Hardendale - Margam lime trains as the came through Warrington behind a class 56 in the late 1990s.
Photos in their original role here - https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/maltsterspolybulk
One of the few photos of the Hardendale - Margam train where you can still make out the original livery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/42423805300/

I had always assumed that Roseisle was only served by lorry after a certain point in time.

I remember EWS briefly ran a service to Roseisle / Burghead. The article on grain traffic I mentioned earlier (in the Train Formations Handbook) states that there was a 6-month contract to move barley from Andover and Eccles Road to Burghead in January 1998

At Andover with a 33: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wilfmeld/49706996358/

I remember seeing photos of this working taken on the Roseisle branch (possibly in RAIL magazine at the time) although I can't find any online

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Interesting story - how long ago was this? I had always assumed that Roseisle was only served by lorry after a certain point in time. I knew there were sidings there, but I'd never seen any rail vehicles at all so I assumed they were no longer in use.

1988 I think , have photos "somewhere" ......

 

[Domagoj Vu]

Old thread:

Polybulk wagons

Hello, can someone told me what exactly happened to Traffic Service LTD London company from 80's? I tryed look everyone on net but i can't find any information about this company, what they offer, etc. In march (20 and 21.3.2021, i hunted one of these ex Belgian (SNCB) Polybulk grain wagons...

www.railforums.co.uk

First of all, i apology for making second topic since first one is inactive and locked up, i tryed to send Private massege to admin but sadly i can't for some reason, if it will be possibly can be topic part to be connected into old topic?

Well anyway, this early snowy morning i caught E431 manufactured by Fauvet Girel in 1974, owned by Granit Services, and sadly no number plates where it says former numbers, but i've read it was been owned / rented by several companies such as Caib, VTG, Nacco, S.T.S, Tiger Rail, Ermewa Sati, Traffic Servces LTD (TSL), and possibly by TipHook.
And i have request regardless of the TipHook variant, does anyone have any photo of related wagon with TipHook logo on it (if it existed at all).

What is interesting to me is that the wagon has an anchor so that it can drive in Great Britain, but the letter marking of the wagon does not have F for ferry, but Uagpps.


This is first time i ever seen this unusual wagon.
33 87 F-GRSE 9345 955 - 7 Uagpps
Vinkovci 27.1.2023 7:32h




















(EDIT: Forgot to added more photos of the related wagon so here they are)

 

[Cowley]

Old thread:

Polybulk wagons

Hello, can someone told me what exactly happened to Traffic Service LTD London company from 80's? I tryed look everyone on net but i can't find any information about this company, what they offer, etc. In march (20 and 21.3.2021, i hunted one of these ex Belgian (SNCB) Polybulk grain wagons...

www.railforums.co.uk

First of all, i apology for making second topic since first one is inactive and locked up, i tryed to send Private massege to admin but sadly i can't for some reason, if it will be possibly can be topic part to be connected into old topic?

I’ve merged the two threads now but I’ve sent you a pm as well.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

1988 I think , have photos "somewhere" ......

Found them yesterday ironically - will get them posted up.

 

[55002]

Used to see these regularly on the ECML in the 80s 6S96 and 6S71 to Mossend, 6E86 was one of the returns can’t remember the other. As an aside what happened to the grain traffic? Does it still exist, does it go by road now?

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Used to see these regularly on the ECML in the 80s 6S96 and 6S71 to Mossend, 6E86 was one of the returns can’t remember the other. As an aside what happened to the grain traffic? Does it still exist, does it go by road now?

The trouble is that grain traffic was (unsurprisingly) - highly seasonal and apart from some long standing flows - malting grain to Burton comes to mind , imported stuff via docks - also some export flows every now and then ; was highly speculative as to who produces and who sold to who. Very difficult to plan ahead.

Frankly - the BR contract on Grainflow never worked - too much emphasis on everywhere to everywhere , requiring dedicated loco and crew resources (driver , heaven forbid a secondman) , guard - sometimes shunter , prepared to go from say Norwich to almost anywhere in East Anglia , and retention of sidings and even branch lines for speculative and low volume flows - and seasonal at that. In a shift they might move 3 Minibulks or Polybulks in an 8 hour shift. In some cases , the traffic could easily be accommodated on existing trunk Speedlink trains , but sometimes (and BR despite all the critiscism on customer service) , would turn out an extra long haul train to carry the surplus. I doubt - in fact I know - none of this made money.

When I was much younger , I picked all this up as a job - what had been say 3 full time managers , ended up as one of my assistants using maybe 15% of his time - and a cursory glance of mine in seeing what the traffic was. (a bit more time was spent on cost and resource management)

Yes there were the odd cracking success for spot lots (I have mentioned before) , but the reality was low volume and no guaranteed flows.

I am sure grain still moves , but it might well be in container flows , which you would not notice. (the Freighliner that ended up in the River Caldew at Carlisle in or around 1984 , had some loaded boxes wrecked , which the bird population of the Borders now doubt appreciated greatly)

 

[Domagoj Vu]

Well seems like Tiphook did not even owned these wagons since i can't find any photo of it under Tiphook ownership. i've tryed look everywhere.

80 ton Bogie Covered Hopper Wagon.

DETAILS FOR THIS VEHICLE. Location : Mossend Down Yard. Date : 12/04/2012. Type : Bogie Covered Hopper Wagon. Weight : 80 t GLW / 22 t Tare. Number : 21 70 938 2 004-7. Number Series : 21 70 938 2 000-x to 21 70 938 2 058-x. Builder : 1974-75 Fauvet Girel, Douai, France. TOPS Code : JIA. UIC...

www.flickr.com

 

[furnessvale]

Well seems like Tiphook did not even owned these wagons since i can't find any photo of it under Tiphook ownership. i've tryed look everywhere.
View attachment 128083

80 ton Bogie Covered Hopper Wagon.

DETAILS FOR THIS VEHICLE. Location : Mossend Down Yard. Date : 12/04/2012. Type : Bogie Covered Hopper Wagon. Weight : 80 t GLW / 22 t Tare. Number : 21 70 938 2 004-7. Number Series : 21 70 938 2 000-x to 21 70 938 2 058-x. Builder : 1974-75 Fauvet Girel, Douai, France. TOPS Code : JIA. UIC...

www.flickr.com

Without research, it is entirely possible that Tiphook owned the wagons at one time but never rebranded them.

 

[Adrian Barr]

And i have request regardless of the TipHook variant, does anyone have any photo of related wagon with TipHook logo on it (if it existed at all).

Good to see you are still finding some interesting UK Polybulk wagons roaming across Europe!

Some of those E431 wagons might have been owned by Tiphook (perhaps not for long enough to have the logo appear) when they were used on export clay traffic from Cornwall via Dover, but the photos I can find show CAIB or TSL branding on this traffic (a photo I took myself of one of these wagons at Exeter in 1994 shows Nacco branding).

Those E431 Polybulks were numbered in the series 709382000-058 in the early 1990s. That number range was continued (709382059-082) for some different covered hoppers (E803) which were definitely owned by Tiphook, used for export clay traffic from Cornwall (more details below).

There were also 15 Tiphook covered hoppers built in 1987 by Arbel Fauvet (E689), designed to carry powders (number series 709292201-215). These were used on Cerestar traffic in the 1990s.

After looking through some wagon books and on the internet, below is a list of internationally registered Polybulks / covered hoppers passed for use in the UK (wagons that had been built before 1990):
I've added links to pictures (some of them you've seen and posted already but I've included them for completeness).
With all the renumberings it gets a bit confusing, but hopefully the info is correct. The designs are fairly distinctive which helps when looking at pictures.
N.B. most wagon numbers are quoted as 9 digits without the exchange code or check digit, so 709382000-058 refers to a number series with 59 wagons in it. Numbers of specific wagons include the check digit.

==================================================================
Number Series - TOPS code - Builder - Year of build - Owner/Operator - Commodity - Original Design Code


709382000-058 PIB, then JIB / IRB Fauvet Girel 1974 TSL Grain/Clay E431
https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/polybulk
Original numbers 700999000-058 with large "POLYBULK" branding, later "Traffic Services Ltd" with Polybulk branding - https://www.flickr.com/photos/lynnebrianletra/2950666965/
By October 1983, 25 of these had been sold to Ermewa / Nacco / Tiger Rail.
Info from a 1990 wagon book shows owners as Tiphook / Tiger Rail (for clay traffic from Cornwall) but I can't see any photos that show Tiphook logos on these wagons (only CAIB / Nacco / TSL on the clay traffic)
Some were renumbered into the 875699xxx series as E644 e.g. 8756990119 (Ermewa) & 8756990192 (branded "Compagnie du Midi") - https://www.flickr.com/photos/lynnebrianletra/2951519590/
875699xxx series wagons were also used on Pechiney traffic (silica) to Barry Docks from France. These were renumbered in the 870699xxx series with NACCO branding, as seen in the pictures linked below:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/99279135@N05/14136446933/in/photostream/
https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/UKRailRollingstock/I/IRB-covered-hoppers/i-jNrBZ6L/A
https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/frenchpolybulk
https://www.flickr.com/photos/99279135@N05/13929714277/
Photo of 7093820047 with VTG logo in 2012 (Dowlow - Mossend lime for glassmaking) https://www.flickr.com/photos/36034969@N08/7175914772
7093820013 is seen with CAIB branding in this series of photos: https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/U...ogie-covered-hoppers/JIA-Traffic-ServicesVTG/
E431 wagon with CAIB branding at Exeter in 1994 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/162529734@N06/49966298333/
7093820484 at Dover in 1995 with CAIB branding - https://www.flickr.com/photos/locohunter/12875509344/
Flickr search for "Dover Polybulk" showing various photos of the clay traffic from Cornwall to Dover in Polybulks: https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=dover polybulk
Flickr search for "Exeter Polybulk" (ran as a block train from Exeter to Dover for many years) - https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=exeter polybulk

709382059-082 JIA Fauvet Girel 1982 Tiger Rail / ECC Clay E803
https://www.therailwayhub.co.uk/5057/remembering-the-clay-tigers/
https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/UKRailRollingstock/J-/JIA-bogie-covered-hoppers/JIA-Clay-Tiger/
Previously PBA wagons (later JAA) in number series TRL 11600-34 (UK only). Known as "clay tigers" after the owner Tiger Rail
This fleet was taken over by Tiphook in 1992 after the bankruptcy of Tiger Rail.
From the Clay Tigers article linked above: "In 1994, 24 of the ‘Clay Tigers’ were allocated to ferry diagram E803 after being fitted with additional chaining-down lugs and renumbered in the UIC/RIV series as Nos. 33 70 9382 059-082 with the new TOPS code of JIA. This allowed them to work through to the continent, serving ECC customers in Switzerland and Italy via the Dover-Dunkerque train ferry and then the Channel Tunnel."

709385000-029 PIB, then JIB Fauvet Girel 1981 TSL/Grainflow Grain E518
https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/grainpolybulk
Green livery with Grainflow / Polybulk branding
https://www.flickr.com/photos/flickrway/50241118803/
Info from 1990 shows owner as CAIB, hired by STS

709280000-029 PIA, then JIA CFMF France 1983 Scottish Malt Distillers Grain E538
Originally used to transport barley from East Anglia to Scotland for whisky production. White with blue stripes
https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/maltsterspolybulk
https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/3933330303/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocturnaljournal95/4843145009/
Info from 1990 shows owner as Scottish Malt Distillers.
In the late 1990s some of these were used on Hardendale - Margam lime traffic, in the same livery but very faded, as seen here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lastarial/albums/72157637590923445

709280030-081 PIA, then JIA Fauvet Girel 1983-4 TSL/Grainflow Grain E561
Green with Grainflow / Polybulk branding
https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/grainflowpolybulk
Info from 1990 shows owner as TSL

709382100-129 PIA, then JIA Fauvet Girel 1984 STS Grain E574
https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/stspolybulk
Originally in bright orange STS livery which faded to salmon pink, used for imported grain from New Holland (near Immingham), also for international traffic
https://www.flickr.com/photos/johndedman/42229433784
Info from 1990 shows owned by CAIB/STS

709292201-215 PIA, then TIA and JIA Arbel Fauvet 1987 Tiphook Powders E689
These were built to convey powders and were originally in a Tiphook livery, but saw little use until leased by Cerestar in 1991.
Cerestar used them for starch traffic from Terneuzen to Aberdeen area paper mills. They also worked to/from Trafford Park (Manchester).
This photo shows one of these wagons in use in 1998 (Cerestar / Tiphook Rail branding) https://www.flickr.com/photos/johndedman/8437975711
This photo of 7092922125 in storage in 2010 has Imerys branding and a "Tiphook Rail" logo - https://www.flickr.com/photos/camperdown/46770416234
One of these Cerestar wagons (7092922133) is used as the cover image for this book -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/International-Wagons-Colour-Modeller-Historian/dp/0711034044

879382000-021 IRB Fauvet-Girel 1974 E453
Previously 870998000-021
Info from 1990 shows owner as Polybulk, couldn't find any photos, might not have been common in UK.

889282000-009 IPB, then IRB Fauvet Girel 1974 CAIB E442 Belgian - Slab Sides.
Previously 879282000-009
Info from 1990 shows owner as CAIB
This photo shows 8792820098 with "Continentale" logo - https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/frenchpolybulk/h348e86a5#h348e86a5

889380000-110 IPB, then IRB Fauvet Girel 1974-75 Grain E442 Belgian - Slab Sides
https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/belgianpolybulk
Previous number series 880998000-110
Green with large "Polybulk" logo as seen here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/25691226@N07/6286887284/
Later purchased by CITA (grey livery with CITA logo) and renumbered to 889282xxx series (IPB)
3 of these wagons were acquired by Nacco and renumbered 879384000-002 in 1990 for Kings Lynn - Duxford urea traffic.
This photo shows 8793840012, light blue with NACCO branding - https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/frenchpolybulk/h297edc92#h297edc92
8793840012 had received "Hydro" branding by 1992 - one of these 3 wagons is pictured here (date is shown as 2017 but ignore that, probably early 1990s):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwpeakdaleworkscom/37248224251

 

[AndrewE]

In 1974 or '75 I worked on a job where we monitored the West of England traffic flows on the then-new Speedlink services (the Air-Brake Network, ABN being painted on some of the wagons.)
One of the regular flows was china clay in Polybulks from various loading points in Cornwall to the Potteries.

 

[Domagoj Vu]

Hi Adrian Barr, thanks for detailed information!
Since there are no plate containing former numbers of the wagon, and i done some research and in my conclusion that these are former E389 NACCO / Tiger wagons, on the front side of the wagon the fence where the ladder is also has differences. According to a comparison of my picture of the wagon with Paul Bartlett's, the profile matches this wagon. In this picture I can see a logo up to the roof, but unfortunately I can't recognize whose logo it is on the wagon, it's obviously Cerestar's. I have seen various clips on YouTube, but I see that these wagons have not been in the UK for years, does anyone have any information on the last time these NACCO / Tiger wagons were seen?

French registered covered bogie hopper 'Polybulk' NACCO TSL

French registered 'Polybulk' type wagons have operated in the UK since the mid 1970s carrying various loads. The collection contains both those with a swing lid and those with covers to the hoppers.

paulbartlett.zenfolio.com

As far as I can see, the said wagon for the continental part of Europe has no changes, the brake wheels are the same, as well as the chains, the only thing that caught my eye is that it has a sliding bar for the roof in the middle, while they were driving in the UK it was not there, on the NACCO- there is a red line in this picture, but as far as I can see, the line on the roof is painted over, while this sliding line was supposedly added when they left the UK. I stand next to wagon to take a closer look if i can find any remains of NACCO or tiger logo, sadly wagon is well painted so i could not see nothing. They mostly pealed NACCO and Tiger stickers off the wagon.

According to the position of the inscription about Granit Negoce, the profile also corresponds to NACCO's, the same from this photo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/99279...j2Y-ndVupY-ndVu5a-s9t9zT-ndVoWH-nwUs3n-nSRijR), but it is possible that on the other side of the wagon there was a plate with previous numbers, on the other side, unfortunately, I did not go, considering that another group was crumpled next to the wagon, and considering that the one with the grains had the locomotive on, I didn't dare to slip between the two trains. Given that this is a very rare type of wagon, I'm afraid that it will be difficult to catch it again, considering that it drives in all directions from Italy through Slovenia and a bit to Hungary, then through Croatia to Romania and so on in a circle.

Those grain trains have not been in Croatia for years since HŽ rejected them, but since private carriers came to us, considering that our HŽ Cargo likes trucks and not trains and as we have also executed various loads, now I see such a variety types of grain wagons thanks to private operators, so they also take UK profile wagons.

So yeah, confusion and delay by HŽ can still bring surprises!

Thanks everyone for all informations of these wagons, since i'm tired and i can't do anymore to do research ill probarly do at mondey. Good night!

 

[Cowley]

Hi Adrian Barr, thanks for detailed information!
Since there are no plate containing former numbers of the wagon, and i done some research and in my conclusion that these are former E389 NACCO / Tiger wagons, on the front side of the wagon the fence where the ladder is also has differences. According to a comparison of my picture of the wagon with Paul Bartlett's, the profile matches this wagon. In this picture I can see a logo up to the roof, but unfortunately I can't recognize whose logo it is on the wagon, it's obviously Cerestar's. I have seen various clips on YouTube, but I see that these wagons have not been in the UK for years, does anyone have any information on the last time these NACCO / Tiger wagons were seen?

French registered covered bogie hopper 'Polybulk' NACCO TSL

French registered 'Polybulk' type wagons have operated in the UK since the mid 1970s carrying various loads. The collection contains both those with a swing lid and those with covers to the hoppers.

paulbartlett.zenfolio.com

As far as I can see, the said wagon for the continental part of Europe has no changes, the brake wheels are the same, as well as the chains, the only thing that caught my eye is that it has a sliding bar for the roof in the middle, while they were driving in the UK it was not there, on the NACCO- there is a red line in this picture, but as far as I can see, the line on the roof is painted over, while this sliding line was supposedly added when they left the UK. I stand next to wagon to take a closer look if i can find any remains of NACCO or tiger logo, sadly wagon is well painted so i could not see nothing. They mostly pealed NACCO and Tiger stickers off the wagon.

According to the position of the inscription about Granit Negoce, the profile also corresponds to NACCO's, the same from this photo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/99279...j2Y-ndVupY-ndVu5a-s9t9zT-ndVoWH-nwUs3n-nSRijR), but it is possible that on the other side of the wagon there was a plate with previous numbers, on the other side, unfortunately, I did not go, considering that another group was crumpled next to the wagon, and considering that the one with the grains had the locomotive on, I didn't dare to slip between the two trains. Given that this is a very rare type of wagon, I'm afraid that it will be difficult to catch it again, considering that it drives in all directions from Italy through Slovenia and a bit to Hungary, then through Croatia to Romania and so on in a circle.

Those grain trains have not been in Croatia for years since HŽ rejected them, but since private carriers came to us, considering that our HŽ Cargo likes trucks and not trains and as we have also executed various loads, now I see such a variety types of grain wagons thanks to private operators, so they also take UK profile wagons.

So yeah, confusion and delay by HŽ can still bring surprises!

Thanks everyone for all informations of these wagons, since i'm tired and i can't do anymore to do research ill probarly do at mondey. Good night!

I’ve just unlocked this for you to add some more information.

 

[Domagoj Vu]

Good evening wagonspotters, today i,ve manage to catch former STS polybulk wagons, six total of them, and i've manage to get their former UK numbers also.
The wagons are reclassified again from Uapps to Uafoos for some reason, and received brand new Channel Tunnel sticker again, i'll post images possibly this weekend, but for now here are current french registered numbers with their former UK registered numbers:
33 87 F-VTG 9382 046 - 9 Uafoos >>> Unkown (ripped off STS metal plate and faded number)
33 87 F-VTG 9382 048 - 5 Uafoos >>> Unkown (ripped off STS metal plate and no visible number)
33 87 F-VTG 9382 040 - 2 Uafoos >>> 33 70 9382 118 - 5
33 87 F-VTG 9382 022 - 0 Uafoos >>> 33 70 9382 100 - 3
33 87 F-VTG 9382 023 - 8 Uafoos >>> possibly 33 70 9382 117 - x? (overpainted, olny 33 70 is visible)
33 87 F-VTG 9382 044 - 4 Uafoos >>> 33 70 9382 122 - 7

Sadly i did not had time to see the other side of the wagons, ill try once again when they come up again.

 

[WesternLancer]

Good evening wagonspotters, today i,ve manage to catch former STS polybulk wagons, six total of them, and i've manage to get their former UK numbers also.
The wagons are reclassified again from Uapps to Uafoos for some reason, and received brand new Channel Tunnel sticker again, i'll post images possibly this weekend, but for now here are current french registered numbers with their former UK registered numbers:
33 87 F-VTG 9382 046 - 9 Uafoos >>> Unkown (ripped off STS metal plate and faded number)
33 87 F-VTG 9382 048 - 5 Uafoos >>> Unkown (ripped off STS metal plate and no visible number)
33 87 F-VTG 9382 040 - 2 Uafoos >>> 33 70 9382 118 - 5
33 87 F-VTG 9382 022 - 0 Uafoos >>> 33 70 9382 100 - 3
33 87 F-VTG 9382 023 - 8 Uafoos >>> possibly 33 70 9382 117 - x? (overpainted, olny 33 70 is visible)
33 87 F-VTG 9382 044 - 4 Uafoos >>> 33 70 9382 122 - 7

Sadly i did not had time to see the other side of the wagons, ill try once again when they come up again.

Thanks for this update post!