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(Scrap?) Wagons on the move.
- Thread starter Towers
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RailUK Forums
Peter Sarf
Established Member
Those look like ferry vans (not the normal curtain sided).
I very very very vaguely recall there were some left at somewhere like Paddock Wood for so long that people thought they could never move again.
I very very very vaguely recall there were some left at somewhere like Paddock Wood for so long that people thought they could never move again.
Interesting!
I clearly wasn’t paying attention as I hadn’t registered that only one of them is in fact a curtainsider!
Gloster
Established Member
The first one is a BR Diagram 1/227 Ferry Van dating from the early 1960s. I don’t think that the second one is a conversion of a Ferry Van as those that weren’t reduced to underframe level usually kept the original ends.
Bob figgis
Member
Many years ago I used to walk the fence at the M.O.D Bicester. These look very similar to the wagons that were used internally on site.
ChiefPlanner
Established Member
One looks like an ex BR Ferrywagon (as mentioned above) - "VJX" on Tops. Once BR had stopped sending it's own ago overseas , they had very little commercial use in the UK , and we often used as barrier wagons etc for dangerous goods flows. Usurped by much more modern Cargowaggons etc for European traffic , ditto the VXX fleet domestically.
It was a relief for BR to sell some off for internal use to the MOD , which looks line one in the picture.
It was a relief for BR to sell some off for internal use to the MOD , which looks line one in the picture.
Gloster
Established Member
The second wagon does look like it is one of former Procor curtain-sided wagons bought by the Ministry of Defence from CAIB in 1997. They were numbered MODA 7427-7446 and coded PMA.
Adrian Barr
Member
Just noticed this thread...
This drone shot of Bicester sidings from 2021 shows examples of both the ferry vans (in faded green) and the blue curtain-sided vans in the background - if you zoom in, there are some on the left of the shot and also between the trees in the middle. https://www.flickr.com/photos/robmcrorie/51418452724/ (Photo: robmcrorie)
So Bicester is the likely origin, headed either for scrap or possibly preservation - two of those ferry vans were recovered from Peterborough yard a few years ago and preserved.
There's a short history of the ferry vans here (with some nice photos on rotation) - https://rapidotrains.co.uk/br-dia-1-277-vix-ferry-van/
I also wrote about them in this post, discussing their use as barrier wagons on commercial explosives traffic from Gathurst, recoded from VIX to VJX or RBX after their international use ended in the early 1980s.
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/identifying-rolling-stock.275719/post-7092233
The blue curtain-sided wagons were coded PVA before their transfer to MoD use. According to "Private Owner Wagons in Colour" by David Ratcliffe, in the Speedlink era during the 1980s they had been used on traffic such as bagged fertiliser, palletised patent fuel blocks, bagged cement and roof tiles. They were also used on Campbells Soup traffic from Kings Lynn, initially supplementing but eventually replacing the shorter curtain-sided PVA vans that carried the Campbells Soup livery (seven of which also ended up with the MoD).
PVA in Procor blue livery (PR 6925 at Hoo Junction in 1986) https://www.flickr.com/photos/hmillington/2044071952/ (Photo: Huw Millington)
PVA in Campbells Soup livery (BRT 6913 at Bescot in 1986) https://www.flickr.com/photos/hmillington/2043271953/ (Photo: Huw Millington)
This drone shot of Bicester sidings from 2021 shows examples of both the ferry vans (in faded green) and the blue curtain-sided vans in the background - if you zoom in, there are some on the left of the shot and also between the trees in the middle. https://www.flickr.com/photos/robmcrorie/51418452724/ (Photo: robmcrorie)
So Bicester is the likely origin, headed either for scrap or possibly preservation - two of those ferry vans were recovered from Peterborough yard a few years ago and preserved.
There's a short history of the ferry vans here (with some nice photos on rotation) - https://rapidotrains.co.uk/br-dia-1-277-vix-ferry-van/
I also wrote about them in this post, discussing their use as barrier wagons on commercial explosives traffic from Gathurst, recoded from VIX to VJX or RBX after their international use ended in the early 1980s.
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/identifying-rolling-stock.275719/post-7092233
The blue curtain-sided wagons were coded PVA before their transfer to MoD use. According to "Private Owner Wagons in Colour" by David Ratcliffe, in the Speedlink era during the 1980s they had been used on traffic such as bagged fertiliser, palletised patent fuel blocks, bagged cement and roof tiles. They were also used on Campbells Soup traffic from Kings Lynn, initially supplementing but eventually replacing the shorter curtain-sided PVA vans that carried the Campbells Soup livery (seven of which also ended up with the MoD).
PVA in Procor blue livery (PR 6925 at Hoo Junction in 1986) https://www.flickr.com/photos/hmillington/2044071952/ (Photo: Huw Millington)
PVA in Campbells Soup livery (BRT 6913 at Bescot in 1986) https://www.flickr.com/photos/hmillington/2043271953/ (Photo: Huw Millington)
