A VDA 2-axle van which for many years graced Hinksey Sidings here in Oxford has disappeared. It had been attached to a set of cable drum-carriers which were dispatched to Kingsbury some months ago, but the van was left behind. Can anyone advise what happened to it?
Just found your post when looking for last year's thread on 2-axle wagons...
That must have been 200879 (in the guise of a VXA), as seen here at Hinksey in 2022:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/86734924@N03/51934274343/
The other end of the cable train had VXA 200493 on it (former VCA), looking rather smart in EWS livery a couple of years earlier:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/86734924@N03/50192570211/
Cable train en-route in 2022 with 200879 visible:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/153712773@N08/51887899717/in/photostream/
As for where it went, having been red carded for some time, both 200879 and 200493 moved as follows:
6M28 Hinksey - Bescot 16th July
6D44 to Toton 17th July
6E16 to Doncaster 18th July
6Z71 to Attercliffe 5th September
Searching for photos of the wagon helped me to find a picture of its final movement to Attercliffe (which I couldn't find before when searching for the headcode), so thanks for that!
6Z71 passes Hexthorpe on the morning of 5th September, with a short consist resembling an old Speedlink trip:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/197671115@N03/54032529885/in/photostream/
200879 brings up the rear, having acquired a strange blue and yellow livery at some point:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/197671115@N03/54032531305/in/photostream/
I had planned to go out to take a photo of 6Z71 but didn't in the end... should have done as it's very rare to see any former VAA / VBA / VCA / VDA types on the move and I rather like them.
VXA 210306 survives as another former VDA (used with the Skako "Octopus" ballast train mainly working off Millerhill) but has been modified and doesn't have the authentic look of those other two:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/36034969@N08/7060270177/
