Why are wagons left abandoned in sidings?

[Inafinus]

I have often pondered why redundant wagons that will never re-enter revenue-earning service are left abandoned – often in unusual places – for decades at a time.

Surely as time passes, the cost of moving these, presumably to be scrapped, becomes greater?

The wagons stabled along Seafield Road at Leith Docks, which are now fully entombed in vegetation, are a good example: https://elrcl.co.uk/index.php/seafield-leith-docks-area/

What events led them to be abandoned in the first place versus scrapping them when they left service?

The two open hoppers with trees growing out of them in the sidings by the junction to Newport Docks are another great example: https://maps.app.goo.gl/4f2zpcoJ6Dn7RXgeA

Is it the case that leaving them to rot indefinitely is cheaper than any cash recouped from scrapping?

Less visibly derelict, but surely costly to store, are the the WIA wagons at Didcot (though has been answered quite well in this thread: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/stored-surplus-wia-wagons.220425/)

An idle thought!

 

[norbitonflyer]

I would expect that most of them are parked up because there is something wrong with them (seized bearings or brakes for example) and they would need fixing before they could be moved. If that would cost more than their scrap value it's cheaper to leave them where they are.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Do they (abandoned wagons) ever get cut up and then removed from wherever they've ended up?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Do they (abandoned wagons) ever get cut up and then removed from wherever they've ended up?

Yes - a couple of months ago this fate befell the famous Shenfield Shark.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Yes - a couple of months ago this fate befell the famous Shenfield Shark.

Had to look that one up. Long abandoned brake van at Shenfield (adjacent to the Essex main line) and vaguely reminiscent of a mongrel cross between an old garden shed and a Class 142 Pacer?!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Had to look that one up. Long abandoned brake van at Shenfield (adjacent to the Essex main line) and vaguely reminiscent of a mongrel cross between an old garden shed and a Class 142 Pacer?!

That's the one. there was a thread on here about it, I think.

 

[twpsaesneg]

The National Wagon Preservation Group seem to think the Newport HAA's will be put up for sale soon, they are trying to raise £14000 to bid for them if this is the case.

Facebook Link to the relevant post.

Abandoned wagons are often in private sidings, with the owners possibly difficult to trace and reluctant to spend money removing them. With the cost of the various bits of paperwork needed to allow scrapping on site it's probably not particularly cost effective to do so a lot of the time, so they rot.

 

[fgwrich]

Do they (abandoned wagons) ever get cut up and then removed from wherever they've ended up?

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. It can very much vary on the amount of access a team would have without closing the railway to carry out such tasks. That is the main reason why the infamous Sutton Park wagons will just rot away in their positions, as they are too difficult and too expensive to justify removing when they offer no issues as to where they currently are.

 

[Spartacus]

Yes - a couple of months ago this fate befell the famous Shenfield Shark.

Not quite, it was removed before being cut up.

Generally can't be done close to running lines, but is done pretty regularly in yards, to one degree or another. Sometimes it's just cutting things down into chunks suitable for removal by road to a proper scrapyard.

 

[357]

Not quite, it was removed before being cut up.

Only moved to the other end of the siding to be next to the road access, where it was then cut up on site.

 

[19Gnasher69]

Is there a cost to the owner(s) of wagons for storing them on sidings? If so the likes of the vehicles noted above must have racked up quite the rental cost.

 

[fgwrich]

Is there a cost to the owner(s) of wagons for storing them on sidings? If so the likes of the vehicles noted above must have racked up quite the rental cost.

Sometimes, with some yards owned by operators like NR or private places like Arlington Eastleigh, Matchwood etc. No cost though if your yard is a DB owned yard stored full of DB owned wagons though!

 

[atillathehunn]

I think there's still the SNCF wagons rusting quietly away at Northwich.

 

[Iskra]

When the Deepcar/Stocksbridge-Rotherham steel flow ended, relatively recently; about 3 wagons had previously been stranded in the Stocksbridge steelworks yard due to a derailment, and the track damaged. Just before the flow ended, the track was repaired (presumably at significant cost considering a rail crane was also involved) and the wagons re-railed and eventually collected to be taken away. After the track was repaired, it has barely been used since. Presumably, who is paying is a significant factor in the decision-making process.

 

[starlight73]

There’s more seemingly abandoned wagons, some plant-ified, in this yard near Port Talbot (switch to satellite view).

https://maps.app.goo.gl/XXDJBoaXS9fPBWpj7?g_st=ic

 

[GardenRail]

I often think about this, usually when I pass Haywards Heath, just before the tunnel entrance, there's a wagon been there full of ballast for a few years now.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I often think about this, usually when I pass Haywards Heath, just before the tunnel entrance, there's a wagon been there full of ballast for a few years now.

Is it still there? Been there for more than a few years!

 

[Razorblades]

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. It can very much vary on the amount of access a team would have without closing the railway to carry out such tasks. That is the main reason why the infamous Sutton Park wagons will just rot away in their positions, as they are too difficult and too expensive to justify removing when they offer no issues as to where they currently are.

When you say Sutton Park, are you referring to the whole length of the Park line? The ballast wagons that were in the vicinity of Sutton Park Station were removed some time ago, long before the goods shed was converted into housing.

The ones near to the Streetly - Aldridge section where it crosses Chester Road are I think still in situ after they went rogue.

 

[Northerngirl]

There used to be a nice collection of wagons & brake vans near Shotton steel, they disappeared a few years ago.