Manchester Liners

[Mol_PMB]

This photo records the arrival of the inaugural ML cellular container ship sailing from Manchester to Montreal.

Among the Manchester Liners containers here is one of the early ribbed ones with the flag logo on a panel - look just above the rear of the forklift:

I think the container next to the caboose is one with the spaced-out small black lettering as per a previous post above. The arrangement of logo panels and vents looks the same, along with the reinforced section over the fork-truck slots.

 

Does anyone recognise the logo on the nearer ribbed container, just behind the cab of the forklift? Probably not Manchester Liners but might have come on the same ship.

 

I also found this film clip at the Manchester end of the same inaugural voyage, but I haven't been able to view it. Looks like it might include some shots of the container stacks.

http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/MANCHESTER-TO-MONTREAL/081975bc16764fd4a0d460291dad550f

Here's a still of another unidentified container in the stack (upper right):

 

Mol

 

 

 

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Mol_PMB
Managed to access film clip and grab a still

[Mol_PMB]

I've now got a copy of Jane's Freight Containers 1971-72. As well as some more photos, the page covering Manchester Liners includes a listing of their owned container fleet at that time:

 

Dry 20x8x8: 4133

Dry 40x8x8.5: 272

Top Loading 20x8x8: 573

Open Top 20x8x4: 806

Insulated: 20x8x8: 712

Bulk: 20x8x8: 403

 

So in 1971, 60% of the containers were 20x8x8 standard dry boxes.

There were good numbers of soft-top (described as top loading) containers (8%) and half-height open top containers (12%). Both these types appear in many photos.

The insulated containers are less often seen (or perhaps less often identified). Some were painted white but these are rare in photos.

The bulk containers (go up a few posts for photos of these) were 6% of the fleet but often hard to identify in photos.

ML had just started to acquire 40' containers and these were 8'6" high, see below.

 

I have found evidence of numerous UK-based manufacturers building containers for Manchester Liners in this period, including Metro-Cammell, Duramin, McArdle, Central Containers, and Concargo.

I've already featured an early Met-Camm open top container a few posts above, but here's conventional box MLA 83732 (of the classic flush-sided type) with the Metro-Cammell name visible at the top of the door:

Here's a Central Containers box of the same type as owned by Manchester Liners:

 

ML also seems to have leased some containers in the early years (or at least carried containers leased by others) and the leasing companies included CTI (Container Transport International), Translode Units Ltd (based in Ireland), and Commercial Finance Containers Ltd (based in Manchester).

I think the mystery one in my previous post may be a CFC container.

 

 

 

 

 

[arran]

 

HI All

 

Not finished but getting there .

 

Regards Arran

 

 

 

[arran]

HI All 

 

Manchester liners are now in stock .

 

Regards Arran

[Jim76]

On 22/09/2022 at 22:15, arran said:

HI All 

 

Manchester liners are now in stock .

 

Regards Arran

Hi Arran, these look great. What era of containers are these models based? Jim

[Mol_PMB]

I'm not sure if I ever posted photos of my 7mm scale containers in the ML theme (and if I did they will have ended up in the electronic equivalent of the Bermuda triangle).

Only one of them (so far) is actually a Manchester Liners example but the others are typical of the containers carried by ML ships in the very early days of ISO containerisation (1966-70).

 

This photo I recently acquired shows the earliest grey ML containers in reality, along with the CTI lease containers. The ML logo stickers didn't last very well in reality!

The grey ML boxes were made by Metro-Cammell in Birmingham, and the red CTI ones by Central Wagon in Wigan.

[Mol_PMB]

On 24/09/2022 at 08:59, Jim76 said:

Hi Arran, these look great. What era of containers are these models based? Jim

With the 8'6" height, yellow top and the MLLU code, these would be mid-1970s onwards.

They look very good, but being a pedant I think they should only have a flat logo panel at the right-hand end? Some also had 'MANCHESTER LINERS' on the fixed end.

I'm comparing to photos of ML containers with similar numbers, features and livery, but I confess there are a whole host of detail differences so Arran may be accurate to his prototype.