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14ton tank wagons - realism or fantasy?


Tim Hale

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Bachmann+37-680.jpg

 

The 14ton tank wagons by Bachmann (37-680) certainly seem to look like tank wagons of the steam era but they are well outside my comfort zone of knowledge. As tank wagons were a regular staple of traffic on the SW mainline albeit not as block trains, I would appreciate some guidance as to whether these particular series of models replicates any suitable prototype?

 

Thank you

 

Tim

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I know that this won't answer your question Tim, but it may be of interest and it does show that Bachmann will put an authentic livery on a wagon that has detail differences to the prototype.

 

Bachmann 37-683 John Robinson 14T tank;

 

post-6749-0-68788900-1340106365_thumb.jpg

 

Compare to the tank on the cover of 'Private Owner Wagons of Bristol & District, looking carefully at the strapping and brake V hangers: http://www.lightmoor.co.uk/view_book.php?ref=L9365

 

Also, check the brake gear on any Bachmann 14T tank as I've seen some with the brake handles on the wrong sides. Easy enough to swap over with a sharp knife and care.

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Bachmann+37-680.jpg

 

The 14ton tank wagons by Bachmann (37-680) certainly seem to look like tank wagons of the steam era but they are well outside my comfort zone of knowledge. As tank wagons were a regular staple of traffic on the SW mainline albeit not as block trains, I would appreciate some guidance as to whether these particular series of models replicates any suitable prototype?

 

Thank you

 

Tim

 

Tim

 

Bachmann produce a few different tank wagons. However, no manufacturer can cover all of the details of tank wagons - they varied in so many respects. However, this is a reasonable representation of the type introduced in the earlier part of the past century, repainted probably just before the war - the ESSO doesn't appear to have the shading that they were using in the mid 1930s. I've not found a photo of 1210, but I would expect Bachmann to have worked from an original. The ESSO Class A Tank wagons were quickly phased out at the end of the 1950s when ESSO was the first oil company to embrace vacuum braking and introduced both Class B (as Airfix/Dapol Chas Roberts tank wagon) and a longer Class A version. Other companies, not least SMBP continued to have wagons similar to this model until 1968 or there abouts.

 

More info on tank wagons can be found in :

 

Tourret R. (2009) Petroleum rail tank wagons of Britain. 2
nd
edition 304pp. Tourret Publishing, Oxford, GB, ISBN 978 0 905878 09 6 [Note that the first edition is very poor in comparison with this edition]

Tourret, R. (2001) British railways private owner tank wagons; Railways in profile series no. 14. Cheona Publishing 64pp. ISBN 1 900298 17 1 - very good general introduction

Coppin, Alan (1999) Oil on the Rails. Publ. Historical Model Railway Society. 162pp ISBN 0 902 835 17 3. - more to do with how the industry worked.

 

My own collections
show some of the considerable variation of these unfitted tank wagons.

 

By the way, this should have independent brakes, so I'm not sure how Bachmann get them wrong; there is no dog clutch. Both of the model photos above are correct.

 

Paul Bartlett
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I suspect that many of these colour schemes should be on saddle-mount tanks rather than the cradle-mount type Bachmann have produced. I assume they chose the cradle-mount so they could use a standard chassis without the lack of an open frame being too obvious.

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I suspect that many of these colour schemes should be on saddle-mount tanks rather than the cradle-mount type Bachmann have produced. I assume they chose the cradle-mount so they could use a standard chassis without the lack of an open frame being too obvious.

 

Not for this design! Saddle mounts are post war, no problem this livery is pre war.

 

Paul

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Not for this design! Saddle mounts are post war, no problem this livery is pre war.

 

Paul

 

Actually, most of the pictures of pre-war wagons in the Tourret book and elsewhere show saddle-mount wagons. Cradle-mount appear to have been in the minority! I think you are probably confusing saddle-mount with anchor-mount which is a more recent development

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Actually, most of the pictures of pre-war wagons in the Tourret book and elsewhere show saddle-mount wagons. Cradle-mount appear to have been in the minority! I think you are probably confusing saddle-mount with anchor-mount which is a more recent development

 

Yes, apologies, senior moment.

 

Found it, I have a xerox copy of a Wessex collection photo of 1210. The livery looks very accurate, but yes it is saddle mounted on a steel frame with independent brake rigging and a 10ft. 6in. wheelbase. built Turner Regd MR 81083 in 1920. Photo at Axminster 13.6.61 - and in stunning out of the box livery - so suitable for the SW. Indeed the very similar 1211 was also at Axminster on 7.4.63.

 

 

Paul Bartlett

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you live near Newton Abbot, the 'well-known' store next to the church tower in the centre is currently selling off a few 3-packs @ £19.50 (37-666B Esso. Black.Weathered). Good price and fine model I thought, so picked up a pack myself this morning... (different numbers and two with ladders) but there were at least three other packs to be had.

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If you live near Newton Abbot, the 'well-known' store next to the church tower in the centre is currently selling off a few 3-packs @ £19.50 (37-666B Esso. Black.Weathered). Good price and fine model I thought, so picked up a pack myself this morning... (different numbers and two with ladders) but there were at least three other packs to be had.

 

judge for yourselves.

 

Esso 2184 here http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/essounfit/e3533a56b & http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/essounfit/e25dc6567

 

2338 http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/essounfit/e23d1efad

 

Paul Bartlett

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  • 6 years later...

Class A tanks should have been silver, but post war shortages meant BR stipulated that stone could be used instead.

 

Private ownership remained painted on tank wagons and a few rectangular tanks were built after nationalisation. See various collections https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/pounbraked

 

I have a poor photo of an ACC rectangular tank in a freight hauled by an English Electric type 3 in the Midlands during 1965-6

 

Paul

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4 hours ago, hmrspaul said:

Class A tanks should have been silver, but post war shortages meant BR stipulated that stone could be used instead.

 

Private ownership remained painted on tank wagons and a few rectangular tanks were built after nationalisation. See various collections https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/pounbraked

 

I have a poor photo of an ACC rectangular tank in a freight hauled by an English Electric type 3 in the Midlands during 1965-6

 

Paul

 

Thanks again Paul, amazing stuff.

All tanks during 1939-45 were painted dark grey and normal colours started to appear in 1946.

Fascinating story for sure.

Would love to see that photo of the ACC and type 3?

 

Cheers

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  • RMweb Gold
3 hours ago, mikesndbs said:

 

Thanks, was hoping to see the type 3 as well :) amazing these old tank wagons were still going strong in 68!

When I was working at Curzon Street c1967 we had those on a regular basis coming out of Nechells via the ground frame between Aston and Vauxhall & Duddeston. May have been some of the same ones. There were also some very ancient round tanks in the circuit. I seem to remember Charles Roberts plates on some of the  wagons and one still had registration plate from 1918.

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3 minutes ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

When I was working at Curzon Street c1967 we had those on a regular basis coming out of Nechells via the ground frame between Aston and Vauxhall & Duddeston. May have been some of the same ones. There were also some very ancient round tanks in the circuit. I seem to remember Charles Roberts plates on some of the  wagons and one still had registration plate from 1918.

 

Thanks, certainly had their value out of them then :)

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19 hours ago, mikesndbs said:

 

Thanks, was hoping to see the type 3 as well :) amazing these old tank wagons were still going strong in 68!

Couldn't afford to waste film on commonly photographed locos; I was only a schoolboy. You haven't looked at much of my site have you?

 

A few survived in South Yorkshire a lot longer https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/ytdscenes

 

Paul

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