Old Vans That Farmers Bought, How Much Did They Cost

[cnw6847]

Hi,

 

After visiting the Mid Suffolk Railway yesterday and going home through deepest suffolk there were a number of old vans still about on farms etc, baring in mind its a lot of years since they were sold off.

 

I was wondering how much they cost at the time as I can't imagine farmers paying too much for them.

 

Anyone got any ideas on the cost?

[RANGERS]

I once did a job for a builder in Corby who had three or four containers in his yard for storage. Airfix had just released the conflat at the time and I asked if I could take some pics as they were still in the BR bauxite paint with the "flying crate" logos. He was a bit bemused but let me take them anyway, he told me he'd acquired them from a dealer when he moved into the yard in the late sixties and were the cheapest means of storage available. He did tell me how much he paid but I can't remember how much it was although I seem to remember something about ??8 each.

[cornelius]

Considering you could buy an entire loco for ??160 in 1968, I can't imagine they were expensive.

 

[smudgeloco]

It's a good question, and is something I have often wondered. My guess would be very cheap, as the problem was in taking it to where you wanted it! Farmers have the equipment to hand, tractors and trailers etc. They only took the body of the vans.

In Barrow in Furness, there's a cheap timber place next to the station, who's storage is made up of vans stacked on top of each other. It was something I spotted whilst in there one day.

[Pennine MC]

My guess would be very cheap, as the problem was in taking it to where you wanted it! Farmers have the equipment to hand, tractors and trailers etc. They only took the body of the vans.

 

 

At the risk of stating the obvious, they only took the body 'cos that's the bit the scrappies didnt particularly want (the underframes being steel, in most cases anyway)

[LNERGE]

I've been searching for photo's for years to confirm a story that i'm beginning to think is quite true... Many East Anglian lines after closure were still extant and used to store wagons before being sent for breaking up. I have been told that one group of wagons, numbering several hundred, had the bearings stolen whilst stored near Needingworth Junction. The carriage and wagon department had a float of ten sets of bearings that were fitted and the wagons and then promptly moved for breaking up. The destination was King's Lynn docks where they were scrapped and the bearings returned for the next batch. I know from my dealings with the scrap merchant that he sold many many wagon bodies. I think they could be delivered from a skip lorry. Sections of line that i know were used for wagon storage are.. March South Junction, down St Ives line and down goods loop, Bluntisham to Needingworth Junction and possibly through to St Ives, Godmanchester towards St Ives and Sandy North Junction to Sandy LNE Junction. I'm sure there were many other sections used also.

 

Edit.. I've copied part of a plan showing modifications at March South Junction. The remaining lines were used for wagon storage but i don't know for how long or what arrangements were put in place for the unsignalled bang road move to get there..

 

http://richard2890.fotopic.net/p62692887.html

[cnw6847]

Thanks for your replies.

 

What I have noticed is some of them look in fairly good nick considering how long they have been stored about.

Some have been repaired with corrugated iron.

[DonB]

I started a thread about grounded vans..... http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/topic/1486-grounded-vans/page__p__9620__fromsearch__1entry9620 , continuing on from a couple of topics in the RMweb3.

There is also a national survey of grounded vehicles mentioned in the above thread, it is far from complete and asks for reports and sightings.

[The Stationmaster]

I once did a job for a builder in Corby who had three or four containers in his yard for storage. Airfix had just released the conflat at the time and I asked if I could take some pics as they were still in the BR bauxite paint with the "flying crate" logos. He was a bit bemused but let me take them anyway, he told me he'd acquired them from a dealer when he moved into the yard in the late sixties and were the cheapest means of storage available. He did tell me how much he paid but I can't remember how much it was although I seem to remember something about ??8 each.

 

Sounds about right, I have it in the back of my mind that 'ordinary' (i.e vanfit size) bodies were at one time ??7 plus delivery etc - that would be late 1960s.

[Pennine MC]

Sounds about right, I have it in the back of my mind that 'ordinary' (i.e vanfit size) bodies were at one time ??7 plus delivery etc - that would be late 1960s.

 

And identical Hornby ones were about a tenner

[cobbler]

A friend of mine purchased 4 van bodies from Cohens scrapyard at Kingsbury in the late 1980,s. They came from VEA air braked box vans and were in fantastic condition. I think he paid ??500 each for them but this included the steel underframe with just the wheels and brake rigging removed.

 

Richard