Freight at Kyle of Lochalsh

[Regularity]

Hi all,

 

I cam across this interesting photo on the Railscot website. Anyone know what the OBAs are loaded with, and whether it was in-bound or out-bound?

https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/57/490/

[Scottish Modeller]

Hi all,

 

I cam across this interesting photo on the Railscot website. Anyone know what the OBAs are loaded with, and whether it was in-bound or out-bound?

https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/57/490/

Hi there,

 

I have seen other photos showing OBA's loaded with logs.

 

Hope this helps

[NCB]

Hi there,

 

I have seen other photos showing OBA's loaded with logs.

 

Hope this helps

 

Seem to remember stacks of logs there, so it figures. Can't remember when though, might be fairly recent. Like the Great Western coach in the pic!

[Regularity]

The OBAs on the 26 seem to be loaded with something too shiny to be logs.

(It seems almost as if the whole country’s stock of them is in store on the other side of the pier!)

[Mark Saunders]

Looks like bagged product and could be fertiliser possibly Kemira from Ince & Elton ?

[Scottish Modeller]

Looks like bagged product and could be fertiliser possibly Kemira from Ince & Elton ?

Hi Mark,

 

I was checking back on Scottish Modellers - Yahoo group as I recall the same question being asked.

 

Bagged Products.......

 

Seed Potatoes, Coal/coke, Fertiliser are all said to have been sent through Kyle in one direction or the other.

 

Thanks

[Kylestrome]

It’s interesting to note the two 16 tonners in the foreground delivering household coal still in 1981.

 

Could the OBAs be engineers wagons?

 

David

Edited July 30, 2018 by Kylestrome

[Gordon A]

Are the loaded OBAs filled with scrap metal?

 

Gordon A

[clachnaharry]

I seem to recall a short lived flow of fish farm food. I didn't think it was large enough to justify the amount of OBAs in the photograph though.

 

MCVs were delivering coal to rural goods yards in Scotland up until 1984.

[Fat Controller]

It’s interesting to note the two 16 tonners in the foreground delivering household coal still in 1981.

 

Could the OBAs be engineers wagons?

 

David

The migration of OBAs to the engineers as 'Bass' was about 1984, so about three years later. I'd go with the fertiliser option, though they also could well be working back with round timber. There's certainly a lot of them.

[Regularity]

Aha. So quite possibly delivering fertilizer, and then back loaded with timber, the wagons in the background stored pending arrival of a freighter with timber from overseas.

 

Quite a nice bit of variety: ABN and VB freight, with the OBAs mostly still in maroon, and one of them in flame read and grey.

[Rivercider]

Aha. So quite possibly delivering fertilizer, and then back loaded with timber, the wagons in the background stored pending arrival of a freighter with timber from overseas.

 

Quite a nice bit of variety: ABN and VB freight, with the OBAs mostly still in maroon, and one of them in flame read and grey.

I would be very surprised if any timber came from overseas, more likely Scottish forestry.

I think the timber traffic really grew (see what I did there) a bit later than 1981.

 

On balance I would think it was more likely to be fertiliser traffic (from Ince & Elton), arriving in one or two trainloads so cartage and cranage need only be arranged once,

 

cheers 

[LBRJ]

At +400% magnification they definitely look like large shiny silver bags of something.

[eastwestdivide]

Maybe not shiny, but white/light in colour. It all looks quite messy for big bags of something. In the 2nd loaded wagon from the front it looks like one big bag surrounded by untidy bits??

[Mark Saunders]

Maybe not shiny, but white/light in colour. It all looks quite messy for big bags of something. In the 2nd loaded wagon from the front it looks like one big bag surrounded by untidy bits??

 

the whole of the wagon loaded with the bottom of the wagon full of dig dumpy bags and the excess material from the bags makes it look untidy, it is the nature of these beast when top loaded using the four handles at the top as these would not be palletised!

 

Mark Saunders

[keefer]

interesting variation on the red catering stripe on the BSO(T) - I've only ever seen pics with the stripe covering up to the end of the first window i.e. the bay where the counter/trolley was. This one seems to have it over the next 2 bays too.