Cargowaggons in Cornwall

[The Fatadder]

With Jon Hall recently posting that he is looking at releasing a kit for the IVA single 2 axle Cargowaggon, I am trying to find evidence of them in Cornwall in the late 90s.  I am sure that I have seen a photo somewhere but just cant manage to place it.

 

The bogie wagons were clearly the most common, and make up the fast majority of vans in use on 1998/99 clay trains.  I have also found photos of the twin wagons in use, having seen one photo of a single pair and another with 3 pairs.  However the 2 axle vans seem more illusive.

 

So has anyone seen photos of the 2 axle Cargowaggon vans in Cornwall?

[Kris]

VGA's were used about that period for the Fitzgerald Lighting services from Bodmin. There are a couple of photos showing them on these services. As they are very similar looking wagons could this be what you are remembering?

[The Fatadder]

58 minutes ago, Kris said:

VGA's were used about that period for the Fitzgerald Lighting services from Bodmin. There are a couple of photos showing them on these services. As they are very similar looking wagons could this be what you are remembering?

I wouldn’t think so as the late Cargowaggon text on the side is pretty distinctive. 
 

at any rate it’s certainly plausible that one could have shown up, should a European customer have a need for a small batch of bagged clay outside of the regular deliveries.  (There are plenty of photos showing these sort of one off moves in either slurry or bulk powder wagons which were always more attractive to photographers it seams than the van trains)

[Rods_of_Revolution]

The main issue in Cornwall was the length of such wagons, as the track work in clay facilities and on the branchlines was of a tight radius. I was talking to someone in Plymouth a few years ago who was involved with train planning in the area. They told me that anything with two axles that was longer than a VGA was a 'no-go' as it would require gauge clearing the wagon (bufferlocking being the main issue,) which wouldn't have been worth it for the occasional Speedlink/Enterprise working. This is probably why modern aluminimum sided two axle ferry vans were so rare in Cornwall, as many of them are longer than a VGA. I can only recall seeing one photo and that was a Spanish registered Transfesa branded van.

 

Cheers,

 

Jack

Edited February 22, 2021 by Rods_of_Revolution