Jump to content
 

tractors on lowfits


Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold

hi all

i remember seeing some photos on rmweb of tractors on lowfit wagons can anybody please point me in the right direction

many thanks in advance

houseman

Hi Houseman,

 

Don't remember the link on RMWeb - but do remember the real thing!

 

David Brown tractors were loaded onto a variety of wagons at the site of the old L&Y Meltham Station.

 

From memory most of the wagons in use were bogie flats, but when an export order was going out almoszt anything that could carry the load was used.

 

I can remember looking over onto the platform end at Meltham and seeing shorter wagons than the bogie flats in use.

 

I can also remember that there were some photos out on the web showing this, but don't have a link to them.

 

Thanks

Link to post
Share on other sites

hi there thanks for this any idea where i might find the data sheet?

regards

houseman

Mine came from a drawer in the Control office at Newcastle Central 20+ years ago- it's one of the early sort, where some of the colour photos look like they've been hand-coloured on a black and white original.

I find these sheets fascinating- especially working out where they were taken. Lots are fairly obvious, but there are odd things like re-bar being unloaded at the railhead for Wylfa power station. There are also lots of interesting bits of BR cartage and loading equipment in the background of many of them.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I saw an interesting photograph once (but, alas, can no longer remember where to find it) of tractors being loaded onto 3-plank wagons at the Massey Ferguson factory in the 1950s (red tractors ... grey wagons .. lovely!)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest stuartp

Interesting that they have put a tractor on a conflat, I would have thought these wagons were mainly too busy with container traffic? Would it have been common to put machinery on one?

 

The red painted buffers also seem unusual.

 

I've certainly not seen a photo of a Conflat carrying anything other than containers (although I've seen plenty of photos the other way round - i.e. containers on any wagon but a Conflat, including some branded "NOT TO BE LOADED WITH CONTAINERS") so I suspect this might be a case of having a preserved tractor and a preserved Conflat handy.

 

There are some notes on (I think) the instructions which come with Red Panda chassis concerning the correct colours for Oleo buffer shanks in ex-factory condition. I'm fairly sure light grey and brick red are correct, depending on type, but I don't remember anything about scarlet. I'll check.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Interesting that they have put a tractor on a conflat, I would have thought these wagons were mainly too busy with container traffic? Would it have been common to put machinery on one?

 

The red painted buffers also seem unusual.

 

I'm not sure about earlier BR years but in the mid/late '60s both Conflats and Lowfits were 'special orders' (on the Rolling Stock Return) for many goods depots (unless they happened to regularly 'make' lots of empties(.

 

If you wanted a (goods) vehicle to load a road vehicle either a Loads Inpsector would order it (for anything a bit awkward or 'special') or you said what you wanted it for and usually you got a Lowfit for any vehicle that would fit on one (occasionally there might be a larger wagon but only if a Lowfit wasn't available. Conflats were never - to my knowledge - supplied against an order for loading road vehicles, but I was not everywhere on BR at once :rolleyes:

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm not sure about earlier BR years but in the mid/late '60s both Conflats and Lowfits were 'special orders' (on the Rolling Stock Return) for many goods depots (unless they happened to regularly 'make' lots of empties(.

 

If you wanted a (goods) vehicle to load a road vehicle either a Loads Inpsector would order it (for anything a bit awkward or 'special') or you said what you wanted it for and usually you got a Lowfit for any vehicle that would fit on one (occasionally there might be a larger wagon but only if a Lowfit wasn't available. Conflats were never - to my knowledge - supplied against an order for loading road vehicles, but I was not everywhere on BR at once :rolleyes:

In later BR days, containers were often loaded in 'High'opens- either because it made them more difficult to open in transit, or because it saved chaining down.

I found this shot of not one, but two, Conflats loaded with compressors on Andy Kirkham's site:-

http://andy-kirkham.fotopic.net/p56317988.html

Link to post
Share on other sites

I've certainly not seen a photo of a Conflat carrying anything other than containers ...

 

The shot that Brian has linked was shown on the old forum, a lovely sequence showing a 45/1 on the Roskear branch in Cornwall. Definitely unusual though, and they're only chocked, not roped.

 

As to preserved examples, I'd very much caution against taking them as being indicative of normal BR practice. With no disrespect intended to preservationists, modelling a preserved wagon is often as fraught with pitfalls as modelling another model

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest stuartp

"The Sheffield & Huddersfield Junction Railway" by Martin Bairstow has a photo of Meltham station in 1954 after David Browns had taken it over as a loading point. There are brand new tractors as far as the eye can see, but more relevant to this discussion, the empties provided to cart this lot away are all 3 plank opens, not Lowfits. I can't see whether they're fitted or not.

 

Oleo buffers variations according to Red Panda:

 

1. Light Aircraft Grey all over.

2. Widest part body colour or black, narrower part Light Aircraft Grey.

3. Widest part body colour or black, narrower part red lead.

 

Conflats loaded with compressors on Andy Kirkham's site:-

 

Never say never, clearly biggrin.gif

Link to post
Share on other sites

"The Sheffield & Huddersfield Junction Railway" by Martin Bairstow has a photo of Meltham station in 1954 after David Browns had taken it over as a loading point. There are brand new tractors as far as the eye can see, but more relevant to this discussion, the empties provided to cart this lot away are all 3 plank opens, not Lowfits

 

Putting my anal(ytical) hat on, I'd postulate that that's because 1954 was before the BR builds of Lowfit had reached full production and also before Meds/Medfits had fully devolved into use by the engineers. I've seen the odd shot of empty Lows and Mediums mixed in one train, and it does seem that Mediums were used as a handy substitute for the wagons either side of them in size (Lows or High Goods), but that ultimately there was little that they could do that the bigger and smaller wagons couldnt do just as well (except carry ballast and spoil) :D

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...