Possible ideas for scratchbuilt 16'6" wagon?

[Nick Holliday]

By coincidence, the current (March) BackTrack magazine has an article by Edward Gibbins about PO wagons, and he has supplied some interesting data which applies to the latest enquiry.

At the end of 1938, of the 640,000 PO wagons accounted for, 400,000 were owned by the collieries and 125,000 by merchants and factors (the big boys) and 64,000 by the coal trade (presumaby the difference is made up of non-coal carrying wagons and tankers)

When the Government took over the wagons in 1939, only 30% of the wagons were built after 1918. (Most of these would probably be to the RCH 1923 standards)

Of these requisitioned wagons, 28,114 were 8 ton capacity (I would expect most of these to be old and probably 5 plank) and 272,901 10 ton capacity.  So if one were to say that 10% of the latter were 5 plank high, the rest 6, 6½ and 7 plank high, then roughly 55,000 wagons then in use were this type, approximately 10% overall of the entire PO fleet, so plenty of justification for their inclusion in a train.

To add to Jonathan's observation, in Locomotives Illustrated No 119 - The Brighton Radial Tanks - there is a wonderful view of Norwood Junction taken circa 1937 (according to the caption) with a selection of PO wagons passing in the background, but, right near the camera is a venerable 5 plank wagon, with raised ends, carrying coal, owned by the Beswick Co-Operative Society in Manchester, quite a long way from home.  In the foregrund there is an even crustier tank wagon, but that is another story!

 

[Spitfire2865]

By coincidence, the current (March) BackTrack magazine has an article by Edward Gibbins about PO wagons, and he has supplied some interesting data which applies to the latest enquiry.

At the end of 1938, of the 640,000 PO wagons accounted for, 400,000 were owned by the collieries and 125,000 by merchants and factors (the big boys) and 64,000 by the coal trade (presumaby the difference is made up of non-coal carrying wagons and tankers)

When the Government took over the wagons in 1939, only 30% of the wagons were built after 1918. (Most of these would probably be to the RCH 1923 standards)

Of these requisitioned wagons, 28,114 were 8 ton capacity (I would expect most of these to be old and probably 5 plank) and 272,901 10 ton capacity.  So if one were to say that 10% of the latter were 5 plank high, the rest 6, 6½ and 7 plank high, then roughly 55,000 wagons then in use were this type, approximately 10% overall of the entire PO fleet, so plenty of justification for their inclusion in a train.

To add to Jonathan's observation, in Locomotives Illustrated No 119 - The Brighton Radial Tanks - there is a wonderful view of Norwood Junction taken circa 1937 (according to the caption) with a selection of PO wagons passing in the background, but, right near the camera is a venerable 5 plank wagon, with raised ends, carrying coal, owned by the Beswick Co-Operative Society in Manchester, quite a long way from home.  In the foregrund there is an even crustier tank wagon, but that is another story!

Wow, so a smaller wagon could be seen much later than you would think. So that helps me use many more photo resources. I have a few ideas already for my next wagon.

Maybe Ill do the earlier wagons from this company.

 

This one would require a kit body.

 

Might do this with my 15' underframe.,

Images not my own.

What do you think of these?