BR Dia. 1/227 'VIX' Ferry Van

[Classsix T]

These'll look smashing mixed in with the Cargowaggons behind a Peak en route to Harwich on my Hadleigh branch "neverwazza", thank you Rapido!

 

C6T. 

[Simon Bendall]

54 minutes ago, Covkid said:

Yes.  That was my thought.  Not sure whether my memory is playing tricks but ISTR some runner wagons had rows of rails welded on longitudinally for weight purposes.  

 

Those with rails were ex VDA. The ex VIX runners just retained their planked floors. Did one out of the Hornby chassis a while ago and was a bit of a pig!

[Nick G]

This one? Photo by Merfyn Jones and my model. 

[thohurst]

I am Immeasurably happy this wagon has been chosen! One I've hoped for many years would be made to this caliber. Well done Rapido!

[andythenorth]

Unexpected but welcome.  Thanks.

[Br50_Kab]

It seems to be a nice wagon and it looks far superior to the Hornby offering of the 1980s (?). I'll probably place a pre-order at Hatton's during the next days even though I don't know about the quality of Rapido products yet (I've pre-ordered, albeit at a very late stage, a gunpowder and an ex-SECR 7 plank (BR) wagon at the same retailer; so will hopefully be able to jduge the value for money aspect soon).....

 

@rapidoandy sorry if this is the wrong place to ask (fear of being) but as I mainly model continental German railways in the late 1950s/early 1960s (although my British stock has grown continuously since a visit to Britain in 2008) is there any chance of a HO gauge 1:87 model becoming available?

I know, ferry boat wagons are a bit of a nichey thing on the Continent (and I assume, one needs something like at least 50-60 normal vented vans to make up for one ferry boat wagon in comparison to numbers of "normal" stock), but after spotting one in a German railway magazine (Die DB vor 25 Jahren [German Railways 25 years ago]; all photos then being from 1966) as part of a goods train in the yard of Aachen-West I believe, I've always wanted to have one in H0 gauge as well. Unfortunately, continental manufacturers have made some ferry boat wagons but only continental types (if I remember correctly, Roco and Liliput German examples, LS Modeles French, Belgian and Swiss versions of a refrigated wagon soldin sets of two wagons each [I might have wanted one or several variants but at >100€ a set I've refrained from doing so] and Modellbahn Union making other post-war German types of vented and bolster designs).....

The problem could of course be, that you could only sell variants of the wagon being used in trade with continental Europe

 

Bendix

[Butler Henderson]

8 hours ago, Br50_Kab said:

It seems to be a nice wagon and it looks far superior to the Hornby offering of the 1980s (?).

Actually a Triang-Hornby introduction in 1970.

[Dan Griffin]

17 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Fear a knock on the door!

 

Mike.

They were given to me by the scrap company. As the signalman on duty that day,  DB turned up with a 66 from Toton and shunted them (along with a bream wagon, an OCA and a wooden vanfit) onto the siding closest to the A15. The scrap man turned up in a pair of vans and set their cutting gear up and we were all awaiting the trucks with the Hiab cranes on. As they were to be chopped and loaded into the trucks. They never showed so the 66 was instructed to put them back. But before doing so the chap from the scrap company, It may have been Sims metals, although i cant be sure, cut through the bolts holding the D plates on. He gave them to us but as No one else was interested they gave them all to me and they’ve been on my wall ever since. That was in 2008. 

It is pleasing to know they have been preserved as i saw them being craned away a few years ago. 

[Ian J.]

Silly question: what would be the minimum radius curve for these?

 

I'm looking at the mounting for the wheels/axles, and don't see any method for 'pivoting' to handle smaller radii, which if I remember correctly was done on the old Hornby model (?).

 

I don't think it would be an issue for me as the minimum radius on my layout is approximately 31 inches, but I'm curious to know.

[guzzler17]

17 hours ago, Simon Bendall said:

 Yes, some were. Would be good to know what the chassis looks like with the body off for conversion potential.

 

On the assumption that the body just clips onto the chassis then I cannot see a reason why Rapido cannot run off say an extra 250 chassis and sell them into the conversion market.  Of course there's a fine balance between supply and demand on what would be a niche product.

 

As part of their VIX release the N Gauge Society are also going to offer a limited amount of chassis-only in addition to fully finished wagons.  That market would be smaller than in 4mm but they've listened to potential customers and have been persuaded that the idea's a runner (small pun intended ).

[Enterprisingwestern]

8 minutes ago, guzzler17 said:

 

On the assumption that the body just clips onto the chassis then I cannot see a reason why Rapido cannot run off say an extra 250 chassis and sell them into the conversion market.  Of course there's a fine balance between supply and demand on what would be a niche product.

 

As part of their VIX release the N Gauge Society are also going to offer a limited amount of chassis-only in addition to fully finished wagons.  That market would be smaller than in 4mm but they've listened to potential customers and have been persuaded that the idea's a runner (small pun intended ).

 

I would imagine the difference in price would be negligible, maybe even higher to alter the production process for 250 models.

 

Mike.

[Dunsignalling]

30 minutes ago, Ian J. said:

Silly question: what would be the minimum radius curve for these?

 

I'm looking at the mounting for the wheels/axles, and don't see any method for 'pivoting' to handle smaller radii, which if I remember correctly was done on the old Hornby model (?).

 

I don't think it would be an issue for me as the minimum radius on my layout is approximately 31 inches, but I'm curious to know.

The Tri-ang-Hornby one had to negotiate the earlier types of Tri-ang track geometry, in which the No.1 radius was 13.5" (nowadays it's an inch bigger because the double track spacing is tighter).

 

I made up a set of these with the trucks bolted straight and they don't have any problem with current No.2 radius curves. 

 

John

[drjcontroller]

Can I ask you nice chaps from Rapido what the axle length is on these? I model in EM and need to know whether conversion will be relatively simple.

 

Thanks,

 

Douglas

[andyman7]

6 hours ago, Butler Henderson said:

Actually a Triang-Hornby introduction in 1970.

And it has thoroughly earned its keep, I reckon 50 years between upgrades means one can be justified now!

[montyburns56]

If any retailer wants to commission a limited edition....

 

 

By nigelmenzies

[Dungrange]

13 hours ago, Dan Griffin said:

That was in 2008. 

 

So what you are saying is that although they were craned off the network in 2018, the actually spent a decade abandoned in a siding and therefore would not have been part of any train post 2008 (probably earlier).  I'm just interested in their end of life usage.

[Simon Bendall]

32 minutes ago, Dungrange said:

 I'm just interested in their end of life usage.

 

Best you're looking at is the very earliest years of privatisation, those that were clinging on as support vans for engineers plant at the likes of York and Doncaster Hexthorpe. Don't think any made the 1990s in revenue use, just barriers and departmental.

[Dan Griffin]

9 hours ago, Dungrange said:

 

So what you are saying is that although they were craned off the network in 2018, the actually spent a decade abandoned in a siding and therefore would not have been part of any train post 2008 (probably earlier).  I'm just interested in their end of life usage.

More like almost 25 years ! The three that were left at Peterborough and removed in 2018 were dumped in various parts of the yard since around 1995! 
in this Roy Harrison video, you can catch glimpses of them at around the 14:40 mark in Spital yard, this where the GTR sidings are now.
 

 

what was interesting is that each had a different livery. One was original Brown, one Railfreight red/grey and one dutch.  

[jonhall]

There seems to be a very common variant missing and an unusual variation of it present.

 

The 'flying crate' livery seems to have been the standard for vans built at Ashford, I can only find examples that say 'through to the Continent by British RailWAYS' (the Rapido lettering says British Rail) is this deliberate, or has a boo-boo crept in?

 

Is there any evidence to suggest that BR ever referred the 'flying crate' logo as 'ferry link' or is this made up by Rapido? - if It is Rapido's invention (like Dapols mis-use of the 'rectank' description) please stop!

 

These were built to the standards of  UIC ORE type 3 wagons, SNCF and others had batches of ferry vans to the same dimensions, although with quite a lot of detail deferences.

 

Perhaps @rapidoandy can comment?

 

Thanks,

 

Jon

[Rivercider]

9 hours ago, Simon Bendall said:

 

Best you're looking at is the very earliest years of privatisation, those that were clinging on as support vans for engineers plant at the likes of York and Doncaster Hexthorpe. Don't think any made the 1990s in revenue use, just barriers and departmental.

I would be surprised if any were still conveying traffic in revenue use by 1985, unless there was some niche traffic flow to which they were specially suited rather than newer VAA/VBA/VCA/VDA/VGA. I do not remember them on the WR after about 1980, apart from as barriers, runners and in engineers use.

 

cheers 

[rapidoandy]

57 minutes ago, jonhall said:

There seems to be a very common variant missing and an unusual variation of it present.

 

The 'flying crate' livery seems to have been the standard for vans built at Ashford, I can only find examples that say 'through to the Continent by British RailWAYS' (the Rapido lettering says British Rail) is this deliberate, or has a boo-boo crept in?

 

Is there any evidence to suggest that BR ever referred the 'flying crate' logo as 'ferry link' or is this made up by Rapido? - if It is Rapido's invention (like Dapols mis-use of the 'rectank' description) please stop!

 

These were built to the standards of  UIC ORE type 3 wagons, SNCF and others had batches of ferry vans to the same dimensions, although with quite a lot of detail deferences.

 

Perhaps @rapidoandy can comment?

 

Thanks,

 

Jon

 

We do have a number of photos at say British Rail - I think there are even some on Paul Barlett's site.

 

 

Regards 'Ferrylink' I will enquire with the person in charge of the project.

 

For other people who have asked - we have tested these on 2nd radius curves and set track points with no issues found in both trains or being propelled/shunted. 

 

[jonhall]

51 minutes ago, rapidoandy said:

 

We do have a number of photos at say British Rail - I think there are even some on Paul Barlett's site.

 

 

 

OK I will try again more directly - you HAVE made a mistake with the flying crate version, it SHOULD read British Railways, and there is a photo as such of the wagon you are portraying on Paul's website. https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brferryvan/ef8652f

 

Jon

 

 

 

 

Edited February 27, 2022 by jonhall

[jonhall]

On 25/02/2022 at 15:18, Dan Griffin said:

i worked in the west yard at Peterborough yard for years and i may know where the D plates are from the three vans that were in the yard! 

 

Were any of those 3 built by Pressed Steel? The Ashford D plates have the number prefixed with GB78xxxx rather than the usual Bxxxxxx, and I wondered what the PS ones have?

 

Thanks

 

Jon

[rapidoandy]

Sorry - my mistake. In my haste dealing with the 2 year old on my day off I didn’t read the flying crate section.

 

It is already on our corrections list.

 

Andy

[Mark Saunders]

From the advertising official photos.