Just £9.99 (N part 38)...
I didn't need this wagon. There, I've said it, confession made, it is off my chest. So, why then, is it here?
First of all, what is it? It's a Graham Farish N scale OBA with modified 'high' ends, decorated for Plasmor Blockfreight. I really like the livery, it's blend of Railfreight red and green, I can imagine a rake of these with the distinctive concrete block loads looking great on a layout - but I've just got one, and that's because it was a bargain I couldn't resist.
So what were the prototype used for? I vaguely recall reading about 'trainload' flows of construction products at the tail end of the Speedlink era in my childhood. However, digging about online reveals very little about the freight flow itself, just a myriad of links to Bachmann and Farishwagons! Paul Bartlett has a series of photos (useful for weathering and detailing - as well as when I add a load) and he states they were used on a flow from Heck to Biggleswade? Dan Adkins has a photo on Flickr of a later 'rebuild' into PNA form from 2014, and if you look on Flickr you can find a vast array of photos showing both as built, rebuilt and mixed formations. It appears the flow is still running, well at least it was in 2020...
So there isn't really any justification for a single wagon to appear at Paxton Road, no matter how you roll the dice. They were and are used on block trains - so the reasons of 'it was a bargain' and 'I like it' have finally found a home on my 'grown up' model railways. Weathering is a mix of my usual methods, washes (33/98) airbrush (133, 245, 27004) and detail painting (33/100). It still awaits DG couplings, but that can wait until I can face soldering up some more 'droppers' for the uncoupling loops! Until next time, more soon...
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A comment from Steve Carter, received by email:
ReplyDeletePlease forgive me sending through a comment via email but I'm not on GMail or Blogger so couldn't leave it on your blog page!
It concerns the post you've added showing the Plasmor OBA wagon which was used on for traffic from Heck - according to "Railway Freight Operations" by Paul Shannon there was a five times a week service which served Biggleswade and Bow on three days and Biggleswade only for the remaining two. It also says that in total there were 77 PNA (ex OBAs) dedicated to the traffic.
It still runs today but it is on an 'as required' basis - I know a DB driver (DB Cargo being responsible for operating it these days) and he posted the following on the RailUKforums website a while back :
"As the Driver on 4E25/6H86 Last week, The train travels from Plasmor's Heck site and recesses in Peterborough West Yard. We sign on at 04.18 to prep train for a 05.10 departure (at this point it has 24 or very occasionally 25 wagons loaded).
Arrival at Biggleswade on the Up slow we propel across the ladder and stop by 'A' frame. The ground staff let us in the yard and we propel into an empty road and drop off Biggleswade's 12/13 loaded wagons. we shunt across and pick up the empties and place them out by the catch points then split the loaded and await our path to Bow.
Coming home on the Down Slow we stop at 'B' frame drop ground staff off to work the frame then draw forward, ground staff works the frame and we propel to reconnect two halves. Again await the signalman's pleasure to take back north.
Why do we not take both portions to Bow ?? Quite simply not enough room, it would back shunting a ball ache in the time we have"
Incidentally the book I referred to is quite a useful item as it gives details of traffic flows for the various freight sectors (it can be found online for not a lot). First issue was 1999 so very much in the privatised era but many flows were quite well established before then so can be used for back dated information, details for it as follows:
ISBN 0-7110-2660-2 Ian Allan ABC Railway Freight Operations by Paul Shannon
Anyway keep up the good modelling work and may 2023 be a prosperous and productive year for you!
Regards
Steve Carter
P.S. A quick search on Realtime Trains suggests it last ran in November.
Hi James
ReplyDeleteTo add to this or you my already know. Plasmor at Great Heck had in July 2021 two locos. Both in what I assume are Plasmor's livery . The Industrial Railway Society bulletin July 2021 #1071 had a note and a photo that Sentinel 10280 was stabled with wagons by the East Coast Mainline and the earlier Fowler 0-4-0 was by the wagon repair shop. The IRS photo does no show the wagons however. When I visited back in 2001 I think they were using the OBA wagons and only had the Fowler which was a 1966 model. Have e-mailed a couple of photos from then
Best regards
Alan
Thank you Alan
DeleteI've seen these wagons quite a few times, mostly at Biggleswade; as my pass covers me as far as Peterborough I quite often head up that way for a bit of spotting and just a change of scene. It's always struck me as a possibility of a (relatively) short block train working to incorporate into a layout. Coincidentally, I bought a Farish OAA in Speedlink livery yesterday for a similar amount...actually, my N gauge stash is growing quite fast!
ReplyDeleteBiggleswade also has a (Sentinel?) shunter which can sometimes be seen doing its thing while passing on the ECML...I'll have to see if there's a suitable place to watch from and go and visit at some point.
These Bach-far wagons are a light year ahead of the older Farish examples hence why £9.99 seemed such a bargain! Thanks for the intel Simon, I love how my blog seems to coalesce a collective of information from different views and angles. Good luck with the N project!
DeleteSimon
DeleteWould be interested to know where/for whom the "Sentinel" shunter works for as not aware of anything in Biggleswade and its not a million miles away from me
Best regards
Alan