THE PFA wagon story starts in 1986 when fuel firm Cawoods ordered 172 of them to carry containers of domestic coal and patent fuel for export to Ireland.
Cawoods originally used its containers on a route between Liverpool and Dublin by sea, but in May 1972 – when faced with ongoing dock labour issues at Garston – the company moved to a newly-built container handling wharf at Ellesmere Port (Cheshire). Although the terminal was close to the Ellesmere Port West to Eastham branch of the Manchester Ship Canal Railway, it only gained a rail connection in 1986 when the quay was extended, new overhead gantry cranes installed, four rail sidings built and the PFA fleet ordered.
The wagons were built by Standard Wagon at its Heywood Works (Lancashire) during 1986/87, being allocated TOPS numbers CAWD 92703-874 and design code PF012A. The low-deck, two-axle, airbraked wagons were designed to accommodate 20ft by 8ft containers. With coal being a relatively light bulk product, an 8ft-high container was essential to maximise capacity; but the low-platform design was required so the wagons could pass under existing coal washery loading screens.
The 838mm platform height was slightly lower than the wheel height so, in order to provide protection for each wheel, four inverted L-sections were fitted to the top of the floor, which protruded into a recess in the base of the specially-built coal containers.
The wagons’ length over the buffers was 8280mm and their wheelbase was 5000mm. They were fitted with UIC double-link suspension with parabolic taperleaf springs and, being ballasted to the minimum tare (empty) weight of 10.5 tonnes, they could carry 30.5 tonnes including the container.
CAWOODS USE
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 2020-Ausgabe von Rail Express.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 2020-Ausgabe von Rail Express.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
LNER puts remaining ‘91s' into warm store
The ongoing pandemic restrictions and major engineering works have resulted in the complete withdrawal of the last remaining ‘Electras’ from passenger service, although the plan is to resurrect them in the summer.
Mk.1 Restaurant-Buffet (RBR) cars
A SURPRISING number of Mk.1catering cars have survived to see service on the privatised railway, in private operator and charter trains. They may turn up on anything from an enthusiast special to higher-end dining trains and have been formed in trains as prestigious as the locomotive-hauledBlue Pullman’ set, the ‘Great Britain’ tours operated by West Coast Railways and the ‘Northern Belle’ tour train.
Powerscene
Our authoritative class-by-class review of newsworthy locomotive workings.
End for Freightliner Class 86/6s
The company’s Class 86/6 fleet down to just two examples as seven locos are stored.
Service reductions as Covid cases increase
An increase in Covid-19 cases in early January saw the governments in Ireland and Northern Ireland impose stricter lockdown measures that impacted on public transport.
East West Rail funding go-ahead
Although it was expected, £760 million of funding has now been confirmed to build the Western Section of the East West Railway scheme.
Travellers-Fare with Hornby's Mk.1 Restaurant-Buffet car
Hornby expands its range of retooled ‘OO’ gauge Mk.1 coaches with a brand new tooling for the Diagram 24 Restaurant-Buffet car (RB) and the Diagram 33 refurbished version (RBR). It models the vehicles in both original form, finished in BR maroon and Southern Region green, together with the RBR refurbished coaches. They remained in frontline service well into the 1990s, including Cross-Country workings.
Class 92 revolution
Despite its complex shape and high detail ratio compared to other modern six-axle locomotives, Revolution Trains chose the Class 92 to be its first 'N' gauge locomotive model.
Bottling it!
A dig into the Rail Express archive has revealed some rarely-seen photographs of the former rail-connected Express Dairy bottling plant in South West London, which today is the site of a large mosque.
1990s ‘N' gauge Class 950
Work on the ‘N’ gauge Class 950 Track Recording Unit project, a conversion based on a standard Graham Farish Class 150/1 model, is concluded by finishing the model in 1990s condition.
