The second book in this series covers the all-steel open mineral wagon fleet inherited by British Railways in 1948. Originally open wagons, those defined as having no cover and generally used for coal, minerals or other products not unduly affected by weather conditions, were of two types: private owner or Railway Company owned. The numbers of each type ran into many thousands. This situation persisted until the war when the vast private owner fleet was commandeered for use in the national emergency and to increase the numbers of this type of wagon in service, a great many all-steel mineral wagons were built.
This volume covers in detail the all-steel mineral wagons acquired by BR in 1948. This fleet included 12T former private owner wagons, GWR loco coal wagons uprated to 13T, the 16T wagons of the LNER, the LMS and the Ministry of Transport together with the 20T LNER, LMS, and GWR loco coal wagons and the other group of former private owner wagons which were all uprated to 21T.
This book is an excellent work of reference on a complex subject. David Larkin has produced a detailed description of this all-steel fleet including building dates and wagon numbers. The text is heavily illustrated with close to 200 black and white photographs. This volume and the others in the series are essential reading for those interested in this aspect of British railway history and for modellers of the post 1940 era.
The second book in this series covers the all-steel open mineral wagon fleet inherited by British Railways in 1948. Originally open wagons, those defined as having no cover and generally used for coal, minerals or other products not unduly affected by weather conditions, were of two types: private owner or Railway Company owned. The numbers of each type ran into many thousands. This situation persisted until the war when the vast private owner fleet was commandeered for use in the national emergency and to increase the numbers of this type of wagon in service, a great many all-steel mineral wagons were built.
