www.conflat.com - www.conflat.co.uk

The Wagons

British Railways built over 20,000 'Conflat A' wagons to six different designs or 'diagrams', although all were basically similar. The most numerous were those built to diagram 1/069 which numbered almost 12,000; these were built in 13 batches or 'lots' including a single lot of 5,550 wagons built by Pressed Steel; it is not surprising, therefore, that three of ours come from this batch.

Even within each 'diagram' there were design variations, most notably the official rating of the vehicles which seemed to vary between 11 and 14 tons.

The Great Central Railway's Conflat collection currently consists of the following wagons:

• B505313 13T 'Conflat A' built by Pressed Steel, 1958.
  
  
  Photo © P. Hetherington 12/06/05.
  
  Arrived 06/06/05. (NT)
  
  Built to diagram 1/069 as part of lot 3153, this wagon ended its working life at Wolverton carriage works where it was allocated Internal User number 024881. It was used, along with several others, for moving bogies and other heavy components around the site.
  
  However, it had evidently been out of use for several years as, on arrival, the brakes were found to be seized on and the axleboxes were either dry or full of water. These basic problems were overcome shortly after arrival; the rest of the wagon appears to be in fairly good condition.
  
  In April 2008 the owner fitted this wagon with a new floor; as with B507489 (below) this has been made to cover the chain pockets.
  
  
  Photo © P. Hetherington 12/06/05.
  
  
• B507397 13T 'Conflat A' built by Pressed Steel, 1958.
  
  
  Photo © P. Hetherington 25/03/05.
  
  Arrived 23/03/05. (NT)
  
  Built to diagram 1/069 as part of lot 3153, this wagon ended its working life at Wolverton where it was allocated Internal User number 024875.
  
  The main problem with this wagon is that the outriggers (part of the frame) have rusted to almost nothing, therefore some serious welding will be needed before this wagon is returned to traffic. It also needs one Oleo hydraulic buffer repairing or replacing, and as with the other ex-Wolverton examples it also needs new floor timbers.
  
  
  Photo © P. Hetherington 25/06/05.
  
  
• B507489 13T 'Conflat A' built by Pressed Steel, 1958.
  
  
  Photo © P. Hetherington 25/03/05.
  
  Arrived 23/03/05. (NT)
  
  Built to diagram 1/069 as part of lot 3153, this wagon ended its working life at Wolverton where it was allocated Internal User number 024885.
  
  One of the axlebox covers was missing when this wagon arrived; a replacement has already been made and fitted. Two of the Oleo hydraulic buffers had failed, but replacements have now been sourced. Apart from the missing floor timbers, the most obvious bodywork problem is that the bottom of the chain pockets has rusted away and has been replaced by a functional but non-authentic wire mesh. As this is only visible by crawling on the floor, this should not prevent a quick return to service!
  
  Early in 2006 the owner fitted this wagon with a new floor. As it will be some years before there is a container ready for this wagon, the timbers have been made to cover the chain pockets. This allows the wagon to be used as a p.way flat in the meantime.
  
  
• B737695 11T 'Conflat A' built by BR Ashford Works, 1959.
  
  
  Photo © P. Hetherington 30/01/05.
  
  Arrived 25/01/05. (PH)
  
  Built to diagram 1/069 as part of lot 3107 (400 wagons), this wagon ended its working life at the Queenborough Rolling Mill on the Isle of Sheppey, where it was their test weight wagon. It was preserved from there, probably around 1999, and moved to the Lavender Line in Sussex, but little work was done before it was sold to a dealer in Norfolk in early 2001, from whom it was purchased on 5 December 2004.
  
  This wagon is basically complete apart from a number of chain shackles and pocket lids, some brackets and pieces of pipework from one end, and a few knocks and dents. The dragboxes were badly wasted, but these have now been rebuilt, with new metal welded in early in 2007. Full restoration will not take place until the completion of Palbrick B B462772, but parts are being gathered which should speed the process.
  
  The restoration of this wagon will be followed online via the above link.
  
  

Future plans

There are enough containers in the collecton to justify several further wagon arrivals. It would be particularly nice to get some examples of the earlier designs. At present, though, the focus is on restoring the examples already on site.

One 'longer term' plan is to find an example of a Conflat B. 70 of these vehicles were converted from Pipe wagons (a sort of open wagon) and if, as suspected, the design is now extinct, the plan is to find a redundant Pipe wagon and use it as the basis for the 71st conversion. This will be used to display two AFP containers which, hopefully, will be restored to their original 'Birds Eye' livery.

You might like to visit the website of my other wagon, Palbrick B B462772. I am currently focussing on this project - which explains the apparent lack of progress on the Conflats.

There are some railway links here.