Rectangular Tank Wagons

[Sniffer]

Was leafing through Railway Memories on a wet Friday afternoon (no. 24 Harrogate & Wetherby) and on page 49 there is a great picture of the Bilton exchange sidings for Harrogate gasworks, complete with some interesting tank wagons.

I guess these vehicles must pre-date the picture by many years, and would have been around in NE guise previously ?
Was going to post this question on the general discussion board until I accidentally came across the following :-

http://dapol.co.uk/index.php?route=prod ... uct_id=168

I love the look of these wagons, and wondered if Dapol had ever produced a specific NE variant ?
That said, Henry Ellison in Cleckheaton isn't a million miles away from Harrogate, and pre-war the distillates from town gas production won't have had so many users/customers.

[jwealleans]

These tanks were built and used up to the 1960s. Dapol's model is very close to the Slaters kit, but there was quite a variety in size and capacity.

The last two I photographed (Beamish and Didcot) both had the fillers offset well to one side. That must have caused a problem if ever the wagon came back the wrong way round?

Photos here. Somewhere on RMWeb there is a link to a picture of one in traffic, the only one I've ever seen photographed actually moving.

[D2100]

...
I guess these vehicles must pre-date the picture by many years, and would have been around in NE guise previously ?
...
I love the look of these wagons, and wondered if Dapol had ever produced a specific NE variant ?
.

What liveries Dapol have plastered on these, I wouldnt like to say, but N E branding would almost certainly be inappropriate anyway. The railway companies themselves were not big users of railtanks, they tended to be privately owned.

[drmditch]

I have one of these Dapol wagons lettered for :-
IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES
BILLINGHAM_ON_TEES
SYNTHETIC AMMONIA & NITRATES Ltd
No50

I'm sure I've seen a picture of one of these in service somewhere, but can't quite remember where.

[micknich2003]

John L Seaton, oil works in Hull, also had a few "Square" tank wagons. One was illustrated by the late Peter Mathews in his long running series in the "Model Railway News" mid '60's. Mick.

[John Palmer]

Users of rectangular tank wagons whose vehicles I observed in the mid to late nineteen-sixties were Bristol & West Tar Distillers and Associated Chemicals. Although my sightings of Associated Chemicals' vehicles were always at gasworks (Stapleton Road and Swindon), they were apparently conveying something other than tar - ammoniacal liquor, possibly.

[Sniffer]

Plenty of interesting replies.

My own interest is not just railway modelling, as I work in the chemical industry.
Probably belongs on a different board, but the following is a great piece of industrial history :-

http://www.evra.org.uk/Ellison/Chunk11.htm

[John Palmer]

I was fine with the article you posted until:

"It is about this time that Henry forms another joint venture, this time with his son Fred. The works needed ammonia, a source of nitrogen. The raw material was urine that they recovered from public urinals. Their employees would suck the liquid into large tar barrels to be delivered to the works by horse and cart."

Reminded me of Monty Python's 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch: http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/jokes/mont ... remen.html.

[2512silverfox]

I have not seen any mention yet of the Sabden Treacle Mines who used rectangular tank wagons extensively. Indeed I have a weathered Sabden tank on my railway complete with overspills down the sides.

[jwealleans]

Were they run by the same company who had the Fen Ditton Treacle Mines we used to send tourists to when I lived in Cambridge?

[52D]

I know its light hearted but topic is straying chaps.(52D with mods hat on)

[Sniffer]

Were they run by the same company who had the Fen Ditton Treacle Mines we used to send tourists to when I lived in Cambridge?

The very same.
But it's not common knowledge that they also had a minority holding in the Knotty Ash jam butty mines.

And the CLC had exclusive distribution rights.

(Sorry 52D )

[Greedy Boards]

Hi

the photograph for the Synthetic Ammonia & Nitrates Ltd rectangular tank wagon for Imperial Chemical Industries can be found in Private Owner Wagons by Bill Hudson, Volume Two, with the image dated pre-WWII, to the 1930s. Oil on the Rails by Alan Coppin has a scaled drawing of a rectangular tank wagon dated 1907, and supporting info highlights that they varied between 10-14 tons, and 8-12 ton wooden, iron or steel underframes. I've also seen other photos of rectangular tanks in use in the North East by private owners, such as Thomas Ness Limited of Darlington, and Rimmer Bros of Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Regards

Greedy Boards

[jwealleans]

How about some pictures?















NRM, Shildon, July 2012







Didcot, August 2012.

[PGBerrie]

Nice photos! I see also that the Didcot example is a Charles Roberts' wagon.

I've got an N gauge white metal kit of unknown origin of a rectangular tank wagon lying around (no instructions though) which should, but does not quite fit on a Peco 10ft chassis. Now it's obvious why not. Yes I know, first look at the photos, then build, but who reads the manual first?

Peter