Flat Wagons

Build Date 1940-1959
Operators Various
Livery Various
Status: Various
Owned By
 NNR & M&GN Society

History

Railways were originally built primarily to carry freight traffic and flat wagons were essential in carrying unusual items that were often large such as road or agricultural vehicles. Their ability to carry vehicles, along with the low height often incorporated in their designs, made them popular to preservationists as they can fulfil vital service roles as part of infrastructure maintenance. The NNR has a reasonable selection of flat and well wagons, mostly used for works purposes.

Preservation

Perhaps the strangest flat vehicle in the collection is “Torpedo” wagon 269. Little is known about the history of the small 4-wheel wagon other than being built in 1940 during the Second World War for the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Caerwent, Gwent. The wagon is believed to have been an “internal user” which means that it never travelled the main railway network and was instead used within the confines of a single facility with an internal rail network. 269 was used to aid supplying the Royal Navy and could have carried a range of equipment, parts and even armaments.

It is not known when it was withdrawn from service but it was late preserved at the Mid Norfolk Railway before being purchased by the M&GN Society and moved to the NNR (date unknown) to be used as an underframe for the vintage carriage project. Earmarked for Great Eastern 853, it was found that the coach’s original chassis was in much better condition than originally thought, so 269 was in the event not needed. It had however been useful as an accommodation chassis to store unrestored bodies.

However, by 2017 this requirement was no longer needed so 269 was given a quick restoration for use in the demonstration freight set and painted into navy blue with RNAD lettering to honour its original purpose. In a more playful move, a demonstration torpedo was constructed out of scrap materials and placed atop the wagon as a talking point and again as a nod to its secretive RNAD heritage.

Before the major move to international containerisation that now dominates global trade, the earlier 20th century saw containers utilised on a national scale in the UK by the railway companies, who designed a series of standardised wooden container types which could be transferred form rail vehicle onto road lorry to be delivered door-to-door.

502824 was a fairly late BR example known as a “conflat” i.e. a FLAT wagon built to carry CONtainers and was built in 1958 dedicated to such work. Conflats did an important job but were replaced en-masse by the rise of freightliner traffic which tied in with the adoption of larger standard shipping containers.

Preserved elsewhere for many years, 502824 was bought by the M&GN Society and brought to the NNR in 2012. Being a flat wagon it was relatively straightforward to restore and was launched into service in the demonstration goods set three years later. It carries its very own “AF” container AF65970B which was built in the same year and acquired and restored at the same time. The container is restored in “Birds Eye” livery to represent the local traffic to and from Lowestoft.

Lowmac is short for Low-Machinery and they are 4-wheeled vehicles with a reduced height centre section (low) capable of carrying vehicles and large items of machinery (mac). They were very useful for carrying a multitude of items in works use during their working lives so no less than three were brought to the NNR at various times to fulfil the same function after they had been withdrawn.

904093 is a Great Western design sometimes known as a “Loriot” and has a heavier riveted appearance to the other two in the collection. It was preserved as long ago as 1978 by the M&GN Society and has had many uses but most recently it has been dedicated to works use by the permanent way department who use it to carry a tractor which helps keep the lineside vegetation trimmed during the winter shutdown period. Its original wooden deck has been replaced by steel plates.

904148 & 904149 are consecutive sisters and were both acquired together in 1994 from Ipswich. They are thinner in appearance to 904093 but can nevertheless carry an identical load. For many years only one of the two (‘149) has been in regular use and is kept empty so it can always be used for short term loads and tasks. It is one of the most active wagons on the railway and is regularly used for works duties during the closed period and is also part of the demonstration goods train.

904148 on the other hand has been inactive for many years and has lost its deck which limits its use. It is currently in the shed at Holt and carries the body of cattle wagon 633023.

940007 is the highest capacity flat vehicle the railway has being rated at 30 tons. Bogie bolsters were large bogied flat wagons capable of carrying longer and heavy loads such as beams. We sadly do not know the history of our example which has now been preserved at the NNR for many years.

It does not run in demonstration trains and is rarely seen away from the yard at Weybourne in which it has been resident for many years storing various engineering items such as steam engine boilers and track materials. It is cosmetically unrestored but still continues to undertake its engineering support role.

Number Type Built Notes
269 Torpedo Platform 1940 Gloucester RC&W
502824 13T Conflat 1958 Pressed Steel
904093 20T Lowmac 1953 Swindon Works only use
904148 21T Lowmac 1959 Shildon Static use Holt
904149 21T Lowmac 1959 Shildon
940007 30T Bogie Bolster 1949 Swindon Works only use