The Windcutter Project
Lengthy trains of mineral wagons were a common feature on British Railways and the Windcutter Project set out to recreate such scenes. The idea of preserving a long train of mineral wagons was first aired in Steam Railway early in 1992 and following an encouraging initial response an appeal was launched in the August issue to purchase suitable wagons for use on the Great Central Railway. The appeal was a huge success, Steam Railway readers and supporters of GCR raised over £14,000 to purchase and restore the wagons. Very few mineral wagons remained in service with BR by this time and it was necessary to scour the country to find suitable vehicles. The first wagons, from Onllwyn Washery in South Wales, arrived on the GCR in late August, 1992 with others coming from the Rover car plant at Longbridge in Birmingham. Over the next few years further wagons were added to the fleet from various sources bringing the total number preserved by the project to 39 although subsequently three wagons have moved on and are now at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.
The origins of the BR mineral wagon date back to the Second World War when the Ministry of War Transport placed orders for steel bodied mineral wagons. It was these designs, many of which eventually saw service with BR, which formed the basis for the BR 16 Ton mineral wagon. With a 9ft wheelbase the wagons feature an end door, to facilitate emptying the wagon by end tipping, a large side door and a smaller drop down flap above it. The early batches also featured bottom doors but this feature was soon discontinued. More than 220,000 of these wagons were built both in BR works and by private builders between 1950 and 1958 and they were still common throughout the BR network well into the 1980s. In the late 1970s many of the wagons remaining in service were fitted with new bodies. The most noticeable difference on these vehicles was the omission of the top drop down door on the wagon side. Wagons in the Windcutter fleet represent most of the major variations, including one of the early wagons originally fitted with bottom doors, although the majority carry the later body style as fitted in the 1970s.
In 1947 a service of regular fast freight trains was inaugurated by the LNER between marshalling yards at Annesley, near Nottingham and Woodford Halse. These trains, travelling over the GCR route, carried coal from the Nottinghamshire coalfield and steel products from Yorkshire and the North East destined for the London area or South Wales. This regular service gained a reputation for fast running and the nickname of “Windcutters” was adopted by enthusiasts while enginemen generally referred to them as “Runners”. From the 1950’s until the end of through freight services long trains of BR steel bodied mineral wagons would have been an everyday sight along the GCR and it was these trains that gave some of the inspiration and a name for project.
The Windcutter wagons first appeared in public, after initial repairs had been carried out, in November 1992, when a special event was organised as a thank you to Steam Railway readers and everyone else who had contributed so generously to the appeal. On 19th June, 1993 a small group of GCR volunteers started work on restoring the wagons. Thirty seven wagons had been repaired by 1999 and wagons are now being overhauled for the second time. In early 2012 18 wagons are available for service with the remainder awaiting repairs or undergoing repair.
A combination of open air storage, age and the legacies of a hard life in industrial ownership means that ever more complex and extensive repairs are required to keep the wagons in service. In addition to rectifying corrosion of the wagon body and frames, repairs are also required to the running gear and braking systems. If we are to keep a lengthy rake of wagons in operation we urgently need additional volunteers to help with repair and restoration work. Whilst much of the work does not involve any special skills, Project Manager John Brooks would be especially pleased to hear from anyone who has welding/fabrication expertise. Most of the workdays are held on Saturdays at Rothley.
|M501438||RD||Not Serviceable||LMS designed box van used as spare parts storage. Currently in store awaiting repair|
Previous owner : Although all the wagons were at one time owned by British Railways, all but two were sold to industrial users. The two that were bought direct from the national network were B570618 and B573403 which came from Transrail (TL). The majority of the remaining wagons came from Rover Cars Ltd (RCL) at Longbridge with others coming from Rosyth Naval Dockyard (RD) and British Coal Onllwyn washery (BCO)
Wagon Numbers : The wagons are lettered with their correct BR number where this is known. A number of the mineral wagons from Rover had no identification and so were given numbers in the B2797XX series, the final two numbers being their Windcutter fleet number. This number series was an unused sequence within that used by BR for the various batches of mineral wagons produced over the years. In recent years considerable research has been undertaken to try and identify the original numbers of the wagons in the fleet and where these have been ascertained they will be applied to the wagon at its next overhaul.
It was also not possible to establish the original number for the LMS designed box van and so this was given the number of a similar vehicle.
Wagon Liveries : With the exception of the two un-restored wagons, all the mineral wagons in the ‘Windcutter’ fleet are either fitted with vacuum brake or have been through piped to run in a vacuum braked train. This means that to be fully authentic all the wagons should carry British Railways ‘Bauxite’ livery. However the original aim of the project was to recreate the sight of long trains of unfitted mineral wagons as seen on the GCR in BR days and all over the BR network in the days of steam, and in some areas even as late as the early 1980’s. All BR un-fitted freight vehicles were painted grey and hence to recreate the overall appearance of a steam era mineral train the majority of the wagons in the ‘Windcutter’ fleet have been restored in this colour.