This is an example of the Southern Railway's "signature" design of open goods wagon. It is a diagram 1379 8-plank Open Goods/Mineral Wagon. Almost 6000 of these were built between 1926 and 1933 at the Southern Railway's Ashford Works or by various private contractors. They had a 12 ton capacity and a nine foot wheelbase. A later version - see 37786 - had a ten foot wheelbase.
Earlier builds had "Morton"-type brakegear comprising braking on one side only of the wagon, but with levers on both. Vehicles built from 1928, like this one, had "Freighter"-type comprising independent sets of brake blocks and levers each side.
30004 at Horsted Keynes during Goods Train Weekend, April 2006,
Nick Beck
The carrying capacity of 12 Ton open wagons was increased to 13 Tons during WW2. During their service with British Railways, many of these wagons were converted to vacuum braking. This one was not; continuing in service with BR until 1957/58, when it was withdrawn and sold to the Port of Bristol Authority, being renumbered PBA 58164. The wagon was one of three purchased by the Bluebell Railway from Bristol in 1980.
The PBA kept no record of the original numbers of their wagons. The vehicle had lost its numberplates, the only certainty being its tare weight of 6 tons 8 cwt. A representative number was therefore chosen.
30004 was one of a lot of 800 built in the Southern Railway's workshops at Ashford (Kent) in 1927 under order A128.
Recommended reading:
An Illustrated History of Southern Wagons - Volume Four, by Messrs. Bixley, Blackburn, Chorley and King;
published by The Oxford Publishing Company, 2002. ISBN 086093 5647.
Describes all the standard goods vehicle designs of the Southern Railway, including those built for the WD
and other railway companies. 160 pages hardback, with copious photographs and diagrams.
Text © Martin Skrzetuszewski.