Hi N-Gaugers,
Dapol 6-wheel milk tanks. They're lovely, I know, and for a Westcountry boy, the book pack with a blue Hymek and six of the little devils was a no-brainer purchase with part of my divorce proceedings all those years ago.
Quick question if I may; did St Ivel-branded milk tanks survive into the 1970s?
I cannot remember, but would like to run a couple if they did as Totnes creamery was local to Plymouth and it would just make me happy. I know about Rule One but humour me on this, please?
Cheers!
From Wickedpedia (my bold).......
By the late 1960s the MMB had switched entirely to road haulage, and only Express Dairies and Unigate continued to use rail transport. Both companies used former MMB stock supplied by British Railways, but while Express Dairies applied their own numbering to the tank, Unigate referenced their wagons through the BR chassis number. Unhappy with the image of the faded and dirty liveries, Unigate applied St Ivel-style painting to some of its wagons, with 50/50 split top/bottom of white top and orange bottom to the tank, and blue St Ivel logo to one end. The chassis, ladder and end support frames were all black with white lettering
Dapol produced..............
http://ngauge.org.uk/dap_fr_tanks_6wm.php (http://ngauge.org.uk/dap_fr_tanks_6wm.php)
Rob
Possible proof these wagons lasted a while into the mid 70s https://www.flickr.com/photos/cessna152towser/2314492365/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/cessna152towser/2314492365/) A shot taken 1977 St Erth
The St Ivel ones were specifically 1970s, so you're good there, and they were run as far west as Cornwall, so Plymouth shouldn't be an issue.
One or two of the liveries are, as far as I can determine, fictitious. The pale blue Express Dairies one with the 'E' logo seems to have been based on the 60s/70s Express Dairies livery seen on milk floats and lorries, but I've not seen anything like it on the rails.
If the milk tankers ran much past 1977, it was uncommon to say the least. In 1980 there was an ultimately abortive attempt to re-capture the trade, but using entirely different tankers.
Cheers, NeMo
Quote from: crewearpley40 on September 16, 2020, 02:32:06 PM
Rob
Possible proof these wagons lasted a while into the mid 70s https://www.flickr.com/photos/cessna152towser/2314492365/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/cessna152towser/2314492365/) A shot taken 1977 St Erth
Magic, that's the Christmas list sorted then! :thankyousign:
Quote from: NeMo on September 16, 2020, 03:18:43 PM
The St Ivel ones were specifically 1970s, so you're good there, and they were run as far west as Cornwall, so Plymouth shouldn't be an issue.
One or two of the liveries are, as far as I can determine, fictitious. The pale blue Express Dairies one with the 'E' logo seems to have been based on the 60s/70s Express Dairies livery seen on milk floats and lorries, but I've not seen anything like it on the rails.
If the milk tankers ran much past 1977, it was uncommon to say the least. In 1980 there was an ultimately abortive attempt to re-capture the trade, but using entirely different tankers.
Cheers, NeMo
Cheers NeMo, much appreciated.
Quote from: Newportnobby on September 16, 2020, 02:14:10 PM
From Wickedpedia (my bold).......
By the late 1960s the MMB had switched entirely to road haulage, and only Express Dairies and Unigate continued to use rail transport. Both companies used former MMB stock supplied by British Railways, but while Express Dairies applied their own numbering to the tank, Unigate referenced their wagons through the BR chassis number. Unhappy with the image of the faded and dirty liveries, Unigate applied St Ivel-style painting to some of its wagons, with 50/50 split top/bottom of white top and orange bottom to the tank, and blue St Ivel logo to one end. The chassis, ladder and end support frames were all black with white lettering
Dapol produced..............
http://ngauge.org.uk/dap_fr_tanks_6wm.php (http://ngauge.org.uk/dap_fr_tanks_6wm.php)
Thanks Nobby - my Godfather was one of the local MMB managers but I never saw him at work. If only I had.....
In my time with flexible packaging companies I used to sell milk bottle capping foil and butter wrappers to many of the dairies including St. Ivel, MMB, Dairy Crest etc
Happy days
Quote from: NeMo on September 16, 2020, 03:18:43 PM
If the milk tankers ran much past 1977, it was uncommon to say the least. In 1980 there was an ultimately abortive attempt to re-capture the trade, but using entirely different tankers.
Milk lasted into the 80s but only just. The Torrington milk train on the Southern finished in 1978. The Whitland milk train on the Western finished in May 1980.
MMB built a reserve fleet of refurbished 4 and 6-wheel tankers which were intended to be used if road traffic became problematic. In fact they were only used for about 6 weeks in 1981 to convey cream from Chard to Stowmarket. The traffic was scuppered by a combination of poor management, planning and lack of washout facilities at Stowmarket. This meant that the empty tankers were returned dirty to Chard where some poor soul was tasked with climbing into the tankers with a hose and brush to clean out the congealed (and very smelly) residue. For some reason the 50 pence bonus per tanker was not sufficient inducement and the service ground to a halt. A pity really as the shiny chrome tankers looked positively space-aged compared to the dingy steam-age tanks they replaced.
(http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/uploads/7/6/8/3/7683812/8114419_orig.jpg)
Quote from: Karhedron on September 16, 2020, 09:52:59 PM
Milk lasted into the 80s but only just. The Torrington milk train on the Southern finished in 1978. The Whitland milk train on the Western finished in May 1980.
MMB built a reserve fleet of refurbished 4 and 6-wheel tankers which were intended to be used if road traffic became problematic. In fact they were only used for about 6 weeks in 1981 to convey cream from Chard to Stowmarket. The traffic was scuppered by a combination of poor management, planning and lack of washout facilities at Stowmarket. This meant that the empty tankers were returned dirty to Chard where some poor soul was tasked with climbing into the tankers with a hose and brush to clean out the congealed (and very smelly) residue. For some reason the 50 pence bonus per tanker was not sufficient inducement and the service ground to a halt. A pity really as the shiny chrome tankers looked positively space-aged compared to the dingy steam-age tanks they replaced.
(http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/uploads/7/6/8/3/7683812/8114419_orig.jpg)
Crikey, that's some photo!