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Freightliner Wagons & Containers
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Speedfreight Container on Conflat A - notes and model by Greg Brookes.
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Containers - notes and models by Pete Johnson.
A selection of images featuring freightliner wagons and containers associated with the 1960/70s era.
This view shows part of a 10 vehicle rake detailed by Pete Johnson, using the Triang Hornby wagons as a basis.
English Electric type 4 number 332 on the front of a freightliner service heading south, the rake totalling 17
vehicles made up of TOPS code FFA (inner, no buffers) & FGA (outer, buffers one end).
The first block of five wagons have been transferred to the Hornsey / Wibdenshaw fleet, and are heavily
modified and detailed Hornby models with replacement whitemetal bogies.
Rebuilt by Greg Brookes originally for Shenston Road, they feature complete replacement underframe
trussing made from brass section.
The additional weight improves running and allows additional loaded wagons to be tagged on behind
them without fear of derailments on 3ft radius curves.
The next 10 wagons in the rake (CS01 to CS10) have been detailed by Pete Johnson utilising
the same Hornby model, but retaining the original plastic bogies and solid underframing. These are hired in from
the Canada Street pool (as there's not enough siding space to run them there), and feature highly detailed containers
and open crates.
CS02 is fitted with a modified 30ft container spliced together from several Hornby boxes.
CS04 is fitted with two 20ft containers, depicting the earlier Freightliner box and the
later Freightliners Limited box, both suited for the early 1970s.
CS06 & CS05. All the containers have been detailed and labelled utilising Modelmaster &
Fox Transfer sheets at a time before the Railtec transfers were available.
CS07 with Freightliner containers
CS10 & CS09 are fitted with OCL containers of 20ft & 30ft lengths.
The last two wagons in the rake are both FGA (ex-Shenston Road) as a paired twin and carry a
20ft Manchester Liners and a 10ft Freightliner container. I have yet to finish the box with a number at least.
Another two ML boxes are sitting at the end, placed conveniently to avoid doing any door detail on them.
Morfa Bank Sidings - The under development
Freightliner rake - just to show the new sides, printed out complete on an inkjet and glued directly to
a Hornby base vehicle.
Colin Craig's etched brass freightliner flats seen at Wibdenshaw.
Colin Craig's etched brass freightliner flats seen at Wibdenshaw.
Colin Craig freightliner flats at Shenston Road.
Just some light weathering required and a tail lamp to finish off.
This Conflat A is made up of parts from Red Panda for the vacuum clasp braked chassis
and a Parkside PC52 for the body sides. These containers were secured at each corner
using the locking gear, which for this model are produced from 3D prints.
An ISO 20 foot ‘red stripe’ Freightliner container in original livery. This is part of the
10-wagon train which is a regular on Wibdenshaw & Hornsey Broadway, but this particular wagon was on the Canada
Street's work bench during a visit for attention. The containers on this train are modified Triang Hornby models,
with replacement end doors featuring locking bar detail made from plastic strip and rod. The box number markings
have been put together from Modelmaster alphabets on white strips cut from a Fox shock-van sheet - at a time
when this distinctive livery had been overlooked by the 4mm transfer suppliers, and frustrated any attempts to
model the early corrugated-sided steel boxes which Freightliner introduced. This situation has now been rectified
and transfers are available from Railtec
Transfers
Another view, showing the fixed end of the same box. Here the moulded raised band under the stripe
has needed removal, with corner lock and framing detail added. The Freightliner train project utilises the Triang
Hornby model, first produced in the late 1960s, and a good scale model for its time. Both the 'Freightliner' and
'Freightliners Limited' branding is the original Hornby artwork carefully preserved or re-touched after other work.
The 30 foot boxes are cut-and-shut adaptations of 20 footers, with the cut pieces arranged to put the Hornby markings
on the right part of the stripe! The door arrows badges were from a Fox sheet - it may have been a 2mm scale sheet
to get the small size. Having seen more photos since the project I now realise the box number was repeated a further
two times on the roof (for the benefit of the overhead crane drivers).
A classic piece of bold livery design from the late 60s/early 70s….. This OCL 20 foot ISO container
(OCLU 263633-5) was spotted amid a pile of scrap at the Kingsbury yard.
Ex-Freightliner container languishing at the back of a lorry park.
The early lightweight aluminium boxes are now a part of history, although few (if any) have been
preserved. A couple of 30 footers, carrying the remains of these colours, linger at the back of Bridgnorth shed (SVR)
as storage units, and it would be nice to think one might be saved before aluminium rot destroys it completely.
