Torpedo Wagon

Dated May 1940, the first Admiralty order (8931) was for six 12-ton covered vans (numbered 1 to 6) and the second (8932) for ten two-axle 20 ton platform wagons (numbered 7-16) for the Royal Navy Propellant Factory at Caerwent. Gloucester RCW photograph 5139 - also dated July 1940 and carrying the extra reference number R 1200005 - showed the platform wagon as being very similar in design to contemporary Deal wagons built for the LMS Railway but without bolsters. Purchased to carry torpedoes, RNPF wagon 7 was dimensioned as Length over headstocks 27', Length over buffers 30', Width over curb rails 8', Height from rail to top of floor 4' 3/8", Tare weight 7 14 -0. The platform wagon delivered to the National Waterways Museum in 1993 was numbered 267 but had been numbered 11 in 1940 and cost £ 595.00 compared to the £ 375.00 apiece asked by the Ministry of Defence for covered vans 289 and 321. Still attached to the centre of the solebars was a rectangular plate with the words "Owner Superintendent RN Propellant Factory Caerwent Chepstow Mon." The platform wagon was also fitted with nine-hole adjustable Morton brake gear suspended on simple V hangers with "GLOUCESTER" embossed on the blocks and a painted note "Do not use after 8-94".