The Carriage of Fruit by the GWR/BR(Western National Strategy to Boost Accessibility for

Early wagons on the GWR were always open at the top, but from the 1860s, covered vans were built in ever increasing numbers. These 'Mink' vans were initially constructed from wood but, between 1886 and 1902, iron was used instead and more than 4,000 such vehicles were built. Most were rated at 9 or 10 tons, but some 36 feet bogie vans rated at 30 tons were also built in 1902 and 1911. These were identified by the 'Mink F' telegraphic code.

Construction of wooden-bodied vans resumed in 1902 but, unlike the vans with wooden body frames of forty years earlier, these were built using iron angle section frames. Standard 'Minks' built in 1902 were 16 feet long and 7 feet high inside. The height was increased on new vans built during the next few years, first by a little over 6 inches, then again to just over 8 feet, but it eventually settled on the middle height. Ventilators which could be closed by shutters were fitted in some vans (code 'Mink A') but these later became hooded vents. Until 1921, four-wheeled vans were generally rated at 10 tons, but improvements then allowed this to be increased to 12 tons.

From 1927, vans were built to a 17.5 feet length. Larger vans continued to be produced, first of all 21 feet long ('Mink B', or 'Mink C' with ventilators), and then 28.5 feet ('Mink D' with ventilators). These were only rated at 10 tons but, in 1931 30 feet long 20 ton vans were built ('Mink G').

Vans for special loads included shock-absorbing vans with the body anchored to the underframe by springs (diagrams V27 and V28) and grain hoppers (V20). Perishable traffic was carried in 'Mica' ventilated (X1) and 'Mica A' or 'Mica B' refrigerated (X2 etc.) meat vans, 'Bloater' fish vans (S6 etc.), or fruit vans with extra ventilation (although banana vans were fitted with heating equipment to help ripen their loads).

All wagons for public traffic had a code name that was used in telegraphic messages. This was usually painted on to the wagon and it became common to refer to them by these names even when not using the telegraph. Many had an extra letter added to identify distinctive features, for example a ‘Macaw A’ was a 17 feet bolster wagon, but a ‘Macaw B’ was a 45 feet bolster wagon. The fruit wagons were, unsurprisingly, called “Fruit”.

With very few exceptions, all GWR wagons were allocated a page in a diagram book that showed its major dimensions and characteristics. Each page had an alpha-numeric identification; the letters gave the general type of wagon, while the numbers identified more detailed characteristics of the wagons. For example, O8 was a 25 feet open wagon, but V8 was a 28.5 feet banana van while V7 was a 21 feet ventilated goods van.Fruit vans were given the Code “Y”.

Strawberries being loaded at the London & South Western Railway’s Swanwick Station, c.1913. The Hampshire strawberry harvest lasted only six weeks in the middle of the year, whilst over sixty per cent of the fruit traffic handled at Swanwick was soft fruit.

Fruit C at Didcot

Some Examples of GWR/BR (Western) Fruit Vans

BR Western Region ‘Fruit D’ van No W92097W

“Fruit D” 92097 was built in 1958 by British Railways’ Swindon Workshops and was produced as part of an extension batch of an outdated design created by the Great Western Railway in 1939. The Fruit D design was so named as during Great Western Railway days each type of wagon was assigned a telegraphic code to enable formations of wagons to be easily communicated by telegraph. As this type of van had extra ventilation built in specifically to handle fruit and produce traffic it was assigned the designation “Fruit”. The D suffix was merely to identify separate types or batches, so presumably the Fruit D was the fourth in a series of Fruit vans.

The Fruit D’s were built with electric lighting and were fully braked with standard vacuum braking, two features which made the vehicles suitable for conveyance in passenger trains. For this reason, the vans also carried the branding “Passenger” and during British Railways days carried the colour schemes for passenger coaching stock rather than goods stock.

After a successful career on BR, 92097 was acquired by the M&GN Society and moved to the North Norfolk Railway where it operated in freight (and occasionally passenger), repainted into BR crimson livery. By 2012, the vehicle was looking worse for wear and was brought into the workshops and stripped down, exterior woodwork replaced, new floor fitted, interior restored, underframe repainted and finally the exterior painted into Great Western Railway colours, a scheme that 92097 (being built by BR) actually never carried.

Cider apples being unloaded GWR fruit Van in its original 1902 livery (47886) and in its later restored condition (2356)

GWR Y2 Fruit Van No 47886

Fruit Vans had louvered sides for ventilation. It has vacuum brakes, allowing it to run at express speeds in passenger trains. In later years these vans were reclassified and renumbered in the passenger stock lists and were painted in passenger livery, first crimson lake and then chocolate brown. 47886 is one of twenty vans built in 1892 to Diagram Y2 under lot 638.

This vehicle currently carries a 1904 G.W.R. livery, having previously been restored as a ‘brown vehicle’ in a later GWR livery and carrying its later number of 2356.