Draft:National Wagon Preservation Group

355798 pictured at Barrow Hill, 2015

The National Wagon Preservation Group was founded at the inaugural meeting on June 7th 2015 by Richard Prestidge and William Snook

The group initially began as the MGR Appeal in 2014 which was started to raise funds to preserve an extant MGR Coal Hopper languishing at Immingham TMD, Lincolnshire. The appeal was successful and the wagon was purchased and moved to Barrow Hill Roundhouse in early 2015.

The appeal was boosted by the involvement of the Class 56 Group which sold railwayana on behalf of Richard to raise funds to secure the wagon. The wagon's cost was £1,750.00.

The aims and objectives of the group are as follows:

"Our aim is to preserve and exhibit a selection of wagons built since the formation of British Rail in 1948. The group consensus is to focus on wagons built within the last 60 years, however we would not overlook any older wagon should it be considered at risk.

Often, wagons are overlooked in preservation for the locomotives and coaches that provide a revenue earner for the line. Typically, wagons have a shorter life span than locomotives and passenger stock and it has been noted in the past where en-masse scrappings over a short period of time have seen entire classes of wagons disappear for good.

The NWPG are turning this around, not only preserving these historically important pieces of rolling stock but also to create detailed histories of the wagons we preserve for all to read."

354966 after arrival at Barrow Hill, 2015

Word of the appeal spread through the community quickly and a second wagon was purchased by an individual and given on permanent loan to the group. This wagon was 354966 which was bought from Onllywn Washery in South Wales.

At the same time, members of the Chasewater Railway had acquired three MGR coal hoppers from DB Schenker from their Mossend Depot and they arrived at Brownhills West Station in May.

The group focused on raising funds and networking over the following years and became a member of the Heritage Railway Association. The subject of the MGR wagons came up in a meeting at the HRA and members of the Chasewater Railway. Both teams joined forces and the two NWPG wagons moved to the Chasewater soon after and Project: MGR was formed. This project is a collaborative effort to pool resources and knowledge to ensure the maximum number of wagons could be saved. The wagons moved to the Chasewater on 16th September 2015.

TEA 87867 at Epping

In Spring of 2016, the group acquired a Bogie prototype TEA Fuel tank, BPO87867. This wagon was identified as having Y25C Bogies, a prototype bogie by British Rail to see how ride shock was affected by changing the bearing weight over the axle by spreading the weight more evenly. This wagon and another, BPO87866 were both selected. This project was not deemed to be successful enough to justify the cost and it was shelved, however the bogies were never swapped back and as such, the wagon continued to use the Y25C bogie instead of the typical Class 1 bogie.

The wagon was moved to the Epping & Ongar railway and was to be used as a mobile water bowser for both watering steam locomotives and a portable jet wash vehicle. However, this project never materialised and the wagon was moved into storage at Wishaw, where it has remained since 2017. The wagon is due to move to the Dean Forest Railway after the success of Project: Petroleum.

CDA Wagon 353224 at Chasewater Heaths

At this time, Richard stepped down from the group and Owen Edwards took on the role of Chief Engineer

After a successful campaign to acquire another MGR wagon, 353224 was moved to the Chasewater on June 11th 2017 where it was cleaned, painted and repaired.

This wagon was very important to the history of the MGR wagons as it was the prototype conversion for what to be the replacement of the Clayhoods in the west of England. This wagon was converted at Derby Works in 1983. The trial proved successful and an order was placed for 124 wagons to be built at Doncaster Works. A further 14 were converted in 1989 from MGR wagons, rather than being newly built.

After four years of discussions and meetings, the NWPG facilitated the acquisiton of 351207 from the Fire Training Services College, Moreton-in-Marsh. The wagon had to be donated to a charity so the Chasewater Railway took acquisition of the wagon and share ownership and responsibility with the NWPG for the wagon

MGR wagon 354456 at Chasewater Heaths

During the Coronavrus Pandemic in 2020, the group made further strides in the preservation of the MGR wagons by acquiring 354456 from The Doon Valley Railway. This wagon was involved in a derailment and was subsequently left in its resting position for many years. After some time, the wagon was righted and put back on to the rails, however the machine used to right the wagon tore through the wagons fragile galvanised steel body and frame.

The wagon will be repaired, however this is a longer term project for the group.

MGR Wagon 351500 at Swanwick

Another acquisition came quite quickly for the group in the form on 351500, this was already preserved by an individual based at the Barry Tourist Railway. However, due to the impending ownership change of the site to Transport For Wales, the preservation team had to downsize and as such, an agreement was made to purchase the wagon.

The wagon was moved to the Midland Railway Centre at Swanwick to enable contract repairs on the underframe. Many years of salt air had caused a lot of corrosion to the wagon and as such requires more space and intense work to bring this wagon back to working order. Initial working days involved removing the graffiti, greasing moving parts, painting the cradle and completing more in-depth inspections to create a shopping list of parts to enable effective repairs.

TTA Wagon 60591 at Gascoigne Wood

With new board member Chris Thorn on board, the group took time to review its projects and it was agreed that a new project should be explored. Chris floated the idea of a tank train, to compliment the TEA wagon that the group had already acquired. It was noted that at the time that the last of the 2-axle TTA tank wagons were being withdrawn so a plan was drawn up to start fundraising to secure some examples. The NWPG teamed up with the Dean Forest Railway to give the tanks a home and an appeal was launched under the name Project: Petroleum.

37418 hauling TTA Tanks passing Kingsbury

The appeal was a huge success, in part due to a massive donation by Roy Archdale, which contributed significant sums to ensure that these wagons would live on in preservation rather than just picture books. Roy had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and the group received the sad news that Roy had passed away on 14th November 2023. The group aims to restore the first wagon and affix dedication plaques in his honour.

The group annouced it has acquired 11 TTA Tanks, numbers 60197, 60591, 60594, 60598, 60666, 60683, 60763, 60768, 60769, 60875 and 60878. Plans were put in place to move the wagons via the national network and on 7th March 2023, train 6Z42, hauled by 37418, departed Gascoigne Wood Yard heading for Lydney at the Dean Forest Railway.

The move was a huge success with many photographers and rail enthusiasts sharing their photos and videos online.

CDA Wagon 375050 at St Blazey

The group's intentions after the TTA Project was to lie low and fundraise for spares and restoration costs, however as the saying goes, "life gets in the way" and it was announced in August 2023 that the withdrawal of the CDA China Clay wagons was imminent. The group was approached by the Bodmin & Wenford Railway for a collaborative effort to preserve some examples of the MGR-derivative wagons.

A fundraiser was set up and another resoundingly successful appeal was accomplished. There was two rounds of bidding and the initial bidding round was not accepted, however this was a blessing in disguise as the initial batch offered for sale had been stored for a long time meaning the wagons were in a grave state of disrepair. The second round of bidding was accepted by the FOC and these wagons had not-long been withdrawn from the national network and were in a good state of repair. Eight CDA hoppers were preserved through the collaborative effort of the BWR and the NWPG. The wagons are due to be moved in November 2023.

The group continues to fundraise at shows and events, as well as sell railwayana and merchandise through their website in order to continue to acquire spare parts for the longevity of the projects.