DWWR / DSER Cattle Wagon

[KMCE]

No layout of an Irish network would be complete without the ubiquitous cattle wagon; in some regards, the movement of cattle may have been the mainstay, or certainly a bedrock of the railways.  Many versions have been made over the years by various builders, however one network’s variety has not been well represented, not that I could find anyway.  The DWWR / DSER railways, like other railways had their own version.

DWWR / DSER had various iterations of this wagon but prior to 1896, cattle sheep and pigs were transported across the network in covered wagons which were also used for general goods traffic.  With the introduction of new regulations through the Board of Trade and Veterinary Department, it was necessary to build new wagons specifically for the conveyance of livestock.

A batch of new wagons were built between 1896 to 1899 mainly to replace the old stock, however these appear to have been built without falling doors.  From 1900, falling doors were fitted as standard and the wagons introduced between 1900 and 1915 were further replacements of covered wagons with the addition of 85 new wagons out of a total of 143 wagons constructed over this time.  The wagons of this period were constructed mainly by Grand Canal Street, with some build by Hurst-Nelson (15 No.).

My initial research has not uncovered any drawings, and only two partial photos were discovered, both from Shepherd & Beesley, (Dublin & South Eastern Railway) pages 70 & 104, so some interpretation was needed to develop and build a model.  Without any drawings and only partial images, some reasonable assumptions were made, thus a wagon length of 14" was selected, with an 8’ 6” wheelbase.  At this time, chassis for wagons in the DWWR fleet were generally short (13 – 14ft).

Image courtesy of Shepherd & Beesley - Cattle wagon at Bray

 

An initial outline drawing was developed with reference to the known dimension of other wagons and using information gleaned from the limited photos available.

This was then developed into a 3D model for printing:

 

As a print for OO gauge inclusive of all options, we get:

 

Holes have been provided in the model to make it easier to install the metal rods as per prototype.

As noted above, the model is available in various options - for example the model below is printed with chassis & brakes only and has been developed in P4 finish to 21mm with buffers, drag hook, roof, couplings and P4 wheels added separately:

 

The model will be offered with various options:

Basic body only

Add:

• W frames, axle boxes, & springs
• Brakes
• Buffers
• Drag hook
• Roof
• NEM coupling pocket (OO gauge)

 

So, the difficult bit - prices:

 

N-Gauge: € 10 - € 15

OO / P4 Gauge: €45 - €50

O-Gauge: € 85 - €90

 

All costs will be exclusive of shipping costs which can be determined at the time of sale and will be based on actual cost where applicable.

 

Hope this is of interest, and if so, please reach out by PM

 

Ken

Edited December 6, 2021 by KMCE