IRM Bakes Some Danish Delights As We Team Up With Heljan To Deliver Oil Tankers

[Warbonnet]

We love a good collaboration here at IRM, and we are delighted to team up with our Danish friends at Heljan to bring you a run of the former BR Oil tankers bought by CIE in the late 1960s and modified for Irish operations. 

Synonymous on the "Sligo Oil" trains, these B Class tank wagons were modified with additional bracing between the tank barrel and chassis which we have tooled up to make these authentic for the Irish variants of these distinct wagons.

Operating in block trains until 2003, and as part of the Sligo liner for a couple more years, the Sligo oil train operated from North Wall to Sligo at a steady pace of just 35 miles per hour.

To replicate these workings, we have commissioned Heljan to produce 3 packs of four wagons for the Esso train in block formation.

 

Using photos and other historical data, we have developed a block train formation of these characterful wagons, so you can replicate these iconic workings that were very much an everyday scene of Irish railfreight for many, many years. Coming in 3 packs of 4 wagons, there are 12 differently numbered tankers available in this strictly limited, one off run. Each pack is priced at €169.99 per 4 wagons with 10% off when you buy two or more. As these are a commission from Heljan, they are only available direct via the IRM and Accurascale website.

The tank wagons are now manufactured and will be in stock with us in Q1 2025. Pre-order yours today via the link below!

Pre-order Your Esso Tank Wagons Here!

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[Edo]

hmm

 

Would they have  been seen in the South?.....on other lines other than Sligo?

 

 

[flange lubricator]

5 minutes ago, Edo said:

hmm

 

Would they have  been seen in the South?.....on other lines other than Sligo?

 

 

They were also used on the Claremorris and Galway (oranmore) lines . 

[DJ Dangerous]

Excellent looking wagons, and the 10% bundle discount is brilliant!

I guess the (oil) well for Irish models is still pretty deep...

[flange lubricator]

Brilliant news lovely wagons I have some of the Heljan ones and they are super detail . 
One minor point I think they are A class wagons with the longer barrel the B class were the shorter barrel running numbers 995 , 996, 997, 998 & 999 ?? 
I know the classification refers to the type of product carried and latterly the were all B class   

Edited December 4 by flange lubricator

[meathdane]

6 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Excellent looking wagons, and the 10% bundle discount is brilliant!

I guess the (oil) well for Irish models is still pretty deep...

That pun was a bit crude

[Fiacra]

Apologies if this is already stated somewhere, but are these wagons readily convertible to 21 mm as per all other IRM rolling stock. This doesn't look to be the case from the photos, and I'm assuming Heljan only made cosmetic changes to a model they already produce?

[BosKonay]

25 minutes ago, Fiacra said:

Apologies if this is already stated somewhere, but are these wagons readily convertible to 21 mm as per all other IRM rolling stock. This doesn't look to be the case from the photos, and I'm assuming Heljan only made cosmetic changes to a model they already produce?

The bracing between tank and chassis has been tooled up for this specific model, but no changes were made to the (British) chassis and wheel spacing. (and buffer heads)

[fishplate7]

For a shot of the Oil Train in action go to 3.10 on this video I took in Enfield back in the day when there was real action on the rails with semaphores, staff/handring exchanges, etc! 

 

[murphaph]

Lovely looking wagons. I doubt many people expected a team up with Heljan! Facinating stuff. As the chassis will need to be cut to regauge, does anyone have a picture of the underside of a BR one?  It would help me assess how easy or difficult that task is likely to be.

[DB JOE]

I wonder will this collaboration with Heljan mean we might get the black liveried versions too.... Here's hoping some day. I could consign all my dapol kit built ones to a siding .....

[Warbonnet]

21 minutes ago, murphaph said:

Lovely looking wagons. I doubt many people expected a team up with Heljan! Facinating stuff. As the chassis will need to be cut to regauge, does anyone have a picture of the underside of a BR one?  It would help me assess how easy or difficult that task is likely to be.

Hi Phil,

Underside of the model:

5 minutes ago, DB JOE said:

I wonder will this collaboration with Heljan mean we might get the black liveried versions too.... Here's hoping some day. I could consign all my dapol kit built ones to a siding .....

Well Joe, if these sell well we can look to other runs in the future. The power is in the hands of the Irish model railway buying public!

Cheers!

Fran 

[DB JOE]

3 minutes ago, Warbonnet said:

Hi Phil,

Underside of the model:

Well Joe, if these sell well we can look to other runs in the future. The power is in the hands of the Irish model railway buying public!

Cheers!

Fran 

Well I've done my bit and pre ordered one of each pack!!!

[murphaph]

1 hour ago, flange lubricator said:

They were also used on the Claremorris and Galway (oranmore) lines . 

Did they pass through Kildare on the way or were they routed via Mullingar?

[ttc0169]

19 minutes ago, murphaph said:

Did they pass through Kildare on the way or were they routed via Mullingar?

Northwall-Kildare-Portarlington-Athlone-Claremorris in later years up to 2003-could take the same route to Oranmore or via Mullingar-Athlone. 

Delighted-will definitely get a few packs-just need the two axle barrier wagon to compliment the tanks now

[MOGUL]

11 minutes ago, ttc0169 said:

Northwall-Kildare-Portarlington-Athlone-Claremorris in later years up to 2003-could take the same route to Oranmore or via Mullingar-Athlone. 

Delighted-will definitely get a few packs-just need the two axle barrier wagon to compliment the tanks now

2003 was the end of the block train to Sligo, the wagons hung on till mid-2005 on liner trains to Claremorris(via Portarlington obviously) and Sligo.. @Maynerhas some nice shots of them tacked onto the back of a Claremorris liner on this thread 

 

Oranmore ended earlier, although I have yet to find an end date, possibly early 90s? Rails though the West has some nice pics of the Oranmore flow, including a picture of the empties returning to Dublin via the WRC, Mullingar and Athlone, but I don’t have a page number handy as it’s packed away with everything else at the moment.. 

[murphaph]

So ca. 1995 we would have seen these wagons pass through Kildare on the way to Galway in block trains?

[Wexford70]

How many of these would have been in a typical rake?

Has anyone any more photos of these in the modelled livery?

 

 

[BosKonay]

16 minutes ago, Wexford70 said:

How many of these would have been in a typical rake?

Has anyone any more photos of these in the modelled livery?

 

 

I make 18 of them in the video above

[Wexford70]

6 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

I make 18 of them in the video above

Might need a few more numbered variants!!!!!!!

 

[ttc0169]

29 minutes ago, Wexford70 said:

How many of these would have been in a typical rake?

Has anyone any more photos of these in the modelled livery?

 

 

18+ 2 barrier wagons -I’ll check my guards journal from that period to confirm numbers. 

[Wexford70]

3 minutes ago, ttc0169 said:

18+ 2 barrier wagons -I’ll check my guards journal from that period to confirm numbers. 

I assume there were used in mixed freight also?

[Davenport]

Anyone know what type of oil was carried ? Fuel oil, Lub oil ,HFO ??

[Mol_PMB]

There are some photos in the IRRS archive, but will not be visible to the wider audience. For example:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509330394

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509330399

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509328959

The hazard markings carried are 3YE 1270, which would indicate petrol. That would explain the Class A livery.

Edit, correction, thanks to @MOGUL. 1270 is heating oil/kerosene.

Edited December 4 by Mol_PMB
marked in text

[Mol_PMB]

Also, here are photos of the earlier (1970s) livery when the Esso logos were still carried, and before the extra reinforcements were added:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53527716615

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511632134

The only time I photographed them was around 1990 by which time the lettering was mostly in white rather than black:

I think the tank colour was still the same mid-grey, under the grime. This is one of Ernie's photos dating from 1994 showing the white lettering variant when it was clean:

 

[Mol_PMB]

...and I've just found another one of my own from the early 2000s:

[flange lubricator]

Another interesting thing about these wagons they were the first wagons to carry “beware over overhead lines “ as they had been running on BR and when they arrived in Ireland in 1971 we had no lines with overhead wires, which didn’t happen until the Dart in 1979 . 

[ttc0169]

1 hour ago, Wexford70 said:

I assume there were used in mixed freight also?

Yes-with 7-10 wagons laden or empty

48 minutes ago, Davenport said:

Anyone know what type of oil was carried ? Fuel oil, Lub oil ,HFO ??

Home heating and diesel oil for the ESSO depot in Claremorris. 

20 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

...and I've just found another one of my own from the early 2000s:

That’s the oil siding in Claremorris. 

[Edo]

So they werent used on the Magnesite trains or the foynes coal and oil trains?

[Mol_PMB]

19 minutes ago, Edo said:

So they werent used on the Magnesite trains or the foynes coal and oil trains?

There were many other oil tank wagons which looked superficially similar but were different in detail and dimensions.

[flange lubricator]

20 minutes ago, Edo said:

So they werent used on the Magnesite trains or the foynes coal and oil trains?

No they were CIE wagons used on those trains , the 971-1013 wagons we different and owned by ESSO Teo , but operated and maintained by CIE / Irish Rail . 

[Mike 84C]

I'm astonished at the amount of product spillage on the tank barrels. Drove an oil tanker for a number of years, both top and bottom loading and loading spillages would get you banned from oil terminals.

[MOGUL]

1 hour ago, Mol_PMB said:

There are some photos in the IRRS archive, but will not be visible to the wider audience. For example:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509330394

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509330399

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509328959

The hazard markings carried are 3YE 1270, which would indicate petrol. That would explain the Class A livery.

 

UN1202 is diesel, UN1203 would be petrol and UN1270 is heating oil/kerosene.. 

They carried diesel and heating oil for most of their lives, but towards the end were confined to Kero/heating oil only, which may explain the end of the Sligo block train and it being replaced with blocks of tanks on the Sligo liner

Edited December 4 by MOGUL

[MOGUL]

19 minutes ago, flange lubricator said:

No they were CIE wagons used on those trains , the 971-1013 wagons we different and owned by ESSO Teo , but operated and maintained by CIE / Irish Rail . 

The magnesite used tank wagons, but the Foynes to Ballina Coal/Oil was actually 20ft tank containers on flat wagons

[flange lubricator]

15 minutes ago, MOGUL said:

UN1202 is diesel, UN1203 would be petrol and UN1270 is heating oil/kerosene.. 

They carried diesel and heating oil for most of their lives, but towards the end were confined to Kero/heating oil only, which may explain the end of the Sligo block train and it being replaced with blocks of tanks on the Sligo liner

I think as the wagons aged they were downgraded from Class A petrol to finally home heating oil Kerosene.