Milk Tanker wagons ?

[Junctionmad]

at around 3.52 in this video you see a fleeting shot of what look like side mounted milk tank wagons, never seen these before, These were on the middleton line 1975. Anyone any pictures or seen them in real life , make an interesting model.

 

[minister_for_hardship]

They're on the passing lorry using the level crossing, there was/is a creamery adjacent to the railway.

[Noel]

They're on the passing lorry using the level crossing, there was/is a creamery adjacent to the railway.

 

Brilliant

 

[jhb171achill]

at around 3.52 in this video you see a fleeting shot of what look like side mounted milk tank wagons, never seen these before, These were on the middleton line 1975. Anyone any pictures or seen them in real life , make an interesting model

 

I think these things were mounted on ordinary flat wagons, rather than being a specific type of wagon.

[Junctionmad]

well doh !, oh well, in my only the diddle-i-a music distracted me

[Noel]

well doh !, oh well, in my only the diddle-i-a music distracted me

 

Don't worry you are not alone, it caught out JB as well. That's what Ireland should do in future when the All Blacks perform the Haka - play diddle-i-a music to distract them

[Junctionmad]

On a serious note , how cone we didn't have a bulk milk bsiness. It's was present at one time in the uk

[DiveController]

I think these things were mounted on ordinary flat wagons, rather than being a specific type of wagon.

I think I have also seen some bulk milk containers mounted on flats as jhb suggests. Finding a photo might be a problem as I can't remember where. They can't have been too plentiful so JM poses an interesting question

 

 

EDIT: Haven't sampled the contents but this would seem to be one I was thinking of from Brian Flannigan

The first tank are sitting on 25201- series 12T flats (1962) with hand wheel and the second I cannot see but it is has the traditional brake lever

Edited February 4, 2017 by DiveController

[Mayner]

The GSR used Carriage Trucks to transport road-tank wagons similar to those used to carry beer & milk in the UK http://mike.da2c.org/igg/rail/11-kitba/rrtank.htm. Carriage Trucks were basically low sided passenger rated 4 & 6 wheel flat wagons originally intended to carry horse drawn vehicles, later used to carry cars and vans.

 

There is a photo of one behind a D17 on a Cork passenger train at Limerick Junction in the May 1955 Railway Magazine. I will scan and post when I get a chance.

 

There was little opportunity for bulk milk traffic to develop in Ireland as most of the major cities are in or near to excellent dairy country. The transport of raw milk by rail is viable in New Zealand due to a combination of amalgamations, plant rationalisation, tonnage and line haul distance.

 

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/21401/milk-trains

[Noel]

On a serious note , how cone we didn't have a bulk milk bsiness. It's was present at one time in the uk

 

As John highlighted, back in the days of the flying snail, most dairy infrastructure was short distance local from pasture to small local dairy, to market and direct to door, only later going through retail channels Churns by horse'n'cart, later trucks from farm to dairy and local co-ops. As Dublin grew road tankers brought milk to bottling plants and the horse'n'cart distribution direct to homes at 5am every morning later replaced by electric milk floats. It's hard to believe returnable milk bottle delivery to every home in Ireland was only replaced by retail 'tetra' packs only 25 years ago (i.e. as recent as the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait when state of the art stealth fighter F117 was considered modernity).

 

But I'd hazard a guess around 1906 when most of the rural branch railways were still intact a certain amount of milk must have been delivered to dairies in churns on rail wagons.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport_in_Ireland#/media/File%3AMap_Rail_Ireland_Viceregal_Commission_1906.jpg

 

Edited February 4, 2017 by Noel

[DiveController]

I suspected that centralized distribution was not necessary. Lots of old photos of churns on the platform awaiting pickup, at least when branch lines existed. Great map by the way

[Mayner]

I suspected that centralized distribution was not necessary. Lots of old photos of churns on the platform awaiting pickup, at least when branch lines existed. Great map by the way

 

Milk in churns was likely to be restricted to stations in dairy farming regions in the North East & South West and likely to be pretty rare elsewhere.

 

The GSWR had 12 Milk Trucks 736-738 & 742-750 which were all withdrawn in GSR days all had gone by 1941. The GSWR Milk Trucks appear to have been basically a passenger rated 3 plank open with cupboard doors. One of these loaded with churns would look the part behind a 101 or 60 Class at the head of a train of GSWR 6 wheelers.

 

I always thought a small Co-Operative creamery with a queue of small farmers delivering milk using donkey carts, Ferguson tractors, VW beetles and Morris Minors would make a nice cameo scene on a layout set in West Cork, Cavan/Monaghan .

 

Some of the creameries were large enough to have a private siding to send out butter by rail, the dairy at Rathcoole in Country Antrim was sending out enough traffic to keep the Ballymena-narrow gauge lines in business into the late 1930s after iron ore and excursion passenger traffic died out.

[Noel]

. . . I always thought a small Co-Operative creamery with a queue of small farmers delivering milk using donkey carts, Ferguson tractors, VW beetles and Morris Minors would make a nice cameo scene on a layout set in West Cork, Cavan/Monaghan . . .

 

Brilliant. You must have been there once upon a time - classic imagery John. I vividly remember such scenes from the midlands many moons ago

[WRENNEIRE]

Check this out

 

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/holycorner/7080093371/in/set-72157629831107647/

[DiveController]

Check this out

 

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/holycorner/7080093371/in/set-72157629831107647/

Duplicate from post #8 above

 

Milk in churns was likely to be restricted to stations in dairy farming regions in the North East & South West and likely to be pretty rare elsewhere.

 

The GSWR had 12 Milk Trucks 736-738 & 742-750 which were all withdrawn in GSR days all had gone by 1941. The GSWR Milk Trucks appear to have been basically a passenger rated 3 plank open with cupboard doors. One of these loaded with churns would look the part behind a 101 or 60 Class at the head of a train of GSWR 6 wheelers.

 

I always thought a small Co-Operative creamery with a queue of small farmers delivering milk using donkey carts, Ferguson tractors, VW beetles and Morris Minors would make a nice cameo scene on a layout set in West Cork, Cavan/Monaghan .

 

Some of the creameries were large enough to have a private siding to send out butter by rail, the dairy at Rathcoole in Country Antrim was sending out enough traffic to keep the Ballymena-narrow gauge lines in business into the late 1930s after iron ore and excursion passenger traffic died out.

Thanks for that, John. What's your reference for the GSWR wagons please? Thanks, K

Edited February 4, 2017 by DiveController

[Broithe]

My uncle had a farm about a mile from Ballybrophy, with a churn stand at the roadside. The milk went to Donaghmore Creamery, about two miles south of the station and I don't remember there being any milk traffic from the station.

[Weshty]

Wow, flashback. Those milk containers were quite common even in the late 70s'. With the huge creamery in Mallow near the station (Rowntree Macintosh / Dairygold etc.) they were a constant presence on the road.

[Mayner]

 

Not great resolution photo appears to be in CIE days no GSR number plate on loco & hungry boards on tender

[minister_for_hardship]

Re the milk churns: at a vintage rally there was a guy with a restored vintage pick up truck with churns on the back, most if not all of them marked near the rim with things like (paraphrasing here as I neglected to get a pic) 'Return to Rathkeale GSR station' or some such. The ones that had markings were for stations mainly on the North Kerry.

 

Found one marked for Banteer Station in a disused creamery, wanted to retrieve it but as was on the second floor plus almost full to the top with hardened concrete I had to dismiss that idea.

[minister_for_hardship]

Check this out

 

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/holycorner/7080093371/in/set-72157629831107647/

 

Looks a bit rough and ready.

Am I seeing things or is it tied down with nylon rope??

[DiveController]

Looks a bit rough and ready.

Am I seeing things or is it tied down with nylon rope??

No, I spotted that too. There seem to have been at least 16 of these things yet no other photos that I have found anywhere. They have obviously had use but there appears to be quite a few potentially open pipes etc. Would these be large enough to be from a lorry and they just happen to be headed for the scrap-yard on the flat wagons?

Edited February 7, 2017 by DiveController

[minister_for_hardship]

No, I spotted that too. There seem to have been at least 16 of these things yet no other photos that I have found anywhere. They have obviously had use but there appears to be quite a few potentially open pipes etc. Would these be large enough to be from a lorry and they just happen to be headed for the scrap-yard on the flat wagons?

 

They look like an ad hoc measure for a very short lived traffic flow. The tanks look as if they were adapted static tanks or had come from scrapped lorries.

 

EDIT might not havebeen for milk...maybe fuel oil for CIE road trucks/forklifts? But tanks would have been originally built for holding/carrying milk.

Edited February 7, 2017 by minister_for_hardship

[minister_for_hardship]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]26748[/ATTACH]

 

Not great resolution photo appears to be in CIE days no GSR number plate on loco & hungry boards on tender

 

Did it have a caption?

 

It looks to me like a road-hauled tar tanker or oil/water bowser on a wagon for carriages/motor cars?

Edited February 7, 2017 by minister_for_hardship

[jhb171achill]

If the pic is from 1958, the loco will have a light yellow painted number on the candies. The plate will b long gone. The loco is probably so dirty that in a photo of that quality, the number (and / or light green "snail" on tender) will be invisible.