Graham Farish 16T Steel Mineral Wagons
British Railways had around a quarter of a million steel mineral wagons. These took
over the work of the ageing private owner 7-plank wagons. The standard design of all
standard designs was the ubiquitous 16 ton all-steel end door mineral wagon, built for
British Railways in their tens of thousands throughout the 1950s. The building of the 16T
all-steel mineral wagons carried on unabated throughout the 1950s but finished in 1959.
One particularly common version had an opening flap above the side doors, known as a
'London Traders' flap. There are conflicting ideas about its function but it is generally
thought to have been provided to make it easier for coal merchants to unload the wagon by
hand. 
Both the examples illustrated here have the top flap. One is in is in early BR brown as a 'fitted' wagon and carries the number B69007 (377-226A), the other is a rusty grey 'unfitted' wagon numbered B107071 (377-227A). Note that Bachmann have produced both 'fitted' and 'unfitted' chassis for these wagons, i.e. with and without a cylinder below the frame on one side.