BR 'Rudd' Ballast Wagons

BRBritish Rail or British Railways 'Rudd' Ballast Wagons
	; Train of Rudd Ballast Wagons in use by the Permanent Way Department at Highley
Built By	See table
Status	Operational
Number	See table
Other Numbers	See table
History
Built	See table
Diagram	See table
Lot	See table
Type	4-wheel steel open
Capacity	21 tons
Telegraphic code	RUDD
TOPS code	ZBA
Brakes	Air braked
2007	Arrived on SVRSevern Valley Railway
Goods Wagons

These wagons were originally built as 21 ton Coal Hopper wagons, all but one to Diagram 1/146 of which all Lots had a welded body and a standard 20 ton hand lever brake. The original code for such wagons was HTO. The exception, built to Diagram 1/149, had roller bearings and self-contained buffers with 100 out of the 1,000 also being vacuum through-piped.^[1]

A surplus of such wagons in the early 1980s led to their withdrawal. This coincided with a requirement for ‘new’ civil engineers ballast and spoil wagons to replace the elderly Grampus open wagons and second-hand 16-ton minerals wagons then in use. A programme was therefore put in hand to convert more than 2000 such wagons into ‘Clam’, ‘Rudd’ and ‘Tope’ wagons.^[2]

The ‘Rudd’ variant involved the fitting of a new box body with drop-side doors, and also air brakes. 800 of these were converted by Marcroft Engineering of Stoke and C C Crump of Connah’s Quay to design ZB001A. The ‘Rudd’, which has a 21 ton capacity, was particularly long-lasting with more than 200 still in use at the start of 2008.^[2] The TOPS code for the converted RUDD is ZBA.

Acquisition and use by the SVRSevern Valley Railway

Following the storm damage of 2007, the SVRSevern Valley Railway acquired 15 ‘Rudd’ Ballast Wagons on loan from EWSEnglish, Welsh & Scottish Railway, a rail freight company (now DB Schenker). They were used extensively for the repair project, and have seen regular use since for moving ballast, waste ash and similar materials. Details of the 15 wagons are as follows:

Number	Originally built	Originally built by	Original Diagram & Lot No	Original number	Rebuilt	Wagon Survey
DB 972299	1958	Pressed Steel	1/146, 3157	B 432033	1990 Marcroft	Link
DB 972345	1958	Pressed Steel	1/146, 3157	B 432343	1990 Marcroft	Link
DB 972349	1957	BRCWBirmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company	1/146, 3030	B 423279	1990 Marcroft	Link
DB 972359	1956	Cravens Railway C&WCarriage & Wagon Co, Sheffield	1/146, 2933	B 420479	1990 Marcroft	Link
DB 972378	1956	Cravens Railway C&WCarriage & Wagon Co, Sheffield	1/146, 2933	B 420561	1990 Marcroft	Link
DB 972407	1958	Pressed Steel	1/146, 3157	B 432604	1990 Marcroft	Link
DB 972416	1958	Pressed Steel	1/146, 3157	B 432511	1990 Marcroft	Link
DB 972467	1955	BRBritish Rail or British Railways Shildon	1/146, 2713	B 416448	1990 Crump	Link
DB 972469	1958	Pressed Steel	1/146, 3157	B 433453	1990 Marcroft	Link
DB 972513	1956	Metro Cammell	1/146, 2935	B 421521	1991 Marcroft	Link
DB 972548	1957	Head Wrightson	1/146, 3033	B 425624	1991 Marcroft	Link
DB 972655	1958	Pressed Steel	1/146, 3157	B 431469	1990 Marcroft	Link
DB 972677	1958	BRBritish Rail or British Railways Shildon	1/149, 3120	B 430362	1990 Marcroft	Link
DB 972688	1957	BRCWBirmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company	1/146, 3030	B 423151	1990 Crump	Link
DB 972724	1957	Head Wrightson	1/146, 3034	B 426121	1991 Marcroft	Link

In 2015 an SVRSevern Valley Railway NBINotice Board Issue. The SVR's on-line method of circulating information to working members. announced DB Schenker contacted the SVRSevern Valley Railway this year to inform us that the wagons were available for purchase, and following negotiation I can announce that they have been bought for a competitive price. I would like to thank two individuals who have provided finances to assist with the cost of purchase.

In summer 2016 the numbers were repainted, making identification of the individual wagons easier.