Dapol MHA, Turbot & Bogie Bolsters

Detailed ready to run O gauge model of BR Turbot bogie ballast wagon DB97339 finished in grey and yellow Dutch livery.
These wagons were built from vacuum brake equipped Bogie Bolster E wagons to provide a modern, power braked and higher capacity ballast wagon, often used with ballast cleaner trains to carry away waste ballast. The wagons found many other uses, including carrying large boulders to create 'rock armour' sea defences. While replaced in Network Rail service many Turbots continue to serve the permanent way engineers of London Underground and many heritage railways.

Detailed ready to run O gauge model of BR Turbot bogie ballast wagon DB97665 finished in grey and yellow Dutch livery.
These wagons were built from vacuum brake equipped Bogie Bolster E wagons to provide a modern, power braked and higher capacity ballast wagon, often used with ballast cleaner trains to carry away waste ballast. The wagons found many other uses, including carrying large boulders to create 'rock armour' sea defences. While replaced in Network Rail service many Turbots continue to serve the permanent way engineers of London Underground and many heritage railways.

Detailed ready to run model of the BR 30-ton capacity vacuum braked Bogie Bolster E steel carrier wagons built in the early 1960s.
This model is finished in BR bauxite livery as wagon B924386 in early bauxite livery.

Detailed ready to run model of the BR 30-ton capacity vacuum braked Bogie Bolster E steel carrier wagons built in the early 1960s.
This model is finished in BR bauxite livery as wagon B923504 in early bauxite livery.

Two lots of these short-length bogie bolster wagons were built in 1961-2, totally 1,200 wagons to diagram 1/479 with modern David and Lloyd bogies and vacuum train brakes. These were the shortest length bogie bolster wagons at 32 feet over headstocks, designed for steel traffic. The short length allowed a higher load capacity per wagon and more axles under longer loads spread across several wagons. Although built as revenue traffic wagons carrying lengths of rolled steel sections and strip coils the type was also popular with the engineering departments for carrying pointwork and welded rail.

During the 1970s BR introduced more air braked wagons, including heavily braced bogie wagons for steel traffic with higher load capacities and the Bogie Bolster Es became redundant. They were quickly adopted by the engineering departments, many unaltered as rail carriers, while others had a vast range of adaptions for cable drums, generators and one at least with a 1-plank body for carrying concrete troughs.
The most numerous adaption was the fitting of a low-sided body converting the bolster wagon into a bogie ballast wagon, coded TURBOT.

General Specification:

Minimum 2nd radius curve
Plastic body and underframe detail
Diecast chassis
Bogies made from separate metal parts
Spring buffers
Pin-point axles
O Gauge society Standard wheel profile

Body specification:

Fully detailed body / deck
Movable / posable bolsters fitted
Movable / posable stanchions supplied in detail bag
Separately fitted metal tie down rings
Finely moulded and etched stainless steel detail where applicable
Separate handrails, end steps and lamp brackets.
Highly detailed underframe with correct profiled bracing
Highly detailed bogies made from separate metal parts
All buffer beam accessories fitted

Detailed ready to run model of the BR 30-ton capacity vacuum braked Bogie Bolster E steel carrier wagons built in the early 1960s.
This model is finished in BR bauxite livery as wagon B924133 in bauxite livery with early lettering.

Detailed ready to run model of the BR 30-ton capacity vacuum braked Bogie Bolster E steel carrier wagons built in the early 1960s.
This model is finished in BR bauxite livery as wagon number B924809 in later bauxite livery, lettered BOGIE BOLSTER VB with metric tare weight shown.

The Warwell wagons were built during WW2 to carry tanks arriving from the USA. After 1945 a small fleet was retained by the British Army for moving tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) in the UK and Germany. Surplus wagons were passed on to British Railways, being used as heavy duty road vehicle carriers and for steel traffic.
This model replicates a wagon equipped with its' original diamond frame bogies in service with the Ministry of Defence in the 1970s. Eras 6-7.

The Warwell wagons were built during WW2 to carry tanks arriving from the USA. After 1945 a small fleet was retained by the British Army for moving tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) in the UK and Germany. Surplus wagons were passed on to British Railways, being used as heavy duty road vehicle carriers and for steel traffic.
This model replicates a wagon upgraded to modern Gloucester GPS bogies and air brakes for service with the Ministry of Defence and finished in the olive green livery applied in the 1970s. Eras 7-9.

The Warwell wagons were built during WW2 to carry tanks arriving from the USA. After 1945 a small fleet was retained by the British Army for moving tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) in the UK and Germany. Surplus wagons were passed on to British Railways, being used as heavy duty road vehicle carriers and for steel traffic.
This model replicates a wagon upgraded to modern Gloucester GPS bogies and air brakes for service with the Ministry of Defence and finished in the 1990s olive green livery. Eras 8-9.

The Warwell wagons were built during WW2 to carry tanks arriving from the USA. After 1945 a small fleet was retained by the British Army for moving tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) in the UK and Germany. Surplus wagons were passed on to British Railways, being used as heavy duty road vehicle carriers and for steel traffic.
This model replicates a wagon upgraded to modern Gloucester GPS bogies and air brakes for service with the Ministry of Defence and finished in the olive green livery with yellow ends from circa 2000 onwards. Era 9.

Detailed ready to run model of the BR 30-ton capacity vacuum braked Bogie Bolster E steel carrier wagons built in the early 1960s.
This model is finished in BR bauxite livery as wagon B923661 in early bauxite livery.

Detailed ready to run O gauge model of MHA Wagon in EWS Livery

As the Merry-go-Round hopper coal wagons were reducing in numbers considerably, during 1997, surplus wagons donated their underframes to a fleet of ballast wagons for hire to the infrastructure maintenance companies. A total of 1,071 were so converted between 1997 to 2007, the later wagons having some detail differences to the number of vertical ribs on the bodies. Dapol are making models of the original batch of 400 wagons built at RFS Doncaster between 1997 and 1998 Coded MHA Coalfish

Detailed ready to run O gauge model of MHA Wagon in EWS Livery

As the Merry-go-Round hopper coal wagons were reducing in numbers considerably, during 1997, surplus wagons donated their underframes to a fleet of ballast wagons for hire to the infrastructure maintenance companies. A total of 1,071 were so converted between 1997 to 2007, the later wagons having some detail differences to the number of vertical ribs on the bodies. Dapol are making models of the original batch of 400 wagons built at RFS Doncaster between 1997 and 1998 Coded MHA Coalfish

Detailed ready to run O gauge model of MHA Wagon in EWS Livery

As the Merry-go-Round hopper coal wagons were reducing in numbers considerably, during 1997, surplus wagons donated their underframes to a fleet of ballast wagons for hire to the infrastructure maintenance companies. A total of 1,071 were so converted between 1997 to 2007, the later wagons having some detail differences to the number of vertical ribs on the bodies. Dapol are making models of the original batch of 400 wagons built at RFS Doncaster between 1997 and 1998 Coded MHA Coalfish

Detailed ready to run O gauge model of MHA Wagon in EWS Livery

As the Merry-go-Round hopper coal wagons were reducing in numbers considerably, during 1997, surplus wagons donated their underframes to a fleet of ballast wagons for hire to the infrastructure maintenance companies. A total of 1,071 were so converted between 1997 to 2007, the later wagons having some detail differences to the number of vertical ribs on the bodies. Dapol are making models of the original batch of 400 wagons built at RFS Doncaster between 1997 and 1998 Coded MHA Coalfish