Dapol O Gauge 7F-037-002 GWR H7 Conflat 39612 with BD2 Container B-1788 Chocolate Door to Door
Model of the GWRs later H7 diagram container flat wagon or Conflat, a purpose-built flat wagon with securing points and rings for containers and storage pockets for the securing shackles. The H7 design with a 10ft wheelbase chassis and vacuum train brakes was intended for use in the GWRs network of overnight fast goods services, providing both door-to-door and next day delivery between the towns and cities served by the GWR.
The use of containers to move goods between road and rail vehicles without unloading goes back to the earliest days of the railways. In the 1920s Britains' railways began to invest in box containers to provide door-to-door service. A range of containers were produced, the most familiar being the full-length B type which was used for the railways door-to-door furniture removals service and bulk deliveries of items like bicycles. Shorter type A containers were often insulated types used for fresh meat and fish.
The use of these wagons declined through 1960s as the stackable steel bodied ISO containers were adopted by ship operators, BR ordering the first bogie flats for ISO type containers in 1964 and forming the Freightliner brand to market integrated port/rail/road container services in 1968.