Slaters Plastikard O Gauge 7039 Charles Roberts Rectangular Tank Wagon Kit Unpainted
Rectangular tank wagons appeared in the late 1880s for carrying tar, pitch and heavy oils. This kit builds a model of a tabk wagon built by the Charles Roberts company from the 1895 - 1906 period. These wagons continued in use into the early 1950s carrying tar by-products from gas works for refining into useful oil and chemical products. Rectangular tanks were retained for this traffic as the extra volume of a more modern cylindrical tank wagon was not needed.
Supplied with metal wheels, 3 link couplings and sprung buffers
These vehicles were of 8, 10, 12 or 14 tons capacity and had either steel or wooden under frames. Until detailed records were uncovered it was commonly held that they were generally painted black, but in actual fact grey and red wagons appeared in about equal numbers with black a poor third! In service the nature of the products they carried no doubt contributed to the black appearance.
The kit represents the 8, 10 or 12 ton version, depending on the product being carried, with a 15'0" tank, built between 1895 and 1906. After this date the tanks were more commonly 15'9" long using the RCH 1907 underframe design. These wagons ran almost everywhere in the country carrying oil, pitch and by-products from gas works and a small number were still in service at nationalisation, though many could still be found at depots as internal use wagons through the 1950s and several have been preserved on heritage railways.