British railway milk tank wagon

There was a ladder either side to allow filling via an industrial rubber hose into a flip-top dome casing, while a steel pipe exited at the bottom of the tank with a tap either end of the chassis between the buffer beams for extraction.

The various designs that railway companies used followed a common pattern, but even at this early stage differences appeared making them easy to spot.

[1] The first tanks were labelled externally as being glass-lined (they were actually vitreous enamel), meaning that the wagons themselves were unauthorised for loose or hump shunting, a reminder of which was applied in large capital letters to the chassis.

Early tank design had no baffles, meaning that the milk self-churned during the journey, and made the wagon highly unstable.

After the required improvement in milk quality was not gained, and a number of derailment accidents, 13 feet (4.0 m) three-axled six-wheel wagons were introduce from 1931, and baffles became standard practise.

[1] The wagons as out-shopped from various railway works were highly decorated – often to show both cleanliness, good hygiene, and as a travelling advertising board.

Early designs had a high amount of labelling, mentioning insulation, hygienic glass lining, and the dairy company name in large superscript and shadowed letters on the sides of the tank.

[1] A number of milk tank wagons have survived into preservation, mainly due to their recent usage as well as their ability to be redeployed on a typical preservation railway in a number of ancillary tasks when filled with water, i.e. water replenishment tank for steam locomotives; mobile fire tender; application of weed killer to control lineside vegetation.