This website can no longer be updated and will be deleted soon. Please visit the replacement site at LTSV Rail Data
Click here for main LTSV index
Home Profiles Photos Reference Resources


Profiles Menu
<< Profile 2 >> PG010 Hoppers
Build Details: Standard Wagon 1975
Numbering: BSTE18000-18115, SRW18500-18529
Bogies / Suspension: BSC Primary Coil
Dimensions: LOB: 8229mm. WB: 5030mm
Published Drawings: DEMU Update Issue xx
Areas of operation: To Redcar from Redmire and Hardendale
Main liveries: Pale Green, Grey
Summary: This batch of wagons was built to convey limestone from the quarry at Redmire in North Yorkshire to the British Steel works at Redcar, Cleveland. They were notable for having automatic door control equipment similar to that fitted to MGR coal hoppers, and tall bodies with a narrow top opening. Although the ownership of the wagons (and the quarries that the services work from) has changed in recent years, most still serve the Teesside steel industry. Some surplus wagons were rebuilt as general purpose hoppers but these saw very limited use and were soon withdrawn.

History: The wagons originally carried a pale green livery although no pictures of this have been seen. By the mid-1980s most wore a mid-grey livery with black underframes, which soon became hidden under a coating of limestone dust. The bodies carried the white and blue British Steel logo, and the TOPS panels were notable for showing just the number and not the ownership prefix. Also during the 1980s a number of the wagons received a band of red paint around the top of the hopper, the reasons for this being unknown. The Redmire to Redcar service gained a bit of celebrity status in early 1986 when a batch of 8 class 20 diesel locos was transferred to Thornaby and renumbered 20 301-308 to form a dedicated motive power pool. All had reverted to their original numbers by the end of that year and the train was later hauled by class 37, 56 and 60 diesels.

In 1982 the fleet was cut by 30 wagons, and these were sold back to the builders for conversion to general purpose hoppers. The conversion entailed the reduction in height of the hopper, replacement of the automatic door equipment with more conventional gear, and the fitting of inspection platforms and ladders. The work was completed in 1983 and the design codes of the affected wagons was changed to PG010B or PG010C.

When the Redmire branch closed in 1992 the wagons instead ran from the Hardendale quarry near Shap, being routed via the Tyne Valley line. Hardendale had its own batch of Limestone hoppers, which ran the circuit to Ravenscraig steelworks (PB008), and when the latter closed the Redcar service began using both types, usually with about half of each train formed of each type.

In about 2003 ownership of the remaining fleet of wagons was transferred to EWS and they were progressively renumbered to 362000 to 362113 (retaining the last three digits of their original number) with the new TOPS code of HGA.

Queries:

References:

Links: Photos of British Steel PGA wagons on Paul Bartlett's website

Photos of modified Railease PGA wagons on Paul Bartlett's website

Photos of HGA (ex PGA) wagons on Martyn Read's website

Photos of HGA (ex PGA) wagons on Andy Jupe's website

Updates: 15/03/2013: Photo links (finally) updated.
Photos
For more pictures see the Links section at the bottom

BSTE18002 at Tees Yard, 25th September 1988.
Paul Bartlett


SRW18506 at Aldwarke, 26th June 1994.
Paul Bartlett


Page added: 01/10/2007 Spotted an error? Got some additional info?
Please e-mail me at tom (at) ltsv.com
Last edited: 03/10/2007