EARLY DECEMBER saw nine CDA china clay wagons extracted from the storage lines of withdrawn wagons currently being scrapped in Cornwall, with one – 375030 – heading into preservation on the Plym Valley Railway and the other eight being delivered to the Bodmin & Wenford Railway.
The CDA 375030 Preservation Group was successful in its bid for one of the wagons and work on its restoration has already begun following its delivery to the PVR on December 8. It is planned that the group will return the wagon to its original ECC blue and silver livery.
Meanwhile, the National Wagon Preservation Group has successfully acquired eight CDA china clay hoppers from those stored at St Blazey for preservation at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway in a joint venture with the heritage railway.
Wagons 375050/061/067 and 375091 were delivered by road to Bodmin on December 8, with 375063 and 375113 arriving the next day and 375090 and 375117 arriving at Bodmin on December 10. All of the newly-preserved wagons were in service with DB Cargo until they ceased using the CDA wagon fleet in August and are understood to be in generally good condition.
The NWPG launched a high-profile fundraising campaign in the summer with the aim of securing eight CDA wagons for use on the BWR, and funds to allow a bid to be made were raised quickly. However, the initial bid proved unsuccessful and the wagons the group had placed bids on – including pioneer CDA wagons 375000 and 375001 – were scrapped.
Undeterred, fundraising resumed to allow increased bids to be made and this second attempt at saving a rake of eight china clay wagons from DB Cargo was ultimately successful.
