FMW ‘Walkers’ Meat Van

 

 

FMW 23210 in original livery design, on it’s way north in the mid 1970’s.                     Geoff Parker

 

With the changing rail environment in the 1970’s, F J Walkers decided to invest in their own fleet of frozen meat vans to convey their product from their Aberdeen abattoir to the distribution facilities of Darling Harbour.

The vans were constructed of an insulated body mounted on ex BSV underframes. The complete underframes were leased from the PTC and therefore remained the property of the railways. The container-like bodies were 37’ long, 9’4½” wide and 8’ high. They were permanently attached to the underframes via retaining brackets.

 

Builders:

-                     The bodies were built by Domino Hedges Body Builders in 1972 and were fitted to the underframes by F J Walker maintenance staff.

 

Running Numbers:

Originally numbered 23201 to 23210. 3 vans (23202, 23203 and 23210) were written-off in 1974 and were replaced some time later. FMW 23207 was withdrawn from service in 1976 and returned as FMW 23211 after prolonged maintenance.

 

Length: 37’ / 11.28m                Tare: 18t                      Capacity: 34t                            Gross: 52t                    Equiv Length: 1.9

 

Bogies: They retained their ex BSV bogies – 2AQ/2AR.

 

Coding:

-                     Coded FMW as built,

-                     Recoded NRWF from 1979.

 

Colour Scheme:

-                     All vehicles were painted in basically the same livery. Underframe and bogies were black with white lettering on the side sills. The body was painted off-white with a light blue stripe. The sides were adorned with a ‘Walkers’ logo and ‘Aberdeen Grain Fed Beef’ written in black on the blue stripe.

-                     There were 3 versions of the ‘Walkers’ logo on the vans. The walkers name was at different angles and the intensity of the red line in the W was varied on the various designs.

-                     The vans were washed inside and out on a regular basis, therefore faded over time. The only weathering was fine rust streaks.

 

Modifications:

            Due to the nature of cold produce transport, the bodies corroded around the base and stainless steel plates were attached to the lower edge of body.

 

Similar Vehicles: underframes were from BSV sheep vans.

 

Period of Service: 1973 - 1983

 

Operation:

            The FMW’s were solely intended for F J Walkers meat traffic from their Aberdeen Abattoir to Darling Harbour. Up to 4 vans were attached to a train leaving Aberdeen. On arrival in Darling Harbour, the contents of the van, was unloaded onto road truck and delivered to customers. On return of the vans to Aberdeen, they were washed and reloaded as required. Once loaded and doors closed, the van was pumped with Co2 gas to cool the interior for transit.

 

Modelling:

-           A HO scale kit was originally released by Far North Hobbies, but is no longer available.

-           Broad Gauge Bodies have a HO scale kit available.

 

Further reading:

-                     The February 1989 issue of AMRM has further information and a plan of the FMW/NRWF.

 

 

NRWF 23205, showing the second style of van decoration with the ‘BEEF’ stopping

short of the door centre.

 

 

NRWF 23204 in the 3rd livery design. Note the ‘Walker’s’ is angled, and the ‘BEEF’ stops

short of the doors completely.

 

All photos from AMRM article.