Conflat is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

railway term for a short wheelbase

flat wagon Flat wagons (sometimes flat beds, flats or rail flats, US: flatcars), as classified by the International Union of Railways (UIC), are railway goods wagons that have a flat, usually full-length, deck (or 2 decks on car transporters) and little ...

container wagon.

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

used several standard types of wagon. The Conflat A, which could carry one type 'B', or two type 'A', containers, was the most common. It was regularly used to carry AF (

frozen food Freezing food Food preservation, preserves it from the time it is prepared to the time it is eaten. Since early times, farmers, fishermen, and trappers have preserved grains and produce in unheated buildings during the winter season. Freezing foo ...

) containers: while the Conflat L, which could carry three smaller containers for bulk

powder A powder is a dry solid composed of many very fine particles that may flow freely when shaken or tilted. Powders are a special sub-class of granular materials, although the terms ''powder'' and ''granular'' are sometimes used to distinguish se ...

s, was also produced in large numbers. The Conflat B wagon could carry 2 AFP (frozen food) containers. These were slightly wider than the standard AF containers, and were designed to carry loads on

pallet A pallet (also called a skid) is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a Loader (equipment), front loader, a Jack (mechanical), jacking device, or an erect cra ...

History

'Conflat' is the telegraphic code within the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

's coding of railway wagons for a container wagon. Unlike normal wagon loads, containers were only listed to carry furniture or goods (unless they were refrigerated containers, which carried frozen products kept cold by ice) which needed to be placed on a specialist flatbed wagon which had train braking capability due to the fragile nature of the products carried. The wagons were removed from service (as were the containers themselves) when more modern containers came into use.

Gallery

File:Conflat A B506195.jpg, Preserved Conflat A with

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

(not a normal load) File:Two Conflats and BR Container.JPG, Conflats and BR Container File:Decaying Rolling Stock. - geograph.org.uk - 386509.jpg, BR Type B container File:LNER mobile canteen c1940.jpg, Conflat with a mobile canteen of the

LNER LNER or L.N.E.R. may refer to: *London and North Eastern Railway (1923–1947), a former railway company in the United Kingdom *London North Eastern Railway (2018–), a train operating company in the United Kingdom * Liquid neutral earthing resi ...

References

External links

Model Railway Site featuring some detail on Conflats

GWRR fleet
British railway wagons {{UK-rail-transport-stub

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links