SSA Dia. 47b 3T fish truck (Kit Ref 9100)

The kit does not include W-irons or wheels.

The origins of the 3 ton open fish truck date back to 1877, this being the earliest recorded building date found in the wagon records. Most of the first batches of these wagons were built during 1877 and 1878 with an odd one being built at a later date. There are however two main batches of wagons built in the years 1892 and 1903 and these represent the bulk of the construction.

Wagons built in the years 1877/1878 were fitted with Westinghouse brake only, the only wagon from these early builds being recorded as dual fitted was No.3925, which was built in 1885. All the wagons from the 1892 and 1903 batches were dual-fitted, that is, with both Westinghouse and Vacuum brake. All wagons were built by the North British Railway at Cowlairs works.

Fish traffic was to a large extent seasonal and would reach a peak during the Herring season when traffic from the ports would be at its highest. Traffic on the West coast originated at Mallaig and Fort William for forwarding to the markets in Glasgow and London. Normally the fish vehicles would be added to the regular passenger trains and run as tail traffic, but during the peak season special fish trains would be run to cope with the additional demand.

Traffic on the East coast came principally from Aberdeen and would consist of fish from the ports on the Moray coast, Fraserburgh and the Aberdeen area. This traffic was formed into special trains for despatch to the markets in Glasgow and London. Traffic would also be generated from the other ports on the East coast and this would generally be added to the Aberdeen trains at Edinburgh. One other interesting service was that from Edinburgh to Glasgow which was worked on alternate years by the Caledonian and North British.

Please hover on the images below to see larger drawings of the wagon.

Please hover on the image below to see liveries used at various dates.

Further details and photographs can be found in the following books: