Tickets on sale Vistor Info What's New Shop Search the site FAQ Links Details for the enthusiast How you can join in or help us Contacts Navigate
Bluebell Railway Preservation Society web site Bluebell Railway web site
Donate to the Jewel in the Crown appeal

C&W - Stock Lists: Carriages & Wagons - C&W News - SR Coach Group - Goods Division - Operation Undercover - Technical - Join us

Goods Division: Home - Shop - Projects - Instagram - Flickr - Facebook - Donate
The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service Bluebell Railway Goods Division

 

British Railways
24 Ton 'Dogfish' Ballast Hopper Wagon DB993217


BR Dogfish Ballast Hopper DB 993217

Dogfish DB993217 pictured in January 1999, Richard Salmon

DB993217 is a 24-ton vacuum-braked Ballast Hopper Wagon to diagram 1/587, designed by British Railways and codenamed 'Dogfish'. The wagon was designed specifically for the use of the Civil Engineering Departments to carry new track ballast from quarry to worksite and to drop it at a controlled rate over track which was to be machine-packed or 'tamped'. It has three independently controlled chutes, one on each side and one in the centre. These are operated by large handwheels mounted at one end of the hopper, a platform with guardrails being provided for the operator. All Dogfish wagons were built with vacuum brakes and carried the 'DB' prefix to their numbers from new.

DB 993217 is one of 161 vehicles built between February and April 1957 under lot 2822 by Charles Roberts and Company Ltd. at their Horbury Works, near Wakefield in Yorkshire. Initially it was allocated to the Eastern Region and was based at Santon slag heap near Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. Blast furnace slag is a waste product of the iron and steel industry and was sometimes used as a lightweight ballast for sidings and yards.

But why a Dogfish?

The exact origin of the BR practice of allocating 'fish' names to civil engineering vehicles is unknown. When railway operations messages were conveyed by morse telegraph or teleprinter, if the number of words in a message could be reduced, it could be transmitted more quickly. There were lists of code words for certain regular instructions and also for wagon type and capacity. The Great Western Railway favoured fish names for engineering wagons, and this may have been the origin. However, whatever the reason, if one refers to a 'dogfish', any railwayman will know that one is not referring to the similar 'catfish' or 'trout'!

And what is a dogfish?

The term 'dogfish' usually refers to a type of shark belonging to the order Squaliformes or to one of its constituent families; one of these families, the Squalidae, being known as 'dogfish sharks'. The Spiny Dogfish (Squalus acanthias) is found in many parts of the world, especially in shallower, temperate waters. The males mature at around 11 years of age, growing up to a metre in length; females mature in 18-21 years and are slightly larger than males, reaching up to 1.6 metres (about 5' 2"). In Britain this and other dogfish are sold in fish and chip shops as 'rock salmon' or 'huss'.

Recommended reading:

Civil Engineers Wagons Volume 1 - British Railways: 1948-1967 by David Larkin
Published 2011 by Kestrel Books, ISBN 978-1-905505-23-4
This book may be available from the Bluebell Railway's shop

splash The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service
Return to BRPS Home Page, to the Timetable or to Special Events
Goods Division: Home - Shop - Projects - Instagram - Flickr - Facebook - Donate
Carriages & Wagons - Intro - Development - Stock Lists: Carriages & Wagons - Carriage Fleet Review - Join us
C&W Works News - SR Coach Group - Goods Division - Operation Undercover - Carriage Shop - Technical Pages

Visitor Info. - Museum - Trust - Catering - Contacts - What's New - Projects - Locos - Carriages & Wagons - Signals - History - Other - Links - Search - FAQ
Why not become a BRPS Member?     -     Get more involved as a Volunteer

Your ideal Film/TV location?


Valid HTML 4.0 Transitional! Text ©Martin Skrzetuszewski
Last updated by Jon Elphick, 22 September 2012, by Nick Beck, 23 January 2014 and by Richard Salmon, 9 December 2022
© Copyright BRPS.             Privacy Policy