UNZIP A BANANA

AT CARLISLE AND DISTRICT O Gauge Group we developed an interest in the use of special wagons for the transport of bananas from ports to distribution warehouses. We have gathered together as much prototype data as we can find in books, magazines and on the internet, probably not inexhaustible by any means, but enough to allow us to model a variety of wagon types.

Whilst we appreciate that not all the prototypes would have been seen together within the same train, certainly banana trains from the many import points travelled the whole country. It is well documented, for instance, that the LNER sold its banana vans to the SR when Hull ceased to be used for imports in favour of Southampton. We thought that pulling all this information together in one place would be a useful guide to modellers whose interest might have been sparked by Peter Jary's recent articles in the Gazette.

Historical background Much has been written about the development of these special wagons, some purpose built, others conversions of old stock. Except for the BR 1/246 design, all previous BR and pre-BR banana vans were built with steam heating. During the 1950s and early 1960s the steam heating from these vans was removed and insulation added. In the early stages of this process vans would have retained through steam pipes. Converted vans were given the yellow spot to indicate that they were not steam heated. Standard fruit vans and insulated vans were frequently used for banana traffic in times of heavy traffic, to augment the banana van fleet.

One myth that seems to have been perpetuated by many writers, particularly modellers, is that the steam heating was used to ripen bananas on their way to market. This is not the case. Firstly, they spent as short a time as possible in the wagons. Secondly, the purpose of steam heating and insulation was to maintain a steady optimum temperature to prevent either damage from cold and frost in winter or overheating in summer. Ripening was carried out in the controlled environment conditioning rooms at the distribution warehouse. Bananas were shipped to this country in the temperature-controlled conditions of special ships and this environment was maintained in the railway wagons.

Bananas arrived in a green, hard condition and were transported quickly by rail to the distribution facility. Here they were stored in a temperature-controlled environment until being transferred to conditioning rooms to begin ripening. By this method a steady volume of stock was made ready for the market. Those bananas that arrived already in a ripened state were sold locally at the docks. The history of harvesting, shipping and distribution of bananas is well documented by Peter Davies, reference 1 below. Michael Harris, reference 2, describes the railway side of the business.

¹Freightman kits are no longer available but do appear secondhand occasionally. ²The PECO W606 kit has the correct Morton brake gear but lacks the vacuum cylinder, fittings and pipes which are in the R606 Accessory pack.

A BR 1/242 type van is now available RTR from Dapol. Modelling banana vans can be quite straightforward with kits available for BR, LMS, LNER, SR and GWR types as shown in Table 1. However, there were many other designs produced and a number of these can be constructed with a degree of kit bashing. Peter Jary, reference 3, discussed a number of such adaptations of the PECO Parkside kits. He also describes building the PECO Parkside SR banana van in an earlier article, reference 4. He also discusses other variants that can also be produced from the PECO GWR ventilated van kit, reference 5. The no longer available Freightman kits provided three variants and it is possible to pick these up second hand, either as kits or ready made. Table 2 summarises the possibilities. Table 3 lists the fruit van and insulated vans that have been noted in banana traffic when reviewing prototype photographs and as identified by others writing in on-line forums. It would seem an academic exercise to kit-bash the PECO Parkside van to make a BR 1/242 type, now the Dapol version is available. The Dapol van is depicted without steam heating so if an earlier version is required it will be necessary to add the end trunking and steam pipes. However, it is necessary to pay attention to the prototype 1/242 van as those with steam heating removed may or may not have a blanking plate on the van end where the steam pipe entered the van. Both types are shown in Plates 41 and 42 in Gamble's book, reference 6. The Dapol van lacks these but making some is quite straight forward. Transfers for banana vans can be downloaded from the Guild website via the Services menu, free of charge. Ed

References

1. Peter Davies. Fyffes and the banana Musa sapientum – A centenary history 1888-1988, The Athlone Press Ltd, 1990
2. Michael Harris. Special traffic – Bananas by the trainload, Steam Days June 1999, Red Gauntlet Publications.
3. Peter Jary. A mixed bunch, Model Railway Journal No 255, Wild Swan Publications, 2017
4. Peter Jary. Vans for perishables traffic Model Railway Journal No 164, Wild Swan Publications, 2006
5. Peter Jary. Going bananas. Gauge O Guild Gazette, Vol 21 No. 3, May 2020
6. G. Gamble. British Railway Vans Volume 2, Cheona Publications, 2000