One of the most impressive portraits of a Private Owner wagon is this official study of No. 351, taken in 1927. If the Birmingham manufacturer had been as meticulous with their records as they were in photographing it we could learn more. It is an eight-plank standard RCH 1923 model with side and end doors, brakes both sides and would therefore measure 16ft 0in. x 7ft 6in. x 4ft 7in. It is from an order placed in 1927 for 20 wagons with the Birmingham RC&WCo. of Smethwick, and bears their typical five star trademark on the visible end, together with the oval owner¹s plate, No 30830. Despite being built by Birmingham it carries a rectangular repairs plate on the solebar for the South Staffs Wagon Co. although note that a rivals plate has
not had the lettering picked out! Registration was with the GWR. The wagon appears, in comparison with other wagons of the same builder and period, to be painted a medium grey with white letters shaded black and black vertical ironwork as shown. Italic letters at bottom left read OEmpty to Baddesley Colliery, Atherstone, L.M.S.R.'. Note that the 'Load 12 tons' is not painted on the wagon sill, but cast on a plate on the solebar.
Ian Pope collection







Due to the dominance of the likes of Walter Boynton, wagons from small coal merchants in Lincolnshire are few and far between, and those built by the Doncaster firm of Thomas Burnett are equally thin on the ground. Oglesby's No. 2 is a five-plank side door wagon built in 1905 and originally registered under the name of the builder, whose horseshoe-shaped plates can be seen on the solebar and the bottom plank to the left of the side door. It has two wooden door stops drilled to accommodate the bolt heads of the door hinge straps and brakes one side. Registration was with the Great Central, No. 27650. The wagon appears to have a red oxide body with white letters shaded black.   
Ian Pope collection

Taken in the early years of the Second World War at the Spondon Power Station, Derby, two Fox wagons are shown discharging small coal into the underground hoppers.  No. 418  is a Butterley product and No. 716 was built by Charles Roberts.  Although these may have been a standard design, there are subtle differences to be found such as the manual hopper door mechanism. No. 716 has a date of 6/6/41 on the solebar under 'Derby'.  There are several Fox wagons in the sidings in the background, both conventional and hoppers. Identifiable numbers are 761, 2728 and 2643, all Charles Roberts products.           
Derbyshire Records Office