TIPHOOK KPA BOGIE HOPPERS

Above : PIA 33 70 6905 008-1 Tiphook bogie hopper wagon in original white and blue livery seen here at Peak Forest during 1994. These wagons were first used in the area about 1990 after seeing use in the Mendips. At the time they were used to supplement the RMC fleet as seen here. When some of the wagons were refurbished in 1994 they recieved a new colour scheme as seen below and were recoded KPA. However a great deal of these wagons were stored at Carnforth for a few years following the slump in the construction industry. Some of these were refurbished but many were scrapped and the valuable bogies and frames used in the construction of new wagons. KPE700 or KPE702; Arbel-Fauvet, Douai, France 1988; Tare 22.5t or 22.9t; GLW 90t; Fabricated Y25 bogies; Numbers 33 70 6905 000 to 049 and 33 70 6905 100 to 199.

Above : One of the refurbished KPA hoppers seen here in the formation of a train bound for Ratcliffe Power Station. When Buxton Lime Industries took delivery of their new JGA wagons for the Tunstead - Hindlow in 1994 they also had 9 Tiphook wagons converted and refurbished. The rounded top ends of the wagons had to be cut down so that they would go under the new loading facilities at Tunstead. Livery is overall Tiphook Blue with white lettering. The converted wagons were 33 70 6905 000/001/003/018/026/030/033/035 & 044. When the joint venture between RMC and BLI was started in 1998 for the Manchester Airport Runway stone contract a new company, Buxton Rail was formed to jointly apply for funds and resources. Therefore another 22 wagons were converted to the same style as the original 9. These wagons were not only used on Aiport traffic but also RMC and BLI traffic where appropriate. The 22 wagons were 33 70 6905 101 - 103/105/106/108/109/111/112/114 - 118/129/130/133/156/160/168 & 179.

Most of these wagons have been modified to become the JJA Autoballaster wagons for GTRM and Railtrack. Except for the 8 working from Tunstead and those wagons already scrapped all of the remaining KPA hoppers have been converted. See the listing here for more details on the fate of each wagon.

Above Left : KPA 33 70 6905 033 is seen at PF in the formation of an additional Tunstead to Ratcliffe PS limestone working on the 21/08/2002

Above Right : 33 70 6905 018 is also seen on the same service. The eight remaining KPAs continue to provide sterling service for Buxton Lime Industries on all traffic flows except to Hindlow.

At some point during 2003 an additional two KPAs were added to the BLI stone pool and these are believed to be 001 and 035. The ten wagons are all to design KPE700 except nos. 001 and 035 which are to KPE801 but all coded KPA X.

33 70 6905 000 9 . . 33 70 6905 001 7 . . 33 70 6905 003 3 . . 33 70 6905 018 1 . . 33 70 6905 026 4
33 70 6905 030 6 . . 33 70 6905 033 0 . . 33 70 6905 035 5 . . 33 70 6905 041 2 . . 33 70 6905 044 7

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