SAR NG-Y hopper wagons

[John L Dobson]

I've received a query about these wagons.

The FR/WHR has two of them, they are bottom-discharge ballast hoppers in which the discharge doors are vacuum-controlled to regulate the flow of ballast which can therefore be deposited between the rails over quite a long distance. They have a tare weight of 8,700 Kg and can carry 18,750 Kg of ballast. See attached


Sorry, I was mis-remembering when I wrote this! They are side-discharge hoppers – the FR/WHR does have a centre-discharge hopper, but that was built for us by a firm in Romania.

[Mike Fox]

How does the vacuum control the doors?  Do you need vacuum to open?

[John L Dobson]

I'm pretty sure it's a vacuum motor (the wagons have vacuum brakes, so that would make sense) but I need to check. They certainly have a controlled discharge system.