00
GAUGE
1987 to present
ERA
MGR family survivor
A TOTAL of 124 CDA wagons were built at BREL Doncaster in 1987 and 1988 to replace ageing wooden-bodied OOV vacuumed braked china clay tipplers known as ‘Clayhoods’.
Whilst the passing of the ‘Clayhoods’ was mourned by enthusiasts, the longevity of the CDA wagons has given them a cult status of their own. They have outlived the MGR coal wagon by some time and continue to be used daily on the traffic they were constructed for, which is to convey china clay to the docks at Fowey from various Cornish clay dries.
The CDA has become very much part of the Cornish china clay landscape since introduction. Traction has evolved from the famous St
