Dapol O Gauge 7F-037-005 BR Conflat A B735364 with BD Container 47324B Bauxite Door to Door
Model of the British Rail standard design container flat wagon or Conflat, a purpose-built flat wagon with securing points and rings for containers and storage pockets for the securing shackles. By 1948 all the railway companies were using a similar container flat design. BR adopted their standard 10ft wheelbase vacuum braked chassis, suitable for running in fast goods trains, with a very basic body incorporating chain storage pockets, giving an appearance very similar to the GWR wagons.
The use of containers to move goods between road and rail vehicles without unloading goes back to the earliest days of the railways. In the 1920s Britains' railways began to invest in box containers to provide door-to-door service. A range of containers were produced, the most familiar being the full-length B type which was used for the railways door-to-door furniture removals service and bulk deliveries of items like bicycles. Shorter type A containers were often insulated types used for fresh meat and fish.
The use of these wagons declined through 1960s as the stackable steel bodied ISO containers were adopted by ship operators, BR ordering the first bogie flats for ISO type containers in 1964 and forming the Freightliner brand to market integrated port/rail/road container services in 1968.