Dapol OO 4F-015-021 GWR MEX Covered Fruit Van 38240
Model of a GWR MEX covered fruit van, a former cattle wagon converted to a fully enclosed van for express fruit and vegetable traffic.
These useful van were fitted with vacuum train brakes, making them suitable for forwarding by fast goods and local passenger trains to ensure rapid delivery.
The GWR standard design of cattle wagon built from the late 1880s were a modern, long wheelbase steel underframe vehicle, many of which were fitted with vacuum train brakes for service in fast goods trains or attaching to local passenger trains. These well-ventilated wagons, suitable cleansed, were long favourites for the seasonal fruit and vegetable traffic from the South West and Channel Islands which ran at express goods timings to deliver freshly harvested produce to the early morning fruit and veg markets.
Following the development of better insulation and refrigeration for meat carcases the need to move cattle 'on the hoof' declined. Many of these well-built cattle wagons were fully enclosed and permanently allocated to fruit or ale traffic where their suitability for transit by fast goods or local passenger trains was advantageous. Many remained in this service into the British Railways era.