Dundas Models OO9 DM32 Hudson 4-Wheel Wooden Bodied Drop Sided Open Wagon MoD 'Bomb Truck' Kit
Parkside plastic kit building a model of the slat-sided wood bodied open wagons built by the Hudson company for the RAF and used in many ammunition depots, leading to the type being widely known as the 'bomb truck'.
Following WW2 the British military examined the many locations which had been used as ammunition depots during the war and selected those locations which were going to continue to be used. These sites were developed to store and handle the new weapons for the post-war era. with a network of narrow gauge lines linking the distributed storage bunkers.
Some kind of wood body was obviously preferable when carrying explosives and the Hudson company supplied a large fleet of these wood slat sided wagons running on their standard chassis. The drop sides allowed the wagon to be loaded more easily and once raised ensures the shells of bombs could not roll out. Further the slat sides prevented them being 'stolen' for carrying ballast, which could cause damage to future more sensitive loads. Their use in RAF depots leading to the design becoming widely referred to as the 'Bomb Trucks'.
As many depots were not closed until after the preservation movement was well established quite a number of these wagons can be found on narrow gauge heritage lines.