Fert Wagons Now Available to Order!

Our Fertiliser wagons are now available for pre-order! As you can see, these promise to be one of our best models yet, if not the best! We are doing four packs of two wagons, with each wagon individually decorated as per the prototypes from photos and research material. 

The ferts are one of the most distinctive wagons to run in Ireland, and ran nationwide during their 30 year lives in service with Irish rail. Built in Inchicore, they were based on the standard 42ft underframe, these wagons entered service with Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) in 1974 and were tasked with transporting palletised bagged fertiliser from the Nitrigin Éireann Teoranta (later Irish Fertiliser Industries) plant at Shelton Abbey, near Arklow in County Wicklow, to distribution points throughout the CIÉ/Irish Rail and Northern Ireland Railways networks.

In traffic, these distinctive vehicles could be found both in dedicated block trains and attached to other ‘liner’ services. In late 2001, Irish Rail signalled its intention to withdraw from a number of unprofitable freight flows, including fertiliser traffic. This, coupled with the closure of the Shelton Abbey plant in 2002, led to their withdrawal.Throughout their operational lives, these wagons wore a basic red oxide livery and a number of the wagons retained the CIÉ roundel after the formation of Irish Rail in 1987.