Description
Image courtesy of Paul Bartlett.
A bogie bolster is a type of flat bed wagon designed for carrying long loads. While the bogie bolster is a functional and literally descriptive term for any bogies flat wagon the bogie bolster is most commonly associated with the Great Western Railway.
The Bolster B or 'Macaw B' to give it its telegraphic code was first introduced in 1904 and would see production for over fifty years with few design changes. Fairly standard 5 foot 6 plate back bogies would be fitted by the GWR, giving the wagon a thirty ton capacity.
GWR bogie bolsters would continue into service with BR before more updated wagons would see their uses diminish. Several examples have been preserved.
