REGARDING the farewell to china clay CDA wagons in the September issue, their introduction can be traced back to BR Railfreight’s reorganisation to introduce sector management in October 1982. National business managers took over the previously shared responsibilities of headquarters’ freight marketing managers and regional freight managers, but these roles were retained to negotiate resource allocations with regional general managers.
After holding responsibility for Speedlink network marketing, I was appointed as one of the new national business managers for the chemicals and industrial minerals sectors. The remit covered all aspects of commercial activity, and part of the role was to act as the account manager for the largest customers – such as ICI, BP and English China Clay.
At the time, china clay traffic to the Potteries for industrial use had been concentrated at a grant-funded distribution terminal at CliffVale, Stoke-on-Trent, with an agreement made withTiger Rail to provide 35 new bogie-hopper wagons and associated traffic management.
However, exported china clay from a number of ECC locations in Cornwall to Fowey Docks was not part of the renewal of assets and, in the pre-Sectorisation structure, BR insisted that the large fleet of two-axle OOV ‘Clay Hoods’must be replaced by privately-owned rolling stock. This was a substantial and profitable business for Railfreight, with up to 700,000 tonnes conveyed annually.