Black powder from Wakefield's gunpowder mills in rural Westmorland would have been sent all over the UK by rail, loaded into steel-bodied vans bearing the company name. Each van could carry up to 10,000lbs of its dangerous goods, packed securely in wooden barrels and crates, which would fill a lot of artillery shells or make plenty of blasting charges. Even so, major industrial customers would order significantly more than a single vanload in one go, and their delivery would need several of the company's vans coupled together. The distinctive red livery would make them stand out as having a hazardous load, and they would normally be assembled in the middle of a goods train to keep them as far away as possible from both the locomotive and the guard's van. Any shunting would be carried out with very great care, and if the customer had an internal railway system on their site then it would often be operated by fireless locomotives to keep the risks down to an absolute minimum. Gunpowder was one of the most sensitive materials to be transported by rail, and railwaymen rightly treated it with very great caution indeed. Move a perilous cargo on your layout with our Wakefield Rake.

Please note that these wagons are boxed individually.