{{Short description|British railway term for a wagon for long thin cargoes}} [[File:W60828 Dean Forest Railway.jpg|thumb|'Gane A' at the [[Dean Forest Railway]]]] A '''bogie bolster wagon''' is a British railway term for a wagon designed to carry long thin cargoes such as timber or rails and other steel sections. The sides and ends are minimal and there is no roof. The load is carried longitudinally and borne by three or more bolsters (half baulks of timber) fixed transversely. The load is constrained sideways by movable metal [[Side stake|stanchions]] fitted into the ends of the bolsters, and secured with [[chain]]s and [[shackle]]s. == Design == [[File:B941616 Dean Forest Railway.jpg|thumb|left|'Bobol D' at the [[Dean Forest Railway]]]] [[File:Salmon wagon at the North Tyneside Steam Railway.JPG|thumb|'Salmon' at the [[North Tyneside Steam Railway|North Tyneside Railway]]]] A bogie bolster has both [[bogie]]s and bolsters.

Bogies are four-wheeled, articulated carriages beneath the main load bed. They allow a long wagon to carry long loads, but still have individually short wheelbases, and so go round [[minimum railway curve radius|tight curves]].

Bolsters are [[Beam (structure)|baulks]] of [[timber]] fixed across the bed. The bed is thus not flat, but most loads such as [[girder]]s, [[Rail profile|rails]], timber lengths, [[railway signal|signal]] posts etc. are stiff enough that they only need to be supported at intervals, not continuously across a flat planked bed. The space between baulks allows room for tie-down chains or lifting straps, making the bolster design easier to work with than a completely flat bed.

Bolsters could be fixed in place, or be removable. Some had as many as five bolsters.<ref name="NBR, bolster" /> Some designs had multiple sockets and a pair of bolsters could be moved between them. The bolsters could even be allowed to swivel around a central locating pin, and curved steel rubbing strips on the wagon deck.<ref name="NBR, bolster" /> The design of bogie bolster wagons had developed from earlier timber wagons, which were short four-wheeled wagons, each carrying a single swivelling bolster.{{sfnp|Hooper|1991|pages=80–81}} A pair of such wagons could carry a large tree trunk to a sawmill, but they required either the tree to take the full tension of the train,{{efn-lr|This was sometimes done on narrow-gauge forestry railways}} or a suitable number of [[match wagon]]s to be marshalled between the two bolster wagons. The long, but relatively lightweight, bogie bolster replaced that arrangement with a single wagon.

Most designs also had [[Side stake|"stakes"]], which are removable vertical steel bars to restrain a load from rolling or sliding sideways. They could be either fixed through the bolsters, or inserted into pockets along the edge girders of the wagon body.{{efn-lr|See the 'Gane A' illustration [[File:W60828 Dean Forest Railway.jpg|50px]] for visible, but empty, pockets}}

Bolster wagons are relatively lightweight. Heavier well wagons, used for machinery loads, had deeper and stronger side girders. They had a cranked side profile, so that the [[centre of gravity]] was of the load was lower. Bogie bolsters could carry typical loads of {{convert|15 or 30|LT|ST t|1}}.{{sfnp|Hooper|1991|page=96}}

The [[GWR telegraphic codes|GWR telegraphic code word]] for a bogie bolster was 'Macaw'.<ref name="GWR, codes" /> Other codes for specific types were 'Beaver' or 'Gane'.

== Rail wagons == Bogie bolsters were particularly useful for permanent way loads, such as [[rail profile|rail]]. Many such wagons were not part of the railway's commercial stock, but were included as part of departmental stock (stock used for engineering works on the railway itself).

Codes for these wagons included 'Salmon', Bobol<ref name="NLR, Bobol" /> and 'Gane'<ref name="GWR, codes" />

A number of bogie bolsters have been preserved on British heritage railways, as they are convenient for moving rails, [[telegraph pole]]s and other [[permanent way]] loads.<ref name="NLR, Bobol" /><ref name="FRT, bolster" />

== See also == * [[Flatcar#Skeleton car|Skeleton car (US)]] * [[Truck bolster]]

== References == {{Notelist-lr}}

{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="GWR, codes" >{{Cite web |title= Code Names for Great Western Carriage Stock and Vans |website=The Great Western Archive |year=2013 |url=http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/stockcode.htm }}</ref>

<ref name="NLR, Bobol" >{{Cite web |title=42 ton Bogie Bolster 'D' Wagon № B942667 |website=Northampton & Lamport Railway |url=http://www.nlr.org.uk/about-nlr/stock-list/wagons/42-ton-bogie-bolster-d-wagon-%E2%84%96-b942667/ }}</ref>

<ref name="FRT, bolster">{{Cite web |title=FRT buys only known remaining FR wagon |website=[[Furness Railway Trust]] |url=http://www.furnessrailwaytrust.org.uk/vintagebolster.htm }}</ref>

<ref name="NBR, bolster">{{Cite book |title=Wagons on the LNER: North British |last=Hooper |first=John |year=1991 |publisher=Irwell Press |isbn=1-871608-22-8 |pages=58–59, 79, 96 }}</ref>

}} {{Freight cars}} [[Category:Freight rolling stock]]