Tallpaul69 Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 Good Evening All, I have a white Wrenn 00 Gauge LNER/BR LWB frozen Fish van labelled "Ross Frozen Food" "Grimsby". Is this van a copy of a real van or another Wrenn "might have been"? Did Ross have any rail vans in real life, and if so, what prototype vans were they, and where were they used? I assume Ross had distribution Depots round the country, but where were they? Many thanks Stay safe and keep modelling Best regards Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John Isherwood Posted April 15, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 15, 2020 6 minutes ago, Tallpaul69 said: Good Evening All, I have a white Wrenn 00 Gauge LNER/BR LWB frozen Fish van labelled "Ross Frozen Food" "Grimsby". Is this van a copy of a real van or another Wrenn "might have been"? Did Ross have any rail vans in real life, and if so, what prototype vans were they, and where were they used? I assume Ross had distribution Depots round the country, but where were they? Many thanks Stay safe and keep modelling Best regards Paul It's another figment of Wrenn's imagination, I'm afraid. John Isherwood. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green too Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 Probably not even a copy of a real MOTOR van ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallpaul69 Posted April 16, 2020 Author Share Posted April 16, 2020 22 hours ago, Wickham Green too said: Probably not even a copy of a real MOTOR van ! Sorry, I am not getting your drift, or was this meant to be a comical reply??!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Tallpaul69 said: Sorry, I am not getting your drift, or was this meant to be a comical reply??!! I think it's a genuine reply: we've had this question previously; Wrenn's rendition of GW (insulated?) vans was possibly a little 'loose,' so the actual body is a bit suspect before we even consider the 'Ross' decoration. EDIT: My error - I was thinking of the Wrenn 'Eskimo' van. Sure a person better informed will be along shortly. Edited April 16, 2020 by 'CHARD Mental impairment Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallpaul69 Posted April 16, 2020 Author Share Posted April 16, 2020 4 minutes ago, 'CHARD said: I think it's a genuine reply: we've had this question previously; Wrenn's rendition of GW (insulated?) vans was possibly a little 'loose,' so the actual body is a bit suspect before we even consider the 'Ross' decoration. Sure a person better informed will be along shortly. Ah, I think I understand, sort of:- My van is a LWB LNER/BR FISH van (see my original posting!) It is NOT a GW insulated van! Never mind, thanks for the reply! Cheers Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 1 hour ago, 'CHARD said: I think it's a genuine reply: we've had this question previously; Wrenn's rendition of GW (insulated?) vans was possibly a little 'loose,' so the actual body is a bit suspect before we even consider the 'Ross' decoration. EDIT: My error - I was thinking of the Wrenn 'Eskimo' van. Sure a person better informed will be along shortly. I think was a genuine, but tongue in cheek, reference that there wasn't even a Ross Frozen Foods road vehicle from which to have copied the livery. The whole thing was a continuation of a long standing toy train habit of creating fictitious private owner liveries (as in the Hornby 0 gauge Oxo and Seccotine vans, for example). It's still alive and well amongst the 0 gauge retro-tinplate manufacturers. From memory, the Hornby Dublo range included a reasonable rendition of the GW insulated meat van, albeit adjusted lengthwise (at least) to fit their standard chassis, and later, the LNER/BR "Blue Spot" insulated fish van. In their day (a long time ago) they were quite useful to 4mm modellers. Jim 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green too Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 14 minutes ago, jim.snowdon said: I think was a genuine, but tongue in cheek, reference that there wasn't even a Ross Frozen Foods road vehicle ......... Thank - yes that was my drift ..... though pure speculation on my part : I guess the livery was copied from a packet of frozen somethingorother ! 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry lamb Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 (edited) During my years on Grimsby fish market no BR or pre grouping fish vans carried the logo or name of any large fish or food processing company. Frozen products may have had a ride in 'drikold' chilled containers of which some would carry a brand. ie, 'Birds Eye' but ordinary fish vans were common user vehicles for the carriage of fresh and dry fish for a multitude of fish merchants. Incidentally, you would not find 6 wheeled fish vans in a fish train originating from Grimsby unless it was added en route. Regards. HL. Edited April 21, 2020 by harry lamb 6 wheeled vehicles 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SED Freightman Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 On 16/04/2020 at 20:24, jim.snowdon said: I think was a genuine, but tongue in cheek, reference that there wasn't even a Ross Frozen Foods road vehicle from which to have copied the livery. Oh yes there was. My father drove one of the fleet based at their Dunton Green Depot for several years as a result of which I purchased one of the Wrenn models, however they had (as far as I know) no railway rolling stock or indeed sidings. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 Those big white things with a red R on the side you mean? Used to be everywhere when I was a kid. https://www.flickr.com/photos/63886203@N07/8485582427 Jason 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidlandRed Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) Birds Eye also had road vehicles in the 1960s/70s - well to be precise they were SPD vehicles but painted in full Birds Eye livery - Bedford TK chassis with refrigerated box van bodies - SPDs vehicles (mostly in their own livery) had ornate cast aluminium fleet numbers in the format SPDxxx on the cab doors. There was a depot just west of Perry Barr on Wellngton Road (BCT and successors Outer Circle, 11 route) where these vehicles could be seen parked. Interestingly this large distribution depot had it's own siding (s) on the other side of the depot between Perry Barr station and Perry Barr junction (east junction on the triangle) - the couple of sidings always seemed to contain rakes of standard, dirty, bauxite coloured vanfits - which never seemed to move when I saw the location over a period of years - there was a covered unloading bay and platform part of the length of a rake of wagons but once again never seemed to be in operation when I saw it. I suspect the rail side of the operation must have ceased in the early 60s and the empty wagons simply remained there until the sidings were eventually lifted before being removed. There were no rail wagons there with Birds Eye livery during that period. Not sure if anyone has any further details? Edited April 21, 2020 by MidlandRed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 I think that Birds Eye had gone to containers pretty early. I don't think they had wagons of their own though. There are a few of the containers here. https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/conflatbafp As for the model vans. I think they are fine as a collectors piece. I believe that in good condition they are quite sought after. https://wrennmodelrailways.com/wrenn-rolling-stock/freight-and-rolling-stock/blue-yellow-spot-vans.html Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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