Ellis Clark Trains O Gauge Presflo Wagons

Presflo is railway parlance for ‘pressure flow’ and refers to the system fitted to these wagons whereby air is pumped through a load of powdered material to prevent it from clumping – thus allowing the load to be easily discharged.

The 22-ton Presflos depicted by our models entered service from 1954 and were intended primarily for the transport of cement. But they also proved useful for other materials of a similar consistency, including salt, sand, powdered alumina and even flour. Their distinctive ribbed design was to prevent the wagon from collapsing inwards when discharging its load.

Presflos were used all over the country, with some of the best-known traffic flows including Tunnel Cement between Aberthaw (South Wales) and the West Midlands, Blue Circle Industries between Westbury (Wiltshire) and Devon, and powdered slate between Delabole (Cornwall) and Tonbridge.

The Scottish Highlands are an ever-popular modelling subject, and Presflos could be found there in mixed trains on the Ballachulish branch (in conjunction with the aluminium smelter at Kinlochleven) as well as on the Kyle line in the 1970s, where a single wagon would be conveyed in passenger trains during oil rig construction at Loch Kishorn.

The nature of their work meant Presflos usually became filthy and often caked with whatever substance was in their charge – making them the perfect subjects for a spot of large-scale weathering!