From coal to nuclear
THE PFA wagon story starts in 1986 when fuel firm Cawoods ordered 172 of them to carry containers of domestic coal and patent fuel for export to Ireland.
Cawoods originally used its containers on a route between Liverpool and Dublin by sea, but in May 1972 – when faced with ongoing dock labour issues at Garston –the company moved to a newly-built container handling wharf at Ellesmere Port (Cheshire). Although the terminal was close to the Ellesmere Port West to Eastham branch of the Manchester Ship Canal Railway, it only gained a rail connection in 1986 when the quay was extended, new overhead gantry cranes installed, four rail sidings built
