Hornby Railroad 100 Ton TEA Tank Wagon number SUKO 87155 Shell with Trainload Petroleum branding

R60364 Hornby Railroad 100 Ton TEA Tank Wagon number SUKO 87155 - Shell with Trainload Petroleum branding

The TEA tankers first appeared in the late 1960s and were designed to take large loads of hazardous liquids from refineries to ports and storage facilities. With a loaded capacity of 100 tonnes, and often marshalled in long rakes, these wagons were required to be hauled by the heaviest of BR locomotives such as the Class 37 and Class 60. These smartly decorated and imposing tank wagons are a must have for sectorisation era and later layouts. This particular TEA wears the corporate scheme of Shell, and features small TLF Petrol sector decals in the righthand corner. 

History
Hundreds of these ‘TEA’ bogie tank wagons were built between the 1960s and 1980s embracing both 100-ton and 102-ton variants, but with little detail difference. A new, updated version was produced in the 1990s through to the 2000s and many are still used today transporting oil to refineries and storage terminals across the country. This one is finished in perhaps the most common markings of all of them, British-owned Shell oil and gas, which can trace its origins to 1907.