- 4-wheel hopper wagon, 14ft wheelbase, 24 tons capacity
- Vacuum braked
- Discharge via centre and side doors, operated by three hand wheels on an end platform
- Built by British Railways at Shildon Works, Lot No. 3329, 1966
The Dogfish was BR’s standard small ballast hopper, introduced from 1956 as an enlarged development of the earlier “Catfish” design. Where the Catfish discharged through a single bottom door, the Dogfish’s centre and side doors — worked from the handwheels at one end — allowed ballast to be dropped either between the rails or out along the shoulders of the track, making it a far more versatile wagon for relaying and maintenance work. Many hundreds were built over the following years by Metro-Cammell, Charles Roberts of Wakefield, and BR’s own works, including Shildon, where DB983591 was turned out in 1966.
Acquired by Helston Railway in 2025, DB983591 will, once restored to good working order, be invaluable in the railway’s ongoing work to extend the line — distributing fresh ballast along the trackbed as it’s laid.
