IIA-B and HOA-B hoppers incoming from Revolution

In addition, the distinctive IIA-F variants, with hinged roof doors used to transport sand for the glassmaking industry, are also being offered. 

Revolution is tooling five variations to cover the full services lives of these wagons, and they will be offered in early debranded Cemex, Mendip Rail-NACCO, Mendip Rail-VTG silver grey, Touax red and Mendip Rail-VTG blue.

The model is being produced with the full support of DB, Mendip Rail and VTG/Greenbrier. Pre-orders are expected to open in Q2 2025, with products shipping to customers in mid-2026.

About the prototype

The mid-2000s saw a rapidly growing need for the transport of bulk stone from Britain’s two primary quarrying locations in the Derbyshire Peak district and Somerset Mendip hills.

Both EWS and Mendip Rail responded by ordering new fleets of HOA-A wagons in 2006 (already offered in OO and N by Revolution), then in 2008 followed these up with orders for similar but different hoppers with the TOPS code IIA-B and the UIC code Fabfnoos.

EWS ordered 34 wagons, delivered in the grey and blue livery of Cemex, though the Cemex branding was removed within months.  These wagons were used on traffic from Dove Holes quarry in the Peak District and Shap Blue in Cumbria and for another DB customer, Tarmac, on traffic elsewhere.

The 40 Mendip wagons were financed via wagon leasing company NACCO and delivered in silver grey, and a year later, a further 20 were ordered by VTG to supplement the Mendip fleet.  These were used for stone trains from Torr Works/Merehead and Whatley Quarry to London, south-east England, east Anglia and south Wales.

In 2019, as older wagons began to be phased out of the Mendip fleet, VTG ordered a further 35 hoppers.   These were to an almost identical design but were given the domestic TOPS code of HOA-B and UCI designation Fanpps. 

In 2020, wagon leasing company Touax ordered a further 40 HOA-B wagons, these delivered in its distinctive deep red livery, and in 2024, to reflect both growing needs and the disposal of more legacy wagons, a further 203 HOA-B wagons were delivered for VTG in a deep blue livery, meaning more than 400 stone wagons from this family of hoppers are now in service.

In addition, having won Sibelco sand traffic, in 2017, GBRf ordered a fleet of 41 similar wagons, fitted with hinged protective top covers, to transport Leziate (sand) from Middleton Towers in Norfolk to glassmaking plants at Goole, Barnby Dun and Monk Bretton.

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