In the nineteenth century, milk was supplied to urban areas mainly by cows kept in urban herds even in the largest metropolitan areas such as London. These cows were kept in cramped, unsanitary conditions and in 1865 a cow plague swept London resulting in the extermination of all urban herds. Express Dairies grew from this moment on and was instrumental in bringing in milk from the country into the towns and cities.
The founder and chairman of Express Dairies, George Barham invented the milk churn which was the principal way of transporting milk until the 1930s at which time the growing demand and the advancement of sheet metal rolling techniques lead to the development of cylindrical bulk handling milk tanks. The first milk tanks had four wheels, but were found to be unstable at speed. However, a six wheel derivative was found to be very suitable and most of the earlier milk tankers were eventually converted.
MODEL
These model milk tank wagons are based on the six wheel derivative.
FEATURES
Profiled wheels
Accurately applied livery
Highly detailed body moulding
Separately added ladders and rails
NEM pockets with self-centring couplings