Specification:

• A wealth of separately fitted parts
• Fully detailed underframe
• Authentic tarpaulin
• Pivoted split chassis
• Prototypical fully detailed replica bogie
• Era specific printing and livery elements
• Designed for easy conversion to EM and P4
• Zinc alloy chassis
• Sprung buffers
• Sprung kinematic NEM couplings  

In 1972 a new steel works was opened at Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey, in Kent. The new site at Sheerness was built to produce steel to be made from scrap metal using the Electric Arc Furnace method instead of the more conventional smelting of iron ore in the Basic oxygen steelmaking process.

This was seen as an effective and efficient way to boost steel production by utilising scrap metal from the south east of England.

The delivery of scrap metal to supply the EAF arrived by sea and also by rail, with the latter using 16t mineral wagons. In 1981 it became clear that the aging 16t mineral wagons needed replacing which led to the conversion of four bogie steel wagons, originally built by Procor in 1974 for steel traffic emanating from Sheerness, to bogie box wagons for scrap traffic with a further four following suit in 1985.

Following the successful conversion of the four steel wagons, a brand-new fleet of purpose-built box wagons dedicated to this traffic were constructed as volumes increased. Over the ensuing years, rail capacity to meet the rising demand subsequently followed suit with more scrap wagons being built.

Consignments of scrap metal to the Electric Arch Furnace at Sheerness originated from scrap yards mainly located in the Southeast at such places like Snailwell, Silvertown, Willesden and Ridham Dock. The flows from Snailwell and Ridham Dock were carried in block trainloads, the traffic from Silvertown and Willesden at first used British Rail’s Speedlink wagonload network. Co-Steel, the owner of Sheerness steel works, was at the time a big user of this network and dispatched small numbers of wagons to such far flung locations as Bilson Glenn in the West Midlands, Workington in Cumbria and Shipley near Bradford in West Yorkshire. To keep the Electric Arch Furnace going, this arrangement of moving scrap on wagonload trunk and trip services lasted until the demise of Speedlink in 1991, after this time, Sheerness received its scrap in block trainload services from Snailwell and Willesden.

In 1994 Tiphook Rail placed an order with RFS(E) Ltd for the conversion of 38 of the Powell Duffryn PXA (latterly JSA) steel coil wagons to scrap box wagons for use on Sheerness Steel traffic. Design code was JX031B and TOPS code JXA. The first wagon converted was PDUF3043, which was completed on 12th February 1995 as number TIPH 3043, with a Tiphook blue box and the original GPS25 bogies painted yellow. The wagon went to Derby RTC for testing, after which the conversions continued. Numbers were TIPH 3008 to 3024 and 3042 to 3062, completed by the end of 1995.

The 17 unconverted wagons, PDUF 3025 to 3041, remained in use on the Llanwern to Ebbw Vale traffic until around 2003/4.

In the run up to Privatisation in 1994, Sherness was located firmly in the area of operation of shadow freight company Mainline Freight. Mainline provided the traction and resources for the trains and whilst Class 58s were the normal motive power for the workings from Snailwell, it was not uncommon to find pairs of 37s on these trains with the Willesden services often producing pairs of 33s in lieu of 58s or 37s.

In 1998 Co-Steel was sold to Allied Steel and Wire who owned the Electric Arc Furnace at Cardiff Tidal. Allied Steel and Wire was a big user of scrap metal, and the decision was taken to amalgamate both the scrap wagon fleets based at Cardiff and Sheerness, into one pool of wagons. This saw the JXA’s normally associated with the Sheerness operations go nationwide.

In 2002 Allied steel and Wire went into administration but interest from the Spanish Company Celsa Group saw both plants at Cardiff and Sheerness purchased. Wire Rod and Wire Coils continued to be produced by the two plants but with a much-reduced workforce. The plant at Sheerness was bought in 2003 by a Saudi Backed company called Thamesteel and again used JXA wagons to deliver its scrap metal by rail.

During this period of time the majority of the scrap metal for the plant at Sheerness was being brought to site by coastal shipping which had an impact on rail services. The volume of steel that the plant was processing was declining by both rail and ship and in 2012 the plant at Sheerness closed with the loss of 400 jobs. However, for the plant at Cardiff it was very much business as usual.

In the early 2000s, the ex-Powell Duffryn JXA wagons started to be withdrawn with some stored at various sites and some cut up. A few examples can be seen in use at Scunthorpe steel works as internal user wagons.