British Rail VGA

British Leyland had used rail to transport a wide range of car parts between their various factories, particularly engines. In the late 1960s, British Rail modified some of its very large four wheeled ferry vans in the late 1960s, sub coded under TOPS as VQX.^[9] Via taut weather proof vinyl side curtains, these wagons allowed easy access to load a number of palletised engines. Ford started using the same wagons in the UK, including on cross-channel traffic to Germany.

In the late 1970s, Ford had sub-contracted its inter-factory transport to Danzas. As the UK had the most restrictive loading gauge in European railways, the two jointly approached British Rail to agree a new design, which resulted in Ford placing an order for private owner wagons with Cargowaggon to make a replacement for the ageing VQX. The result was a 45-foot (13.72 m) twin-axle sliding door all metal van. The design proved so successful, that in the early 1980s Ford again approached Cargowaggon for a new design, this time a slightly longer 47-foot (14.33 m) twin-axle sliding door all metal van, which was adapted by British Rail to become the VGA.

Cargowaggon IGA

So successful was the project for Cargowaggon, they extended the project. The problem of the twin axle design was that although its short length meant that it easily fitted on the cross-English Channel rail ferry, its long wheelbase restricted the minimum radius on which it could be used. The resultant longer length wagon, based on a twin EVA bogie, twin axle design,^[10] the IGA spawned three basic variants:

• Curtain sided
• Sliding metal door
• Open flat waggon

The Cargowaggon IGA is now the most commonly used trans-European railway wagon, particularly popular since the opening of the Channel Tunnel, resulting in a design which has been improved over the developing years as opposed to replaced.