‘43xx’ 2-6-0 No.7335 on china clay empties frpm the Potteries - the tarpaulins are to keep the wagon interiors dry. The Mogul was built in 1932 as No.9313 and became No.7335 in August 1958 when the concrete weights behind the front buffer beam were removed. It was allocated to Laira between June 1958 and November 1961.The background to this scene is virtually unchanged today , with the lane behind the fencing and running down behind the houses ( out of shot on the extreme right ) still providing , as it has done in the past countless years, a fine vantage point for the enthusiasts. The houses are unchanged and the bridge is still there as well !

It occurs to me that these may not be empty wagons at all, but possibly loaded china clay wagons loaded with china clay from the extensive workings situate on the southern flanks of Dartmoor at Lee Moor and bound from Marsh Mills yards down into Cornwall , possibly for Fowey for shipment by sea away from that port , in common with the china clay produced from the North Cornwall workings at Dunmere on the Bodmin and Wenford line.
If the wagons had been empty I would not have expected them to have been so well sheeted over as they seem to be from this picture.
One thing is certain , however , and that is that they most certainly are china clay wagons !