Banana Van Information

In the 1920’s and 1930’s there was a massive increase in demand for the “ fruit of the wise man”, the banana. Imported from the Canary Isles and the Caribbean the bananas were shipped in their green state and ripened after landing in the UK. The railways played a large in the success of this market with the introduction of the steam heated banana van. The vans allowed the ripening process to take place as the fruit was being transported to the wholesale markets. Our model is based on the Fyffes Steam Banana Van as it is the one I had on my Hornby Dublo lay-out!