Brake vans
WHR Brake Vans, sometimes spelt Break Vans, ex NWNGR.
It is evident from published photographs[1] that there were two four-wheeled brake vans of NWNG origin which passed to the WHR. They were similar but not identical, having sliding doors in the centres of the sides, windows in the ends (but none in the sides) and no end platforms. One van was No 2 and fitted with continuous brake, the other had no visible evidence of continuous brake and no visible number. This one at least had single swing doors in the sides at one end, the other (No 2) probably did as there appears to be a step below where it would have been, but photographs are not clear. The swing doors are both at the same end. It seems odd to have these doors adjacent to the sliding doors, and it is possible that they were a later addition, to enclose what was originally an open-sided platform, but this is merely speculation.
Differences between the two vans are in the number and width of the horizontal boards of the sides and ends, and the number and position of the vertical bracing timbers on the ends (2 on each end of No 2 and 4 on the other). No 2 also looks slightly smaller than the other but this may be an optical illusion due to the smaller number of (wider) planks. These differences suggest thay may have been built (or rebuilt) at different dates. Actual build dates are unknown and they do not appear in Official Returns until the WHR period, though Major Spring's report of 1922 mentions one of them and another list of the same year includes both.
One was photographed in a passenger train, apparently in use as the brake van, as the carriages (the Buffet Car and a summer coach) have no other accommodation for the Guard[2]. This appears to be No 2 but it is difficult to be certain. (This photo dated to 1928 by Peter Liddell in a posting to the WelshHighland Yahoo Group on 20 Jan 2012. He also mentions a photo of No 2 on a mixed train in 1930, and photos of the other van on the Bryngwyn goods trains, where its lack of continuous brake would be no disadvantage.) There are other photos of these vans out of use in sidings, and one of a goods train hauled by Gowrie in 1909 with what appears to be the non-No 2 brake at the rear[3].
There was a different vehicle, a goods van, which also carried the number 2. This seems to indicate that the Brake Vans were numbered in a different series from the goods stock. They may even have been numbered in the NWNG carriage list after the withdrawal of the Ashbury brake-compos, but there is no evidence that the non-No 2 brake ever carried a number.
There was also a brake van converted from a Quarrymen's carriage in 1922 with dual Westinghouse and vacuum brakes but no end platforms. This was No 4 and probably remained FR property and was scrapped before 1939.
[edit] References
- ^ Boyd, James I.C.. Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire, Vol. 2, The Welsh Highland Railway. Blandford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-383-4.
- ^ Johnson, Peter. An Illustrated History of the Welsh Highland Railway. Hersham: Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 0-860935-65-5. OCLC 59498388. 1st ed, p73, bottom.
- ^ Boyd, James I.C.. Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire. Lingfield, Surrey, England: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 9780853611158. OCLC 707587. "(Later editions split into 2 volumes)" 1972 single-volume edition, 8 pages after p192
