Van 1
| Van 1 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Martin Ellis | |
| Built By | FR Co. |
| Designation | Guard / Luggage Van |
| History | |
| Date Built | 2004 |
| Operating | Heritage Fleet |
[edit] Background
This vehicle was built in 2004 and is a replica of an 1873 Brown Marshall & Co. bogie van, familiarly known as the curly roofed van. It was paid for by a generous sponsor.
As a practical detail while working this vehicle, it is convenient for a guard to look forward along the train over the concave section of the roof without putting his head above the roof line. In earlier days this would have been a life-saver, but nowadays the loading gauge has been extended from 8ft 6ins high to 9ft 8ins, so the same consideration no longer applies.
Details of the previous Van 1 of the preservation era can be found here.
The Festiniog Railway bought the bodies for three bogie luggage vans from Brown, Marshall & Co. - two in 1873 and the third in 1876, and added the bogies and brakegear at Boston Lodge works following delivery. They each contained a guard's compartment, a large luggage compartment accessed externally by sliding doors or internally from the guard's compartment, and a small compartment for dogs.
Unfortunately none of these vehicles survives in original form.
- The original Van 1 was broken up in 1921
On account of their peculiarly shaped roofs these vans became known to the preservationists as the Curly Roofed Vans , but this term was not used by the old FR Co.
In the 1990's the decision was made to re-create a Victorian Train. Most of the carriages required to re-create this train had survived in to preservation. However, all the Victorian photographs showed a curly roof van at the rear. The only option was to build a new curly roof van, which was completed at Boston Lodge in 2004 and took on the identity of Van 1. It is principally used in The 1870's Train.
