Van 59
| Van 59 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Martin Ellis | |
| Built By | GWR Swindon, rebuilt FRS |
| Designation | Luggage Van |
| History | |
| Date Built | 1923 |
| 1959 | To FR Co. |
| Operating | Heritage Fleet |
[edit] THE WELSHPOOL VAN
By Festiniog standards, Van 59 is relatively recent. It began life in 1923 as a cattle truck built at Swindon by the Great Western for the Vale of Rheidol line, but in 1937 it returned to Swindon for conversion to 2ft 6in gauge for the Welshpool & Llanfair line, from whom it was bought by FR in 1959 because of its suitability for re-gauging to two-foot gauge. This was done during a conversion to a closed, vacuum-piped stores van by the East Anglian Group of the FRS at Bletchley between 1965 and 1968. It entered service on the FR in 1968 as Van 9. By the mid 1980s it had been re-numbered to 59, but by those who know its heritage, it is called the "Welshpool Van." The lack of vacuum brakes meant that a fitted vehicle always had to be marshalled on the uphill side of the van, so in the 1990s it was ingeniously fitted with a modern diaphragm vacuum cylinder beneath the floor. By an arithmetical error by the students preparing the scheme, the brake leverage was miscalculated by a factor of 10, so the brake force is barely enough to hold the van when parked. It is wise to use the highly effective handbrake - the wheel is the original handbrake wheel from Palmerston.
It was fitted with twin doors instead of a drop flap in the 1980s and heavily overhauled in the mid 1990s. In the early 2000s it was fitted with a cycle rack within and a Bicycle sign without, to allow use as a bicycle van on passenger trains.
It is correctly labelled in English on the "clock" side and in Welsh on the "engine" side - the Welsh versions have varied, being considered incorrect (a proposition hotly argued), too blunt, or too polite. You can't win.
*Date: 18 June 1968 *Photo: Cyril Perrier
*Date: 04 March 2006 *Photo: Kim Winter
During the 2002 Gala 59 had a generator installed to allow the C-set to be mains powered during the 84-hour continuous running. Following a previous outing being used as a generator van, for a private charter, louvred doors are also used in place of the solid doors to provide ventilation.
The Welshpool Van has a tare weight of 2t 15cwt and is permitted to carry five tons evenly distributed. Bunny Lewis once loaded it with ten tons of cement and took it from Tan y Bwlch to Dduallt; he said it was solid on its springs. It has a wheelbase of 7ft.; this is the longest fixed wheelbase of any vehicle on the FR, but has given no trouble on this account.
Although described as a Covered Van, it can also be also be described as Non-passenger Carrying Coaching Stock (NPCCS) as it appears in the General Appendix as permitted to be part of a passenger train consist, a feature it has in common with Bogie Waggon 63
