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Goods brake vans of the Highland Railway

Peter Armstrong
Pictures by the author

MY SURVEY OF HIGHLAND RAILWAY goods brake vans is illustrated by models of each type. However, to be complete my quintet should be a sextet, as there is an omission in the series, namely the Drummond Type D 20ton 6-wheel van of 1908. There is currently no kit for this van. It remains a challenge that no manufacturer has yet taken up, nor have I taken up the challenge myself and scratch-built one. Scratch building is a very long way round, so the elusive Type D is not illustrated here.

In 1900 the Highland Railway owned 66 goods brake vans, numbered in a separate series to the goods wagon stock. Type A vans, a four-wheel design, formed a significant part of this number, almost a third, and were numbered 1 to 19. Type B vans were numbered 20 to 55 and were large six-wheeled vehicles which formed the majority of the company’s brake van stock. Type C were four-wheel enclosed veranda style vans of which the Highland had 10, numbered 56 to 65. Number 66 was a one-off, carried by a small open shunter’s brake wagon employed at Perth. Type D vans, introduced in 1908, were a reversion to the six-wheel format. Type E, a 20 ton four-wheel design, entering service in 1923, was the last Highland brake van, which ran for most of its service in LMS livery.

Highland brake vans carried a black board affixed low down on the left-hand side on which the name of the guard to which the van was allocated was painted along with his home station. This personalising of the vans encouraged guards to take special care of their charges. It has been suggested that guards may have gone so far as to give their vans a coat of varnish, which would have made the red oxide appear a much richer colour.

In Geddes and Bellas’ book ‘Highland Railway Liveries’, the Locomotive Magazine is credited with the confusing statement that goods brake vans were “dark lake, yellow lettering shaded red and vermillion ends.” No date for this is given, presumably dark lake means the claret which the Highland used on its wagon fleet before 1896, after which date rich red oxide replaced it. A wagon in the same book in what seems to be an official photo has shaded lettering though it seems improbable that this was in common usage. It is quite probable that brake vans did indeed have vermillion ends in their early days, though the practice of painting them this colour seems to have been curtailed later, possibly during World War I. From a modeller’s point of view, the juxtaposition of vermillion and red oxide does not make a very attractive colour scheme as there is not enough contrast between the colours; the Highland’s green passenger brake vans with vermillion ends display these colours more effectively.

Type A. Jones 7 ½ ton four-wheel brake van

Type A brake vans were introduced into service by the Highland Railway in the last years of the nineteenth century. These, along with Type C vans, were popularly known as ‘Klondikes,’ after the eponymous gold rush of 1896-9 which suggests that they made their debut in these years. They display all the characteristics of a Jones era vehicle and belong to the very last years of his incumbency as Locomotive Superintendent at Lochgorm. There are three photos of the van extant, which for a Highland goods vehicle is riches indeed; they provide good modelling reference, though only one, that of No 6 at Fochabers c.1900 shows the van in pre-grouping livery. Type A vans were designed to carry parcels and small consignments of goods, in addition to their role as the brake and look-out for the train, yet the narrow doors, a mere 2ft 3ins wide, made for great inconvenience. The ducket look-outs, mounted on either side of the van, compelled the guard to constantly move from side to side to keep watch on the tortuous bends of the Highland track. These factors resulted in the unpopularity of these vans among both guards and management.

Type A ‘Klondike’ brake van viewed from the busy step end. Construction is complete and the model is displayed in Halfords’ grey Acid-8 primer.

My model of Type A is built from an etched brass kit designed by the late Andy Copp for his Lochgorm Kits range. Despite its imperfections it is nevertheless indispensable as without the kit there would be no model Klondike at all; indeed it has been noted in modelling circles that without Lochgorm’s kits, models of Highland Railway subjects would be thin on the tracks. It would make for dull reading if I were to tediously catalogue all the changes and adjustments I made in the course of building the models featured as illustrations to this article. Suffice it to say that there was, in all cases, much work withthe coping saw, a great deal of filing and drilling, adjusting and improving before an acceptable scale model resulted.

TypeA. HR Type A ‘Klondike’ brake van No 7, built from a Lochgorm kit. The basic body colour I employ is Precision Paints Caledonian Wagon Oxide, though their P953 Dark Brick Red also serves and seems to be much the same colour.

Type B. Drummond 11 to 15 ton six-wheel brake van.

The Highland Railway’s front line of goods brake vans was made up of 36 six-wheel vans known as Big Vans Type B. The earliest six-wheel vans were introduced into service in the 1880s and twelve additional vans are recorded as being built by Brown Marshall in 1893. They were 24 feet long, 11 to 15 tons tare weight and were characterised by their distinctive horizontal cladding, roof mounted birdcage lookout and two sets of double doors each side. These vans probably lasted in service until towards the end of World War I, when they were gradually replaced by Type D, a new six-wheel design of 1908-9. The generous proportions of the Type B vans and their double doors made them suitable for road van work, collecting and dropping off packages and consignments too small for a wagon load. Inside there was a platform below the glazed roof lookout where the brake wheel was situated and from where the guard could keep watch on the road ahead. Details of the appearance of the early Type B vans are known from a surviving GA drawing which shows the basic dimensions and the planking, though sadly little else; the brake rigging is probably the most regrettable omission. There are in addition a few surviving photographs, one is a partial view, the other views are distant ones, so the van was not well-recorded photographically.

Type B original. Walsworth Models’ kit for the Type B van in original condition with horizontal cladding is a quality product etched in nickel silver with brass fitting.

Type B. 20 ton rebuilt version six-wheel brake van

In 1918 five of the original Type B vans were rebuilt extensively. In this guise they soldiered on into LMS days, one of them being photographed still in revenue service as late as 1936. They are mainly recognisable by their vertical cladding and the additional ramps to the lookout which were added to stop the guard hitting his head when ascending the platform under the lookout. The vans were upgraded to 20 tons and the springs were altered accordingly to take the increased weight.

Type B rebuilt. Rebuilt Type B brake van with vertical cladding and modified roof lookout, built from a Lochgorm Kits aid to scratch building and completed with castings from other sources.

The rebuilt version of the Type B van is better served by surviving photos than the earlier version and presumably this accounts for its choice as the subject for the earliest kit for a Highland 6-wheel brake van. Alistair Wright of 5522 Models developed the kit to add to his expanding range of Highland Railway kits in 1997. It was originally designed in 4mm scale for 00 gauge, as were all the kits in his range. When the Highland kits in Alistair’s range were taken on in 2006 by Andy Copp, they were produced in the larger 7mm scale and issued under the new name Lochgorm Kits. The kits proved popular and stimulated interest in modelling the Highland in Gauge O. The rebuilt Type B van was an etches only kit, relying on castings from Laurie Griffin Miniatures to complete the model, and because of this it was offered as an aid to scratch building. Nevertheless it built into a good model which compares well with the recent etched kit for this van in original condition produced by Walsworth Models, though this kit, with some minor alterations, also builds into a fine model.

Type C. Drummond 13 ton four-wheel brake van

The Type C 4-wheel goods brake van was the inspiration of Peter Drummond, appointed as the new Locomotive Superintendent at Lochgorm in 1896. They were based on Caledonian Railway practise and were cheaper to build than the Type B. However the cramped design proved unpopular with Highland guards who preferred the more spacious six-wheel vans. R Y Pickering built ten of these 13 ton enclosed veranda vans for the Highland in 1898. We are fortunate in the survival of not only a GA drawing signed by Drummond himself but also two fine works photos, taken by the builders, before the vans went into service, which provide indispensable evidence for the model maker. Both sources show that the windows in the outer ends of these vans carried glazing.

The interior of the enclosed veranda of Invertrain’s Type C brake van is not part of the kit, it is an addition by the author. The ends are double skinned to enable the glazing to fit between the inner and outer layers

A welcome recent addition to the range of Highland brake vans available in kit form is Invertrain’s model of the Type C van, from a design by Mike Williams. It is a departure from the cast white metal of Invertrain’s earlier Highland wagon kits; this is an etched kit, which comes complete with castings and transfers. These are water-slide transfers and are particularly useful as they solve the problem of the small lettering for “GOODS BRAKE” on the ducket, which needs to be exactly sized. They also provide a transfer for the maker‘s plate and other numbering and lettering to complete the model authentically. My model features a detailed veranda interior though the cabin itself is not detailed inside.

Type C van No 56 in the scenic section of the CDOGG club layout in Carlisle, which is the setting for all the action photos illustrating my article. The enclosed verandas have detailed interiors and, though it’s difficult to see inside, the guard is just visible through the rear glazed window.

Type D 20 ton Drummond six-wheel brake van.

Introduced by Drummond in 1908-9, the vans were intended to provide a large, versatile van to fulfil the needs of traffic on the Highland and as a replacement for the older Type B vans, though curiously they were four feet less in length than the originals and had a shorter wheelbase. Sixteen of these vans were built up to 1913 and in common with all Highland brake vans these had wooden underframes. A final batch of ten, ordered in 1918, were upgraded with steel underframes. The numbers of these vans are known only from photographs, 16 and 21 are early vans, 71 is one of the later ones. There is currently no kit for this model available, however I read recently that Bill Bedford of Mousa Models plans to produce a printed resin version as the next addition to his HR range.

Type E 20 ton four-wheel brake van.

This was the final design of brake van to enter service with the Highland Railway. Only five were built, numbered 23-27 and there is some uncertainty whether they ever ran in Highland livery before they were taken over by the LMS. An original GA drawing exists for this van which includes details of the inside, enabling an accurate interior to be constructed. Lochgorm Kits produce an etched kit for this van, though without any interior fittings. My model features a fully detailed interior, based on the GA, complete with a guard in Highland Railway uniform.

Type E, 20 ton four-wheel brake van No 24 in Highland Railway livery, built from a Lochgorm etched kit. Note the bottle-shaped buffer housings, characteristic of the later Highland brake vans. These were filed to shape from parallel ones, a necessary though difficult modification.

Interior of Type E brake van, built using details from a surviving GA drawing. Inner walls were made from Plastikard planking glued to thin sheet metal to produce the scale thickness walls.

The guard himself in Highland Railway uniform about to sweep out his van. Figure converted from one of the author’s own designs in Invertrain’s ‘Heroes of the Footplate’ range.

References

Peter Tatlow, Highland Railway Carriages and Wagons, Noodle Books, ISBN 978-1909328-13-6. Contains drawings of all the brake vans mentioned in this article by the author.
D L G Hunter, Carriages and Wagons of the Highland Railway, Turntable Enterprises Leeds.
H Geddes & E Bellas, Highland Railway Liveries, Pendragon/HMRS ISBN 1-899816-02-x
www.ambaile.org.uk Provides access to the Highland Railway Society photographic collection.

gazettearchive/gazettevol21/highlandbrakes.txt · Last modified: 2021/11/15 19:10 by 127.0.0.1