GS&WR 10 ton Brake Van

[leslie10646]

Although this is on my website, I thought a few photos would help?

I have produced the van to allow the buyers of the up-coming 00 Works J15 to have a complete goods train to pull behind it.

These little vans were built around 1890, but survived to be pulled by the earliest diesels on some branch lines in the late 1950s, early 1960s. For example the C Class, or even the tiny G Class, versions of both of which are available RTR. 

The GSWR history suggests a BLACK livery, so this one's in a fairly dark grey. 

In CIE days, it could have looked like the version above, with the original lettering roughly painted out, but more likely it would have been like this - 

I'm still waiting for the final transfer sheet, but thought I'd give you an idea of how you can finish yours.

I probably prefer it in a lighter grey, as it shows up the detail a bit better?

Talking of detail, Michael Rayner, my brilliant modeller has really done his stuff with this one:

There's even a brake wheel for your miniature guard to turn (actually, there's two, as there's one at each end). Note, too, the GS&WR's adherence to Helf 'n Safety in the form of those simple bars to stop said guard falling overboard!

I have a decent stock of the new kit for Raheny at an exhibition price of €35 (it will be €39 by post to Euroland, a bit less to UK), but if you want to reserve one, e-mail me send me a PM, or e-mail me at

lesliemcallister@aol.com

Phew, I can retire now - I've produced kits of both a GNR(I) and a CIE Goods train (well, someone else has done the locos!)

Leslie 

Edited October 16, 2018 by leslie10646

[jhb171achill]

It's an absolute beauty, Leslie, and well overdue. Examples were in traffic until the very early 1960s, as the standard CIE ones took over.

Livery: like all GSWR stock, all black when built. The very dark grey you showed above first seems to have appeared in the mid 1910s. It seemed to be an obsession in Inchicore to paint everything grey! This wagon grey wasn't that much lighter than loco grey, and in fact jhbSenior once saw a newly outshopped J15 carrying it - the wagon shade; this was in the mid to late 1920s, perhaps into early GSR days.

The GSR continued this darkish shade of grey for ALL wagons, not just ex-GSWR ones. This was very much in tune with repainting all locos in standard GSWR grey, which would eventually cover all the GSR, and repainting coaches of all companies into what was basically the same very deep browny maroon of the GSWR. No wonder the Midland men had a deep suspicion of anything Inchicore, especially after they downgraded Broadstone and Grand Canal Street!

By the mid 1950s, everything was being repainted by CIE into a slightly lighter shade, best approximated to by LMS or GWR wagon grey across the pond. The light colour of grey you have does indeed show detail well, though this lighter shade only tended to be applied to H vans, palvans and Lancashire Flats when new. In reality, the shade these things carried to the end was something in between the two photos you have.

Needless to say, none ever made it to the "brown era".....

[leslie10646]

Thanks for that, John. 

The kit is a gift to the weathering men, who can spend many happy hours dreaming up filthy liveries for the poor things! They were pretty unloved by the end - Michael suggested that a few miles on that short chassis would have dictated the need for a convenient bucket on board (no, we don't include that! 

There is a great photo of one of these vans on one of the reopened branches being hauled by a shiny new G Class - the poor van has DROOPING verandahs - now there's a modelling challenge!

 

[jhb171achill]

Yes, a bit like modelling UTA goods - the greatest part of the "livery" by far was just pure filth, faded nondescript paint, and a heavy covering of brake dust.

I have a big interest in the railways of Majorca. Steam ended there in the early 1960s, and it is thought that some of the steam locomotives were NEVER repainted from delivery in the 1910s. That gives forty years of weathering. Cleaning locos was not their strong point either, and it was probably just as well given the faded horrors underneath.

Suffice to say, that despite detailed perusal of several (good quality) photographs of a locomotive I knew to be officially green, taken in 1963 or so, there was not one solitary trace anywhere of anything green, or black; from wheels to cab to side tanks to dome to chimney, the whole engine (brass nameplate included) was just pure weathered soot, smoke, brake dust, and track dust. An accurate scale model of one made in fluorescent dayglow pink would not have to be repainted at all - just weathered until not one detail of its original state was visible!

Many old wagons were like that too.

Edited October 16, 2018 by jhb171achill

[Broithe]

1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

 pure filth

Is there a RAL number for that?

[jhb171achill]

56 minutes ago, Broithe said:

Is there a RAL number for that?

CRUD1

[Mike 84C]

Leslie, this van looks like  your best  offering yet and has saved me building one!  If you are at the IRRS  meeting in London on Nov 18 I will be very happy to buy a kit from you.

        Regards Mick

[DiveController]

I prefer the darker shade. Most of these were seen in older black & white photos where they were darker or appeared dark. Lovely kit. Leslie. I'll be needing a pair I would say.

Leslie, I think you numbered yours 8588 (below, at Youghal)

 

 

Edited May 15, 2020 by DiveController

[David Holman]

Any chance of this little gem appearing in 7mm scale?

[leslie10646]

I'll reply to both David and Patrick together.

First, David, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see my wagons running on your rightly famed, brilliant layout - but alas, they are resin kits, so very scale oriented. If they had been 3D Print based, it would have been easy to oblige you - alas, not.

Patrick, you have discovered the photo which helped me chose one of my transfer numbers.

I have taken a leaf out of the IRM Book and only offered numbers where I have evidence of what they looked like - at least in the case of the numbers carried.

When I was doing GNR(I) wagons, I had the Wagon Book to refer to so that I was sure of numbers. I have not seen anything which tells me which GSWR wagons carried which numbers - but if anyone can point me in the right direction ....... ????

Patrick, I think you are right about that very dark grey / black, but I have to say that the light grey, even if incorrect, allows you to see the detail - black detail just disappears, except you have your layout really well lit (which mine isn't!).

 

 

[Irishswissernie]

On 10/17/2018 at 1:16 AM, DiveController said:

I prefer the darker shade. Most of these were seen in older black & white photos where they were darker or appeared dark. Lovely kit. Leslie. I'll be needing a pair I would say.

Leslie, I think you numbered yours 8588

 

 

 

I forgot I had that view in the archive, here is another with a slight variation in the positioning and size of the "10ton brake" lettering and also metal sheeting on the ducket. Also at Youghal

Ernie

Edited October 18, 2018 by Irishswissernie

[jhb171achill]

It would be good to see a transfer made of the stencilled flying snail for wagons. In the 1956-onwards period, this was the norm on “snailed” wagons.

[jhb171achill]

This is the state that many older wagons, ex-GSW stuff included, managed to get into by the late 1950s....

Edited October 18, 2018 by jhb171achill

[mphoey]

hi leslie I will get one of you at the show martin

[leslie10646]

hi leslie I will get one of you at the show martin

Martin, your name's on it!

By the way, JB, your pic is of a 12 ton one - useful though, that it gives another number!

As I said earlier - the kit is a gift to the weathering men - reproducing that effect will take some doing! 

When they reopened a few branch lines using the little G Class diesels, you had this shiny "silver", new out of the box, engine at one end of a short goods with a poor unloved and filthy brake van at the other!

 

 

[jhb171achill]

I know it’s s different van, Leslie, it was just to show the awful state they got into! (And the new silver locomotives didn’t take long to match them....!)

[Noel]

So glad I bought one of these kits last year when it was available.

[jhb171achill]

On 10/16/2018 at 7:13 PM, leslie10646 said:

Although this is on my website, I thought a few photos would help?

I have produced the van to allow the buyers of the up-coming 00 Works J15 to have a complete goods train to pull behind it.

These little vans were built around 1890, but survived to be pulled by the earliest diesels on some branch lines in the late 1950s, early 1960s. For example the C Class, or even the tiny G Class, versions of both of which are available RTR. 

The GSWR history suggests a BLACK livery, so this one's in a fairly dark grey. 

In CIE days, it could have looked like the version above, with the original lettering roughly painted out, but more likely it would have been like this - 

I'm still waiting for the final transfer sheet, but thought I'd give you an idea of how you can finish yours.

I probably prefer it in a lighter grey, as it shows up the detail a bit better?

Talking of detail, Michael Rayner, my brilliant modeller has really done his stuff with this one:

There's even a brake wheel for your miniature guard to turn (actually, there's two, as there's one at each end). Note, too, the GS&WR's adherence to Helf 'n Safety in the form of those simple bars to stop said guard falling overboard!

I have a decent stock of the new kit for Raheny at an exhibition price of €35 (it will be €39 by post to Euroland, a bit less to UK), but if you want to reserve one, e-mail me send me a PM, or e-mail me at

lesliemcallister@aol.com

Phew, I can retire now - I've produced kits of both a GNR(I) and a CIE Goods train (well, someone else has done the locos!)

Leslie 

Looks superb!

However the black livery would have been replaced by dark grey by about 1915, so your dark grey is more appropriate. Also, in CIE days, if any lettering was showing, it would say “G S” more likely....

I have one if these vans and can attest to their superbness, thus I strongly recommend it if anyone out there is considering it!

[Noel]