Review of CKprints CIE guard's vans

[jhb171achill]

I had the good fortune today to collect two brake vans for the layout. I have two of Mayner's excellent JM design timber-planked CIE standard vans, and two of Leslie's Provincial Wagons old GSWR ones. With a layout based in a time period of mid 1950s to early 1970s, I needed two more at least, so I have added two of the new CKprints CIE standards to the collection. too. This gives an authentic mix of what you'd got about the place in that period. Older ones like the Provincial GSWR ones were still about in very small numbers - the Loughrea and Castleisland branches had the last two in operation into the 70s. Everything else was standard - most steel-sheeted, a few all-wooden, and the odd one like JM Design's "tin" one with planked balconies. 

As a digression, I MIGHT be wrong on this, but I do think that I once saw a planked one, a la JM Design's earlier example, with a metal sheeted balcony at one end.... but I cam't be certain. 

Anyway, as you can see, basking in the evening light at a Castletown West station still sparsely endowed with even basic scenery, we see two of CK's vans, designed and produced by Enda Byrne.

To say these are SUPERB is an understatement of the highest order. The detail and accuracy is in every way TOP drawer. Very many congrats to Enda for these. I am advised they will be widely available now.

I should add, for younger readers, you simply cannot have a goods train of old four-wheel wagons without a brake van. It's like running a train with out track, or without a locomotive, or carriages without wheels. ALL goods trains were loose coupled, meaning that no brake van = no brakes on the train. So, a brake van of some sort is essential. And this type, from about 1960 to the very end of loose coupled trains in the late 1970s, were the most common of all, and in the last few years actually the only types to be seen anywhere but NIR, which retained a few tattered and neglected old vans of GNR & NCC origin for ballast trains.

Very highly recommended indeed, and the big news is that Provincial Leslie and CK Enda are now planning future collaborations. All good news for all concerned.

 

1 minute ago, jhb171achill said:

I had the good fortune today to collect two brake vans for the layout. I have two of Mayner's excellent JM design timber-planked CIE standard vans, and two of Leslie's Provincial Wagons old GSWR ones. With a layout based in a time period of mid 1950s to early 1970s, I needed two more at least, so I have added two of the new CKprints CIE standards to the collection. too. This gives an authentic mix of what you'd got about the place in that period. Older ones like the Provincial GSWR ones were still about in very small numbers - the Loughrea and Castleisland branches had the last two in operation into the 70s. Everything else was standard - most steel-sheeted, a few all-wooden, and the odd one like JM Design's "tin" one with planked balconies. 

As a digression, I MIGHT be wrong on this, but I do think that I once saw a planked one, a la JM Design's earlier example, with a metal sheeted balcony at one end.... but I cam't be certain. 

Anyway, as you can see, basking in the evening light at a Castletown West station still sparsely endowed with even basic scenery, we see two of CK's vans, designed and produced by Enda Byrne.

To say these are SUPERB is an understatement of the highest order. The detail and accuracy is in every way TOP drawer. Very many congrats to Enda for these. I am advised they will be widely available now.

I should add, for younger readers, you simply cannot have a goods train of old four-wheel wagons without a brake van. It's like running a train with out track, or without a locomotive, or carriages without wheels. ALL goods trains were loose coupled, meaning that no brake van = no brakes on the train. So, a brake van of some sort is essential. And this type, from about 1960 to the very end of loose coupled trains in the late 1970s, were the most common of all, and in the last few years actually the only types to be seen anywhere but NIR, which retained a few tattered and neglected old vans of GNR & NCC origin for ballast trains.

Very highly recommended indeed, and the big news is that Provincial Leslie and CK Enda are now planning future collaborations. All good news for all concerned.

 

 

[Patrick Davey]

Fabulous - love the station building too JB!

[Mayner]

Really like the station JHB really places the station in the Kingdom, tell us more!

Edna's vans look the part right down to the friction axleboxes later replaced with roller bearing following problems with 'hot boxes"  I wen't down a rabbit hole with the RTR 20T vans and ended up with 4 body variations and several livery/number iterations.

I did produce a ply bodied version with modified duckets all my versions had planked balconies, came across one poor quality photo of a van with all ply body and balcony, the 30T vans had an all welded steel body.

Edited Friday at 03:37 by Mayner

[jhb171achill]

20 hours ago, Patrick Davey said:

Fabulous - love the station building too JB!

 

16 hours ago, Mayner said:

Really like the station JHB really places the station in the Kingdom, tell us more!

Tis de kingdom, boy, all rite!

This was my design, built by a gentleman whose name, shamefully escapes me. It is based on a somewhat extended version of that at Kenmare, and obviously bears a very close style resemblance to many in West Cork, and on the Valentia branch. Patrick O'Sullivan's excellent two-part history of the latter branch includes scale drawings of several Valentia line buildings, which provided outline types of dimensions.

The corrugated iron sheeting on the sides, unfortunately, is way, way overscale, which has prompted me to eventually build one with scale sized plasticard sheeting, and sell this one. But that's currently way, way down the priority list. I need to do the basic scenery on the area round Castletown West, which after all is meant to be a far more important place than a sleepy Dugort Harbour extension some 4 or 5 miles away.

As for Dugort Harbour itself, currently it has no building. I have a signal cabin kit for both, unmade in both cases so far; and I await one of the GSWR footbridges which will hopefully appear for Castletown W. 

As for Dugort, I had initially intended to do a building there which resembled Westport Quay (platform side) - it actually looked more like a small rural cottage than any sort of railway station. A digression; has anyone ever seen any sort of rural building kit or "RTR" model which looks broadly like that sort of thing?

 

Edited Friday at 20:28 by jhb171achill

[Galteemore]

12 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

 

Tis de kingdom, boy, all rite!

This was my design, built by a gentleman whose name, shamefully escapes me. It is based on a somewhat extended version of that at Kenmare, and obviously bears a very close style resemblance to many in West Cork, and on the Valentia branch. Patrick O'Sullivan's excellent two-part history of the latter branch includes scale drawings of several Valentia line buildings, which provided outline types of dimensions.

The corrugated iron sheeting on the sides, unfortunately, is way, way overscale, which has prompted me to eventually build one with scale sized plasticard sheeting, and sell this one. But that's currently way, way down the priority list. I need to do the basic scenery on the area round Castletown West, which after all is meant to be a far more important place than a sleepy Dugort Harbour extension some 4 or 5 miles away.

As for Dugort Harbour itself, currently it has no building. I have a signal cabin kit for both, unmade in both cases so far; and I await one of the GSWR footbridges which will hopefully appear for Castletown W. 

As for Dugort, I had initially intended to do a building there which resembled Westport Quay (platform side) - it actually looked more like a small rural cottage than any sort of railway station. A digression; has anyone ever seen any sort of rural building kit or "RTR" model which looks broadly like that sort of thing?

 

Bachmann Scenecraft do a stone cottage style building which, if whitewashed, might be close. Would also be a really easy scratch build tbh. 

 

Edited Friday at 20:42 by Galteemore

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, Galteemore said:

Bachmann Scenecraft do a stone cottage style building which, if whitewashed, might be close. Would also be a really easy scratch build tbh. 

 

Yes - maybe two of those put together....

 

[Past-Avenue]

On 7/8/2025 at 9:43 PM, jhb171achill said:

I had the good fortune today to collect two brake vans for the layout. I have two of Mayner's excellent JM design timber-planked CIE standard vans, and two of Leslie's Provincial Wagons old GSWR ones. With a layout based in a time period of mid 1950s to early 1970s, I needed two more at least, so I have added two of the new CKprints CIE standards to the collection. too. This gives an authentic mix of what you'd got about the place in that period. Older ones like the Provincial GSWR ones were still about in very small numbers - the Loughrea and Castleisland branches had the last two in operation into the 70s. Everything else was standard - most steel-sheeted, a few all-wooden, and the odd one like JM Design's "tin" one with planked balconies. 

As a digression, I MIGHT be wrong on this, but I do think that I once saw a planked one, a la JM Design's earlier example, with a metal sheeted balcony at one end.... but I cam't be certain. 

Anyway, as you can see, basking in the evening light at a Castletown West station still sparsely endowed with even basic scenery, we see two of CK's vans, designed and produced by Enda Byrne.

To say these are SUPERB is an understatement of the highest order. The detail and accuracy is in every way TOP drawer. Very many congrats to Enda for these. I am advised they will be widely available now.

I should add, for younger readers, you simply cannot have a goods train of old four-wheel wagons without a brake van. It's like running a train with out track, or without a locomotive, or carriages without wheels. ALL goods trains were loose coupled, meaning that no brake van = no brakes on the train. So, a brake van of some sort is essential. And this type, from about 1960 to the very end of loose coupled trains in the late 1970s, were the most common of all, and in the last few years actually the only types to be seen anywhere but NIR, which retained a few tattered and neglected old vans of GNR & NCC origin for ballast trains.

Very highly recommended indeed, and the big news is that Provincial Leslie and CK Enda are now planning future collaborations. All good news for all concerned.

 

 

Thanks again for your help and support with the research on these break vans . 

Many people had asked me about doing a brake van in a RTR and the 30 ton was the most sought after as JM Design dose a lovely 20 ton.

SSM also does brass kits in the 30 ton as there's are quite a few modelers lovely building kit's.

The RTR has been welcomed by alot of modelers as they have received them this week. 

Again thanks JB for all your help. 

Enda 

 

[enniscorthyman]

They look fab,and a welcome addition  for  modelling goods trains.