Internal layout of 'Tin Van'

[Mol_PMB]

What was the internal layout of a Bulleid 'Tin Van' - the luggage variant numbered in the 2700 series?

Was the guard's office partitioned off from the luggage space? My impression from photos is that the interior was entirely open-plan.

Since they acted as a guard's van, I imagine that there must have been at the very least the following, but I don't know how they were arranged:

• a seat
• a desk
• a handbrake

Some photos give an impression of a fire extinguisher and a shelf at one end:

Has anyone on the forum got a drawing, photo or recollection of how the interior was laid out?

 

I have found this information for the heating variant - both a drawing in the HMRS collection and a very nice model by David Malone illustrated in N.I.L.

https://hmrs.org.uk/hmrs-5597-train-heating-van-18ft-w-b-30ft-o-b.html

https://newirishlines.org/archive/ Vol 7, No.5, page 166 

The luggage van variant could have been similar, but without the boiler compartment and tank.

[jhb171achill]

On 18/1/2026 at 9:59 AM, Mol_PMB said:

What was the internal layout of a Bulleid 'Tin Van' - the luggage variant numbered in the 2700 series?

Was the guard's office partitioned off from the luggage space? My impression from photos is that the interior was entirely open-plan.

Since they acted as a guard's van, I imagine that there must have been at the very least the following, but I don't know how they were arranged:

• a seat
• a desk
• a handbrake

Some photos give an impression of a fire extinguisher and a shelf at one end:

Has anyone on the forum got a drawing, photo or recollection of how the interior was laid out?

 

I have found this information for the heating variant - both a drawing in the HMRS collection and a very nice model by David Malone illustrated in N.I.L.

https://hmrs.org.uk/hmrs-5597-train-heating-van-18ft-w-b-30ft-o-b.html

https://newirishlines.org/archive/ Vol 7, No.5, page 166 

The luggage van variant could have been similar, but without the boiler compartment and tank.

I was only ever in one in traffic on two occasions. The two I was in were open plan. From what I remember, they had wooden slats on the floor, and the seat for the guard anther handbrake column were to one side in the middle of the vehicle. The interior was painted a very pale grey with cream ceiling.

In one case I was on a Limerick-Ballina train. There were two laminates, a van, and another coach tacked onto the back, so you had to walk through the tin van to get from one end of the train to the other. I don’t remember where I encountered the other, but it was probably either a Cobh train or a Limerick - Waterford set.

And of course in both cases a black’n’tan 141 up front!

[Mol_PMB]

3 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

I was only ever in one in traffic on two occasions. The two I was in were open plan. From what I remember, they had wooden slats on the floor, and the seat for the guard anther handbrake column were to one side in the middle of the vehicle. The interior was painted a very pale grey with cream ceiling.

In one case I was on a Limerick-Ballina train. There were two laminates, a van, and another coach tacked onto the back, so you had to walk through the tin van to get from one end of the train to the other. I don’t remember where I encountered the other, but it was probably either a Cobh train or a Limerick - Waterford set.

And of course in both cases a black’n’tan 141 up front!

That's great, many thanks. I had meant to ask about interior colour but was assuming it was light grey as you say. Useful to know about the floor and roof too. Hopefully I can make some more progress on the model later this week.

I have travelled in Mk1 BGSV and Mk3 EGV vehicles on occasion - both when I had blagged a trip on the empty stock workings of the Ennis services. The Mk1 BGSVs were also light grey inside. The big rectangular water tanks over the bogies, and the apparently small but noisy genset stick in my mind. But I never knew the tin vans - they were gone before I was old enough to remember them.