Before I go, do you want ....... UTA Brown vans, GNR Y5 Passenger vans or GSWR brake vans?

[leslie10646]

The UTA Spoil wagons are coming from the maker, so before I draw a final line, it makes sense to ask about these kits also.

UTA Brown Vans

GNR Y5 vans

and although Enda @Past-Avenue has done his excelllent CIE Brake vans, there may be still some of you who want an older brake?

My GSWR 10 ton van meets that bill. It was a popular kit - 65 sold.

Please PM me, or e-mail me.

Thanks, all. I'm now off to admire Swillybegs! ready @Colonel?

[Patrick Davey]

I've built all 3 kits and can vouch for their excellence!

 

Edited yesterday at 09:56 by Patrick Davey

[DJ Dangerous]

Bump for anybody who missed this.

[Mol_PMB]

On 10/10/2026 at 9:54 AM, leslie10646 said:

GNR Y5 vans

Hi Leslie,

Do you know how long these Y5 ventilated vans lasted in service, and whether they operated beyond the boundaries of the GNR?

 

There's a good photo of Y5 No.764 in 'Irish Broad Gauge Carriages' (Coakham) on both pages 14 and 64; this matches your model with external sliding doors and panelled sides. 

I've been looking for other photos and struggling. 

'Irish Railways in Pictures No.1 GNR' (IRRS London) page 31 has a great photo of similar vehicles No.766 and 758, but with detail differences. 766 has internal sliding doors and matchboard lower sides, while 758 has panelled sides but hinged doors. I'm not sure if these also count as Y5 or if they were classified differently.

But those photos are all from 1953 which is a bit early for me.

 

There's also a good photo of Y2 No.752 as UTA N641 in 'Irish Broad Gauge Carriages' (Coakham) on page 63; this is broadly similar, with hinged doors but it doesn't have the louvres in the sides. 

And 'The Great Northern Railway (Ireland)' (Patterson) has a photo of Y3 No.283 on page 160, which looks very similar to Y2 No.252. 

 

This photo of Ernie's shows another like 766 with internal sliding doors and matchboarding, in UTA days:

Another photo of Ernie's dated 1963 shows one in CIE green livery, with another combination of details: panelled ends, matchboarded sides and hinged doors:

The impression I'm getting is that a few lasted into the early 1960s, but had been re-panelled or fitted with different types of doors. Is that right?

Also, they all seem to be prohibited from working in goods trains, which is interesting. I wonder why?

[Galteemore]

I suspect the goods train thing is to stop it being banged around in loose coupled trains. They were very different and plainer looking by the end.

[Mol_PMB]

I suspect that I will let Leslie twist my arm to get one, though he may not want to see it painted green… 

[Galteemore]

They do look nice in brown…

[Mol_PMB]

How about UTA green? Or maybe just filth livery?

Here’s one of the non-louvred ones with UTA lettering:

Some interesting weathering on the left margin of this image - possibly a similar van: