Hi SRman,

I really like what you have done with these vans, especially the PW mess van conversion. Note the position of the horizontal handrail seems to vary - there must be a pattern to this but I've not worked it out yet!

The location of the numbering/lettering can vary quite a bit, but the number positions you have gone for are bot pretty typical. A grey van would normally be numbered on black patches, and a black van would normally be numbered in yellow, but there is evidence to the contrary on other wagons so what you have done is plausible. There are quite a few published pictures in BR livery if you include the diagram 1559 version, although most are in departmental service. The ones I could find easily are (source and date of photo in brackets):

- S55456 as built, grey(?), number on bottom plank on black background (Southern Wagons vol 3 - Bixley, etc - 1953).

- S55460 as built, grey, number on bottom plank on black background (Southern Wagons Pictorial - King - 1963).

- DS55466 as built, olive, number boxed on bottom plank (Southern Wagons in Colour - King - 1969).

- DS55472 as built, black, number on bottom plank (Pictorial Guide to Southern Wagons - Gough - 1965).

- DS55476 PW conv, olive, number boxed on bottom plank (Pictorial Guide to Southern Wagons - Gough - 1965).

- DS55478 as built, black, number on bottom plank (Southern Wagons vol 3 - Bixley, etc - 1962).

- DS55482 PW conv, olive, number boxed on bottom plank (Southern Wagons in Colour - King - 1967).

- DS55488 as built, olive, number boxed on bottom plank (Southern Wagons in Colour - King - 1967).

- DS55489 PW conv, black or olive, number unboxed on second plank from bottom (Railways in Profile No. 5 Cattle & Brake Vans - Gamble - 1976).

- DS55490 as built, black, number on bottom plank but on panel next to the door (Southern Wagons vol 4 - Bixley, etc - 1967).

- DS55491 as built, black, number on bottom plank (Civil Engineers Wagons vol 1 - Larkin - 1969).

- DS55496 as built, olive(?) could be black, number unboxed on bottom plank (Pictorial Guide to Southern Wagons - Gough - 1968).

- DS55502 PW conv, olive, number boxed on third plank from bottom (Southern Wagons vol 4 - Bixley, etc - 1967).

- DS55508 PW conv, black, number on bottom plank (Southern Wagons vol 3 - Bixley, etc - 1954).

- DS55513 as built, grey and , number unboxed on third plank from bottom, coded ZTO (Railways in Profile No. 5 Cattle & Brake Vans - Gamble - 1988).

Many thanks for all that information - most useful.

It will take me a little while to digest it all but it will allow me to finish them with just a little more accuracy.

I know that many of the earlier batches had the handrail at the second plank level, but later ones had the handrail one plank further up. Some may have had later modifications moving the handrails up or down but it isn't well documented.

I have chosen the numbers on the grey one to be on the grey background as per earlier BR practice. Even so, many grey wagons received the black backing patches before the boxed-in numbers and details came into being.

The one clear pic of the ballast brake I have (Bygone Surrey, K. McCormack, 2009, Ian Allan Publishing) is in black but with later style boxed-in number panels.