hmrspaul

Fish are a seasonal catch. Herring, which were once very common and important source of protein, migrate around our islands and the fish vans followed. Paul

They explain that in their description. See in https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brfish Paul

On the lunchtime engineers through York yesterday All wagons photographed of course, despite it not stopping as it is planned to do! https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/recentlyadded Paul

Good to have them break cover. Some photos of a few prototypes 957011 https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brfish/e97932d2 BR 1/801 Barrier Van – No.M87990 957012 https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brfish/e74f676f BR 1/801 Barrier Van – No.W87573 957013 https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brfish/eb8c41f5 BR 1/801 Departmental Van – No.ADB975377 Paul PS just noticed this in the description (coded NRV and later SPV under TOPS) This is incorrect, the SPV designation predates the introduction of TOPS codes, for example on this 1970 photo by my late friend Tony Dyer https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brfish/e3e013bfa (I realise this is the earlier design on an LNER type brake rigging and slightly different body)

British gauging vans, and they could be elderly https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/lmsbrakevan/e37cb8b03 https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/lmsbrakevan/e3f8b61e7 https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/lmsbrakevan/e29c555fd which appears to have worked with https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/gwrbrakevan/e582cb2aa and older and stranger https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/lnerdepartmentalcoach/e2c83b440 Paul

Yes OK, will go with BBA. Paul

Here is D6746 at March on 8th July 1968. Pretty conclusive I think! The palvan just beyond the water crane is one built for the Izal traffic, but possibly more general use by 1968. Swayfield Class 56 up test train Sept 77 J5818 Yes what are those wagons? Bogied, but the high ends and the substantial side stanchions are unlike either BAA or BBA. Could they be BOV, conversions of Bogie Bolster C https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/bovpipe but I am not convinced! Paul

I agree with you, but I do think attendance at York is more subtle because of the way Easter is a moveable date. Reasonably nice weather towards the end of April then the family goes to the seaside, Reasonably nice weather in late March the family simply want to go out, and may head to the racecourse. I've worked front of house for the past 3 years and I think it is disappointing how many few young children, and even more importantly, teenagers attend. My one criticism with the arrangements for the show are that local to York advertising is poor. It was very good to get a good write up in the York Press but a bit late to affect attendance. Perhaps, it did help, and it is better families attend on the quieter Sunday and Monday. As to stewarding, well we all agree the main questions asked are "where are the toilets" (which the racecourse seems to want to hide) and where are refreshments. And once in the lift it isn't clear where they are, because there is a floor above the one used for the very excellent catering, and the lift signage suggests there are food/drink outlets on every floor - which of course there are on a raceday. Paul

Unfortunately the ones that survived into the 1980s had replacement, 2nd hand steel frames. https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lmstank Paul

Not many. Strangely BR built some batches of specialist wagons only piped - Covhops https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brcovhop/eb633154 and Grain https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brgraincgp but there were others. Piping seems understandable for the odd wagon that could fill in a rake of otherwise vacuum braked wagons, but not these wagons which more usually worked in rakes, even block trains even in the 1950s. There is an argument that the unloading mechanism of these wagons made vacuum braking difficult. But it was done, as each had VB built Lots. Yes agree, no VANPIPES. Paul

What we need is a version of BR87209 from 1963. Whether such a thing existed I know not. Clearly more telegraph codes were to be shown on the actual wagons, but as the TOAD suggests not on all. What got a visible name is quite a moveable feast on BR. We are all aware that most of the aquatic departmental names were shown from early on, but between us no one has seen the use of STARFISH (for the uninitiated the small 10t all steel ballast wagon based on a GWR design that goes back to the beginning of the last century). Paul

Quite correct, the Scottish archive in Glasgow (IIRC ) has a set of RCH drawings from c1950 onwards for all the different markings and positioning that were introduced as the years went by. I have copies of some of these, but couldn't afford to buy copies of all of them. Just as a noticeable example on the drawings published above is a gap between the M and the number, and that doesn't appear to have been maintained. VANFIT is a telegraph code in BR87209 Dec 1958 but not a marking on the wagon. That appears to have altered with the introduction of the new boxed style. Shame, not on Barrowmore site (I managed to get in this morning). It has been copied on various wagon discussion IO groups. Yes, I believe April 1963 is the introduction of boxed style of writing, which also appears to have led to more of the hidden telegraph codes becoming a descriptor on the wagons including VANFIT (but not all. TOAD is a well known code for brake vans (not just GWR and LNER ones but all) but if it was written on a van it was very rare. Note that this change predates the new corporate image, but was included once that was publicised and the manual issued. There were various experiments before the April 1964 change, some of the officials are on my site. Be cautious with this, not very accurate. Just look at Presflow. What is a Presflow?? And the number given as an example B884050 [a number I believe was never used]. As to very early BR writing on wagons. There is a period when they simply added E, M, W, S to the old number without much other rewriting. And the original style of lettering used by the Companies remained - so LMR new build got the broad face used by the LMS. Also repairing / renewing the writing is more common than repainting (which increasingly just simply got ignored - look at my website with black departmentals in the 1970s and 80s (livery went to Gulf Red another finish that survived into the 1990s)). Paul

Perhaps it does only supplement the pipeline, but RTT shows a daily working - and one that has worked for the past few days. RTT has a number of Colnbrook destinations but it is this one that shows the regular oil train workings Colnbrook Baa Gbrf Searching for Colnbrook Signal T3502 shows more workings from various Colnbrook destinations. Just a very quick example https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:CNBK502/2024-04-09/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt A couple of Aggregate trains and a couple of oil. Certainly very different to the Colnbrook of old! Paul

These are the BEVs, https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brbbe Although many were converted to other uses some remained as conventional Bolster wagons This one, in 1988, was the latest I saw one in original condition https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brbbe/eef811437 As to the original Bogie Bolster A, I can only think of the GWR ones being at all common in the BR era. As mentioned they were popular with the engineers as crane runners. There are some in this collection, unfortunately dotted around as the GWR was incapable of having a sensible wagon numbering policy, continuing to re-use numbers almost randomly when wagons were scrapped https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/gwrbolster Paul

Just some of mine https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/?q=vanfit Includes this double named Shocvan Vanfit https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/paulbartlettsrailwaywagonphotographs/e1737aee1 I agree about Heritage railway conserved stock being very unsuitable for copying. And yes the Banana is a problem, but what is wrong with it having a Fyffes label? Labelling Banana vans was common during the BR period. And as ever, the OP didn't mention when he is interested in. We seem to have assumed BR period - which is long enough and very complex, but the question is more open than that! nearly 200 years! Does the Barrowmore site have a copy of the 1959 BR official guide? I've not been able to get into that site for several days. Paul