Brake Tenders in South Wales

[timbowilts]

I’ve just received the January issue of Hornby Magazine. It has a nice article about brake tenders. That article got me thinking.

I am familiar with their use on unfitted coal trains in the North East from my childhood on Tees-side. What I have never seen is any pictures of them in use in the one area that I would have expected them, the South Wales Valleys. Did they have a better, more cautious, class of drivers and guards in the Valleys?

 

Tim T

Modelling Cwm Cynon in EM

[Fat Controller]

I’ve just received the January issue of Hornby Magazine. It has a nice article about brake tenders. That article got me thinking.

I am familiar with their use on unfitted coal trains in the North East from my childhood on Tees-side. What I have never seen is any pictures of them in use in the one area that I would have expected them, the South Wales Valleys. Did they have a better, more cautious, class of drivers and guards in the Valleys?

 

Tim T

Modelling Cwm Cynon in EM

In later years, rakes of half-a-dozen Banana vans served as fitted heads on some mineral workings, especially on the South Wales Mainline from Llandeilo Jct and Llantrisant; it allowed slighly faster transits, at least until a blanket 35 mph limit was imposed on 16-tonners. I can't remember seeing any brake tenders until I stayed with my uncle, whose flat overlooked the Chessington branch.

I did, however, witness a few runaways on the Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr, where not enough brakes had been pinned down for the load/ rail conditions. Two ran through the level crossing gates by the Old Castle Inn, whilst the third ran into the sand drag protecting the main line. 

[TEDDYBEAR D9521]

Brake tenders were used in South Wales we use to have them on the Abercwmboi to Swansea dock traffic in the 70’s due to the docks unable to unload fitted wagons.

[br2975]

Brake tenders were used in South Wales from (at least) the very early 1970s almost until the end of their lives.

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On 7th October, 1972 I recorded B964012 at Radyr Yard, one of those fitted with LMS 9'0" bogies.

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On 3rd. November, 1972 I saw B964012 again, in use at Cardiff General, and also B964027 the same day, again one of those fitted with LMS 9'0" bogies.

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In later years, they were occasionally utilised on South Wales - Acton coal trains.

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When used in South Wales they were marshalled between the loco and the first wagon; I never saw one propelled by the loco in South Wales, as they had been in the Midlands and North East, albeit I believe that was changed later in the rest of Britain due to sighting issues and SPADS. 

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As Brian W (Fat Controller) mentions, the decline of banana traffic, especially from Barry Docks, rendered a number of banana vans redundant; with a number of them being recoded 'Tadpole' and coupled into rakes of between 8 and 12 and used as a fitted head on coal trains, iron ore hoppers (from Llantrisant) and limestone hoppers  (also from Llantrisant), ....I don't recall seeing, or hearing of brake tenders used at Llantrisant, but never say never !

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The 'dodgy' photo I've attached was taken by myself in the very early 1980s and shows a Cl.37 and HTO unfitted 21 ton hoppers Cardiff Central en-route to Radyr via Cardiff Queen St. 

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I believe the hoppers may have been in export coke traffic from Nantgarw to Barry Docks.

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The first three vehicles are BR brake tenders, but sadly the picture quality precludes identifying which Diagram or Lot each one comes from.

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Hope this helps

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Brian R

Edited December 14, 2018 by br2975

[jonny777]

Here are some more at Cardiff. This time behind 37220 on a dull August day in 1978. 

 

 

[hmrspaul]

I recorded a number in South Wales in the early 1980s https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/braketender

 

Paul

[The Johnster]

Despite working as a freight guard in Canton's lower links from 1970 to 77, then a year on Valley passenger, I have no recollection at all of brake tenders working in the area, which is an indication of how reliable my memory is(n't).  I remember them turning up at Gloucester and sometimes Severn Tunnel, usually in company with a Tinsley split headcode 37, and I must have seen them in the Cardiff area, but it's gone...

 

Loaded coal train working in the South Wales valleys was carried out as 'incline working', with wagon hand brakes being pinned down at specific locations until the driver considered he had sufficient to control the train, which then descended the bank under power pulling against the handbrakes; the general drift of this was that if you had to attempt to stop the train using the loco's brakes, you'd already got a runaway on your hands.  Not everybody was a perfect judge of this and sand drags at the bottom of inclines usually yielded a collection of wagon remains to prove it!  But the WTT allowed time for the brakes to be pinned, and tenders, or fitted heads, were not considered necessary by and large unless some main line running at higher speeds was needed while maintaining braking distances.

 

Re banana van fitted heads, I once worked a class 8 special of 35mph iron ore hoppers from Barry Dock as far as Gloucester with a Hymek, train's destination was Corby and it was top load for the Hymek, which coped fine, but could't have managed much more than 35mph.  This had 12 vans as a fitted head and I remember being a little concerned that these lightweight vehicles were between the heavy train and the loco, and thinking they would have worked better had they been ballasted; they were labelled as empty.  This would have been maybe winter '71.

[br2975]

One former railwayman asked me whether the "Tadpole" former banana vans were weighted, as he'd been told years ago that they carried lumps of concrete inside. I've never heard this or seen a clear enough shot of a "Tadpole" to check the tare weight

[Rivercider]

I missed this thread at the time, but I do remember brake tenders in use on the WR at the time.

 

I started on BR in July 1977 and on my morning commute by train from Weston-super-Mare into Bristol we sometimes passed the morning coal train from Severn Tunnel Junction to Wapping Wharf/Ashton Meadows which conveyed coal in 21t hoppers, mostly unfitted ones, often loading up to 25-30 wagons especially in winter.

On one or two occasions I remember a brake tender behind the loco.

 

The WR civil engineers also used brake tenders because the engineers fleet of salmons, ganes and sturgeons was unfitted at the time.

Trains of track sections to and from Taunton Fairwater PAD sometimes had a brake tender, up until about 1980.

31159 departs Bristol East Depot for Taunton Fairwater with a brake tender behind the loco, and recovered track sections, 17/7/79

 

Would brake tenders have been used out of Radyr PAD for the same reason? Though I expect The Johnster would remember them if they were,

 

cheers

Edited April 3, 2021 by Rivercider
clarification

[The Johnster]

If they were I have no recollection of it.  PAD trains of track sections on Sturgeons out of Radyr were usually assembled on the Friday or Saturday at Penarth North Curve (not in Penarth, but behind Canton depot) ready for working out to the relaying site on the Saturday evening, as was the 35 ton Booth Rodley crane and PWM 651, the PAD's shunting loco.  The associated grampuses would be marshalled here as well.  This is a location visible from the road entrance to Canton shed, and I am fairly confident I'd have remembered any brake tenders!

 

But i am very reluctant to state this to be an established fact!

[89A]

Brake tenders were used for a time in the early 1970s on the Cwmbargoed - Aberthaw runs. I think the wagons were a mixture of fitted and unfitted.

[tomparryharry]

I can only remember tenders on the Abercwmboi-Severn Tunnel jobs.

[88D]

I can remember brake tenders appearing at Abercynon and Radyr in 1963. They appeared because D6742 and D6743 couldn’t manage the braking power of the 56xx used on the Merthyr Vale to Abercynon coal trains.