Dapol Banana Vans

[D River]

I recently purchased one of the new O gauge Dapol British Railways Banana vans, and after doing a bit of research and making a few changes to it thought the following notes might be of interest.  They represent the distillation of my researches but are by no means definitive, and more information would be welcomed.

 

[D River]

The Dapol model is of the British Railways diagram 1/242 vehicles. Banana imports were important to the post war railway, and the British Railways building programme included steam heated wagons to serve this traffic.  Early construction followed LMS practice with vertically planked bodies and the first two diagrams, 1/240 and 1/241, were mounted on a nine-foot wheelbase chassis.  The next diagram, 1/242, had a similar body but became the first to employ a ten-foot wheelbase chassis. The final diagrams for banana vans with vertically planked bodies were 1/243 and 1/244 before construction of ply-sided vehicles commenced.  These diagrams were built without steam heating from new, with at least the first just being through piped, and the body strapping and mounting arrangements were again revised.  The 1/244 vehicles employed a later chassis design with 8-shoe brakes.

 

The 1/242 wagons were ordered to four lots between 1952 and 1956 and all were built at Faverdale. Photographs show that vehicles of the first two lots were built with a triangular gusset plate arrangement between the body and solebar. In the final two lots this arrangement was changed to extended diagonal side strapping attached to solebar mounting blocks, and it is this version that the model represents. This means the model covers the last two lots of diagram 1/242 and that furthermore they appear to be in their later “Yellow Spot” condition. For the record the lots were 2739 of 1955 numbered B880730 to B880979, and 2866 of 1956 numbered B880980 to B881129. The Dapol body moulding therefore covers four hundred wagons in total. (HOWEVER - SEE ERIC KEMP'S POST BELOW REGARDING THE END PLANKING, PROTOTYPE PHOTOS OF THESE BATCHES ALL SHOW WIDE END PLANKS BUT Dapol HAVE MODELED A NARROW PLANKED END)

 

So what of the “Yellow Spot”? For a long time, I naively thought this simply denoted “Banana Traffic”.  When I began to read about the traffic I found it was actually used to denoted vehicles either built or retro-fitted with insulation of a standard not requiring steam heating.  This took place because of changes in the banana import and distribution industry whereby the heated journey – which was part of the ripening process – was dropped in favour of an insulated journey to depots where the ripening took place.  Warminster and Lingfield spring to mind in the South. This is a much-simplified explanation and more detail can be found in, amongst others, volume four of the “Southern Wagons” series of books.

 

For modellers the “Yellow Spot” provides some potential traps and it seems that there was a transition period whilst the changes took place. The unheated diagram 1/243 vehicles were built with through piping to supply earlier heated vehicles if required.  For the earlier diagrams and pre nationalisation vehicles photographs seem to show the situation was more complex. Some pre-nationalisation wagons appear with the pipes and a yellow spot, some with the pipes removed and no yellow spot, and others with pipes removed and a yellow spot. This must have made the shunter’s job fun, although in practice I would guess that there would have been local or traffic instructions or allocations to specified traffic flows which would have prevented marshalling being a problem. All this means it is difficult to be certain of dates for individual vehicles for removal of heating and then the steam heat pipes.

 

So, now to the model.  In my own library I very quickly found a photograph of the specific vehicle I had purchased in Don Rowlands “British Railways Wagons - The First Half Million”.  This was quite murky as printed, but I found a few other close-up photographs of the four hundred vehicles covered by the model, included some in a video of photographs that Eric Kemp had uploaded to YouTube:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbUHJ2G2cQI

 

Paul Bartletts excellent site also has a few pictures:

 

https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brbanana

 

Thanks to both for sharing their resources.

 

The model I purchased is numbered for a vehicle built as part of the third lot, B880876, and whilst I could not find an as built view of these later lots, the Cheona “British Railways Vans” book contains a good three-quarter view of B880680, the lead vehicle of the previous lot. As new that vehicle was fitted with spoked wheels, screw couplings and steam heat connections.  The visible end (right-hand end when looking at the vacuum cylinder side of the vehicle) carries the box section steam heat trunking serving the interior heating.  The less distinct 1963 photograph of my subject shows spoked wheels and screw couplings to be discerned and it does show the same end as the earlier van which, by this date, does not have the steam heat trunking. It is not possible (in my copy) to see if steam heat connections are present. A further photo of B880864 in the Cheona “British Railways Vans Volume 2" shows spoked wheels and no steam heat connections, and a plated aperture on the end just below the roof pipework entered the body. One of the Eric Kemp photos provides more of an end view of the same end of B881014 of the last lot which, this bears marks suggesting the trunking has been removed and a similar cover plate. This van has three hole disc wheels.

 

The model itself has an unpainted plastic body moulded in the correct bauxite colour that represents the prototype well. No end trunking is present and door furniture detail, although solidly moulded, is well executed. The roof is similarly pre coloured and features long rain strips and no raised end ribs, which matches the photographs. The chassis is the now standard Dapol compensated 10-foot wheelbase BR version with some commendably fine detail, although it retains the prominent mounting holes from the earlier BR van models. Sprung 4-rib type buffers, sprung plastic coupling hooks and metal three link couplings are provided, along with 3-hole disc wheels. The vacuum cylinder arrangement as modelled does not appear to be typical of the BR ten-foot chassis vehicles in general, and the vacuum pipe emerges through the buffer beam rather than curving up from beneath. No dummy vacuum coupling and bracket are provided.

 

I wanted to make a few improvements to my own model, and apart from weathering, most of the work was concentrated below the body. A start was made by removing the wheels, couplings, vacuum pipes and brake cylinder. The later was achieved by first cutting through the brake arm at the end furthest from the crossbar.  This can then be swung away from the remaining portion of the arm attached to the piston. The glue joint between the cylinder and chassis was broken using a pair of mole grips holding the cylinder fore and aft with card packing. The piston was cut off flush with the cylinder before drilling that to take a 1mm plastic rod in its place. I removed 2.5mm of plastic from the cylinder top and applied epoxy resin to its inside walls before repositioning it up against the chassis cross and longitudinal members. The idea is that the glue forms a joint with the floor inside the open end of the cylinder and does not stop the movement of the compensation beam.

Edited July 16, 2020 by D River
ERIC KEMP'S POST REFERENCED RE END PLANKS

[D River]

The new position is more typical of most fitted BR wagons using this type of chassis. I hesitate to say “all” as I have seen several variations, but despite crawling around under a great many fitted wagons whilst at work and at play, I have not yet come across the precise arrangement Dapol have chosen (further information welcome). The remaining brake arm was trimmed down until just the shaft pivot and a 7mm length of one side arm remained.  This I then attached direct to the piston with Plastic Weld solvent - a representative rather than truly accurate arrangement.

 

The solebars had their prominent holes filled and then their ends, where they are inserted into the buffer beams, packed with slivers of plastic on the outer side of the rebate. This helps “tighten up” the chassis. Next two small right-angle brackets from Plastruct “L” section were added to each solebar/floor joint about midway between ends and doors with the top flanges facing towards the centre of the wagon. A label clip was added to the pad present on each side at this point - the Eric Kemp photographs linked above are invaluable here for checking the chassis detail. Lastly, a larger “T” section bracket was added beneath the doors, noting that these are not central to the door openings. Replacement BR wagon vacuum pipes and dummy coupling brackets from Slaters components (part 7165) went on next, with this type of fitting featuring in most photographs. I decided not to fit steam heat pipes, despite having a set of the excellent DMR/Pheonix Precision lost wax examples to hand, as none are visible in any of the “Yellow Spot” period photographs - earlier comments notwithstanding. All the photographs I have seen do, however, show screw couplings, and a set of Dapol’s provided a good compromise between prototype fidelity and robustness. To fit these either their shanks required thinning and shortening or the height of the hollow plastic moulding behind the buffer beam can be reduced to floor level and the slot in the headstock enlarged.

 

The wheels I chose to leave as supplied rather than attempt to replace with spoked versions. The pin-point axles are a non-standard length so a fair amount of work would be involved and the removal of the solebars and compensating beam from the floor to drill out the axle holes for bearings would seem to be the way to go; possibly sacrificing the as fitted compensation. The specific prototype photo mentioned earlier shows spoked wheels, but the later Eric Kemp and Paul Bartlett photos show three-hole discs. Wagon wheelsets, like axleboxes, were swapped around when wear or damage dictated, so I’m fairly relaxed about this choice. The last modification was aimed at reducing the “slop” in the chassis by inserting a ten thou Plasticard shim behind the compensation beam on the raised ribs at the back of each of the relevant axleguards. This improvement has been used on all of my similar Dapol wagons without compromising the compensation or free running.

 

The last modification was the fitting of a cover plate (right hand end looking at the vacuum cylinder side of the vehicle) made from a 6mm square of 10 thou Plasticard where the heating pipes would have entered as seen in the Eric Kemp photos. Final finishing of the model saw the chassis and wheel faces repainted in a black – brown mix.  The body had odd patches touched in to vary colours a little, particularly where the trunking would have been. Base weathering was a thinned mix of the black-brown enamel washed over and cleaned off immediately with a paper towel. The roof moulding also received an initial of coat of Testors Dullcote to take off some of the plastic sheen.  Final weathering used various Humbrol powders on roof, body and chassis before several light passes with a Humbrol matt acrylic varnish aerosol completed the job.

 

Hopefully these notes will provide an introduction to the model and prototype; my own model is an interpretation of the material I have been able to find and more information would be welcome.  The Dapol product is a quick route to an interesting prototype, and I can see a couple more crossing the workbench to join my pre-nationalisation examples soon…

Edited May 7, 2020 by D River
Typo

[Calidore]

An interesting read, and lovely weathering! Thank you for posting.

 

Adam

[Hal Nail]

Nicely done! 

 

In terms of changing wheels a word of warning that although Dapol do sell spares, there are two completely different designs in use on their wagons. 

 

Interesting to see your brake mods. I've been reworking some of their mineral wagons where the cylinder would actually turn the crank in the wrong direction as supplied!

[D River]

Thanks Adam

[D River]

7 minutes ago, Hal Nail said:

Nicely done! 

 

In terms of changing wheels a word of warning that although Dapol do sell spares, there are two completely different designs in use on their wagons. 

 

Interesting to see your brake mods. I've been reworking some of their mineral wagons where the cylinder would actually turn the crank in the wrong direction as supplied!

I did wonder if their wheelsets would be interchangeable - thanks for clarifying that. As for brakes built the wrong way round...I’ve done that a few time myself despite teaching people about them at work...

[pwr]

This is really helpful thank you for sharing

 

Paul R

[90164]

There was a good article in the latest edition of the Gauge 0 Guild Gazette on banana vans, focussing on modifying the Parkside and Peco kits but also commenting on the various BR diagrams, and how they might be modelled.

[D River]

19 hours ago, 90164 said:

There was a good article in the latest edition of the Gauge 0 Guild Gazette on banana vans, focussing on modifying the Parkside and Peco kits but also commenting on the various BR diagrams, and how they might be modelled.

Yes - I read this yesterday having finished my BR model - it is a good introduction to the kit option. I was at PECO back a while, and they said they were considering selling the Parkside chassis separately. If mix and match is possible then I think I will be use Peter Katy’s method for the 1/243 using the Parkside LMS kit.

 

Dave

[Eric Kemp]

Many thanks for the reference to my Banana Van pictures on YouTube. Although the link you have there still works there is a new link to a YouTube site where I am concentrating wagon pictures etc.  The new link for the Banana Vans is  https://youtu.be/xivqmcVbZ4Y

These vans are a bit of a minefield and I do not claim to know all the answers.  I have bought a couple of these vans but have not tackled them yet. The Dapol ends have narrow planks which (as far as I can tell) went with the angles that did not extend below the body sides (see B880628, which also has narrow planks on the sides). B881014 shows wider planks on the ends (unlike Dapol) with wider side planks (as Dapol) with side angles extending below the body (as Dapol). I am not saying that there is not a direct match to the Dapol wagon (I would love to know if there is, it's just that I didn't photograph one back in the day!). The next stage is the stronger angles with corner plates, combined with four end verticals (instead of two) and then, finally, a complete change of brake gear. I really would love to see a picture of a van that matches the Dapol one as it is frustrating me a bit at the moment!

[pwr]

Eric

 

Interesting to note that in your top photo the van is fitted with Instanters and the lower one has screw couplings.  There is more to this coupling issue than meets the eye. Interesting that Dapol could have fitted a screw coupling or an instanter but chose to model something completely inaccurate.  I fitted my Parkside Southern kit with Dapol screw couplings but have left the Dapol vans as they are for now although I do have a pack of instanters I could substitute.  That said they are a b******r to fit. A couple of my couplings had the hoops off on arrival and when you take out the plate to refit a bar restraint is fitted on the spring but in the supplied screw link a wire hoop is supplied. No consistency!

 

And that's before I start moaning about their quality control!!!!

 

 

Paul R

[D River]

18 hours ago, Eric Kemp said:

Many thanks for the reference to my Banana Van pictures on YouTube. Although the link you have there still works there is a new link to a YouTube site where I am concentrating wagon pictures etc.  The new link for the Banana Vans is  https://youtu.be/xivqmcVbZ4Y

These vans are a bit of a minefield and I do not claim to know all the answers.  I have bought a couple of these vans but have not tackled them yet. The Dapol ends have narrow planks which (as far as I can tell) went with the angles that did not extend below the body sides (see B880628, which also has narrow planks on the sides). B881014 shows wider planks on the ends (unlike Dapol) with wider side planks (as Dapol) with side angles extending below the body (as Dapol). I am not saying that there is not a direct match to the Dapol wagon (I would love to know if there is, it's just that I didn't photograph one back in the day!). The next stage is the stronger angles with corner plates, combined with four end verticals (instead of two) and then, finally, a complete change of brake gear. I really would love to see a picture of a van that matches the Dapol one as it is frustrating me a bit at the moment!

Eric - I think you have a very good point here, I'd forgotten there are different end plank arangements. It does very much look as though Dapol have created a hybrid as all the photos from the two batches I'd identified have the wider planks, and not the narrow arangement of the model.  What a shame.  I have amended the main post to reference your observations - I can see some end overlaying coming...

 

Dave

[pwr]

5 hours ago, D River said:

Eric - I think you have a very good point here, I'd forgotten there are different end plank arangements. It does very much look as though Dapol have created a hybrid as all the photos from the two batches I'd identified have the wider planks, and not the narrow arangement of the model.  What a shame.  I have amended the main post to reference your observations - I can see some end overlaying coming...

 

Dave

 

A  bit like the milk tank then - not a model of anything specific. Shame really as their other vans are pretty good

 

Paul