Wagon Brakes

[Il Grifone]

I',m sure someone here will know, my searches having proved inconclusive.

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

As I understand it, new construction from late 1911 had to have brakes that could be applied from either side and also have right handed levers. There was also a (later? 20s?) provision that the brake had to released from the side it was applied, which upset the GWR considerably as it had a large quantity of wagons fitted with the DC brake, which can be released from either side.

 

A time limit was set for brake conversion, depending on the number of wagons owned by the particular company, but this was deferred, due to WW 1 and I believe that 1939 was the limit for left hand levers again deferred due to war.

 

Does anyone know the date for the final abolition of single sided brakes? I would assume sometime in the twenties, but would like to know for certain, whether the my wagons are correct or not (I might have to bring my time period forward from late twenties*. I would also assume that P.O. wagons at least would not have been fitted before it was absolutely necessary.

 

* Chosen to allow pre-group liveries and later RCH type stock to run together, without stretching things too far. (R-T-R manufacturers seem to think that pre-nationalisation means 1930s/40s.)

 

Edit for punctuation - It was late last night.

 

Thanks again

[wagonman]

I think you're broadly correct David. The final cut-off for single sided brakes was deferred several times, I believe, but I'm fairly sure it was no later than 1939. There were still a lot of wagons, mostly but not exclusively POs, rolling around in the mid to late 1920s still with single sided brakes. I presume you're aware of the economy version used by the GWR on its older stock?

[N15class]

I think the double sided brakes came in 1923, but like all things railway wagons were used for a long time after the date with one side only. The last quite posibly even after nationalisation.

[Il Grifone]

Thanks for your replies, which confirm what I thought.

 

I'll carry on as before and leave fitting the second set of brake gear as long as possible!

 

1 each of cattle and 4 plank open wagons were ear-marked for the 'economy' brake. One day I'll get around to them.

[Poggy1165]

I think some railway companies, perhaps most, and some POs fitted two sets of brakes before it became compulsory. But there was much dragging of feet thereafter, and I don't think the transition was complete until 1939.

 

One of the advantages of modelling the earlier period is that there's a huge saving in etched brake gear, to say nothing of the hassle of fitting it. My POs are practically all one sided. Where not it's usually because I made a mistake and fitted a brake on the side with the end door at the RH. (It's usually less hassle to fit a second set than remove the first!)

[Adrian Wintle]

Part of the issue that the GWR had with some variants of DC brakes was that they were at different ends on different sides (i.e. the handles and cross-rod were at one end of the wagon) while the regulators wanted the brake handle to be at a common (right-hand) end as you approached the wagon. This led to the right-hand end variation of the DC brakes.

 

Adrian

[halfwit]

'...generally speaking, it was the practice for many years for wagons to be fitted with a brake lever one one side only, which applied brakes to one, or both, wheels on that side. This led to many accidents through men running in front of a wagonduring shunting to get to the side where the brake lever was, or crawling between wagons to release the brake. A great deal of money was spent over the years on trying to develop a satisfactory either-side brake and in 1906 a Board of Trade Committee, the Railway Employment Safety Appliance Committee, was set up to examine the different designs submitted to it. This Committee reported in May 1907 that it had examined all the types available but none was considered good enough to be recommended for general adoption. Furthermore, it drew up various proposed rules, one of them being that all either-side brakes on existing wagons were to be removed within ten years. This worried the GWR no end as it had several thousand wagons fitted with the Dean & Churchward patent either-side brake. The management, therefore, appealed against this proposed rule and was able to prove that, even though the brake did not satisfy the Committee, it had given good results in actual working. Not only the GWR but various other railways would have been involved in costly alterations had the rule gone through. In 1911, the Board of Trade drew up regulations relating to wagon brakes, which came into operation in November of that year... Due largely to the effects of World War 1, various extensions were granted to the times specified in Clause 3* and the differences connected with the numbers of wagons were removed. Eventually, the end of 1938 became the date by which all wagons had to conform.'

 

*Companies had either 10, 15 or 20 years to conform depending on the amount of wagons owned.

 

From 'British Goods Wagons From 1887 to the Present Day' by R.J. Essery, D.P. Rowland and W.O. Steel. David & Charles 1970. Recommended.

[Il Grifone]

Many Thanks.

I was aware of that passage, but somehow missed it (my copy of that book is priced "63s" ), but it only gives the original deadlines. I did find the Appendix 4 to which it refers.

 

The smaller companies, whose wagons I'm mainly concerned with, would have had to have converted their stock by 1921, which I gather did not happen and I was wondering when they actually did. Around 1930 would seem reasonable.

 

I understood the GWR clay wagons, originally fitted with DC brakes with levers at the non tipping end, were converted during WW II. Maybe I'm wrong on this, or maybe they counted as an exception, being a specialised traffic?