Railway Motors

[russ p]

28 minutes ago, Merfyn Jones said:

As far as the cars were concerned there was a standard livery in the 1950s and 60s, it was Henry Ford black. Later this changed to buying cars from the manufacturers and dealers in all sorts of colours, probably taking the unpopular colours off their hands. Very few cars were branded, and I think we had a number in the North West area S&T mainly Escorts, with arrows on the door/s.

Ford's light yellow seems to originate with the Mk.2 Escorts (below) Morris and Vauxhall look a bit different but could be down to aging paint. And we had cars in all sorts of colours

 

 

 

There were a lot of #HP 309s

[andye]

19 hours ago, russ p said:

 

That's the colour,  ours was a van rather than a combi, I remember one boring weekend when I was on call giving it a cut and polish as we were EWS by then and it was our last BR lettered small van the others being unmarked white astras with gunmetal star of David 14in steel wheels which actually looked quite smart.  The pway had some to the same spec and number series but looked even better in a bright yellow and BR markings.  These were resprayed  maroon and lettered up for Jarvis 

 

Russ, were the astras the astra "f" shape, i.e. the rounded one? If so I have never seen a picture of that shape with BR markings, they ran from 1991 to 1998. I know a chap who has an ex BR S&T one in yellow that came with alloys. I had an ex gas board 1.7 diesel one, but the head gasket and head went, so I got rid. 

[russ p]

1 hour ago, andye said:

 

Russ, were the astras the astra "f" shape, i.e. the rounded one? If so I have never seen a picture of that shape with BR markings, they ran from 1991 to 1998. I know a chap who has an ex BR S&T one in yellow that came with alloys. I had an ex gas board 1.7 diesel one, but the head gasket and head went, so I got rid. 

 

 

They were K plate, not many in yellow but definitely some. They were good Van's not sure why BR specified the special wheels not seen any other astral Van's with these . They were very similar if not the same as fitted to mk2 astra SRs which were very rare themselves. One problem with them was that the tyres were directional so if the spare went on the wrong side they were limited to 50mph 

They also had rear seats which were really difficult to get into and they rattled terribly 

[BernardTPM]

I photographed one at (I think) Crewe Open day back in 1995 with Mainline markings.

 

[russ p]

2 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

I photographed one at (I think) Crewe Open day back in 1995 with Mainline markings.

 

 

That's one of them, was trying to remember the registration letters,  HYG we had 542 and 567 to thornaby traction inspectors.

I got thinking after my last post an the yellow ones may have been J plate.

Even today that van looks quite stylish for a van

[Merfyn Jones]

On 22/04/2020 at 17:32, russ p said:

 

There were a lot of #HP 309s

 

Yes , registered by the factory at Coventry I believe.

[43110andyb]

1 hour ago, russ p said:

 

That's one of them, was trying to remember the registration letters,  HYG we had 542 and 567 to thornaby traction inspectors.

I got thinking after my last post an the yellow ones may have been J plate.

Even today that van looks quite stylish for a van

We had an Astramax allocated to Darlington S&T it replaced an ailing Ital! It was a J reg J***H** I’m sure. Our telecom allocated vans were earlier MK2 Astras and in the range G*** TKW if I remember rightly!

[russ p]

1 minute ago, 43110andyb said:

We had an Astramax allocated to Darlington S&T it replaced an ailing Ital! It was a J reg J***H** I’m sure. Our telecom allocated vans were earlier MK2 Astras and in the range G*** TKW if I remember rightly!

 

I remember seeing mk2 astras around the railway back then , the normal Van's looked better than the astramax I thought 

[Merfyn Jones]

1 hour ago, russ p said:

 

That's one of them, was trying to remember the registration letters,  HYG we had 542 and 567 to thornaby traction inspectors.

I got thinking after my last post an the yellow ones may have been J plate.

Even today that van looks quite stylish for a van

 

K reg. was the transition period, still a few in yellow but ours were mainly branded Regional Railways, and in this case a door label for the Northern Infrastructure Maintenance Unit. All very unknown future at the time. Standard plastic hub caps on this one.

 

[russ p]

Colour looks very similar to BLMC highway yellow 

[2306chrisJackson]

On 17/12/2018 at 16:18, LongRail said:

This uses a cut down EFE Diecast Bedford TK truck cab and wheels, the main bodywork components are from sheet of etched brass. I developed the drawing for this and it was professionally etched by PPD ltd.

 

The running gear/chassis was taken from a Bachmann 46204 Rail Step Van (American HO guage)

 

The main connection to the chassis utilises a flat brass Chassis mount which is folded to form a saddle. This then sits over the running chassis and has the road wheels and tyres glued to it. This provides a flat surface for the body to mount onto.

 

The brass forming the rear cab is folded and soldered together, there is a flat section soldered on top to create the rain strip around the roof, finally a small section of plastic sheet was glued to the roof to complete the profile

The Rear Box van was then folded and soldered together along with the roller shutter door.

There is a brass body support which is folded and soldered inside the box van, this also provides a fixing at the front for the cab to be joined to the box van.

 

 

Bumpers, light bar, grille and steps were then added to the cab front

Lights and Bruff logo were then superglued to the face of the brass sections and the rear box van

 

Hi, you've done a cracking job, is the etch available  to purchase?

 

On 13/12/2018 at 12:15, LongRail said:

Photo showing current progress

 

 

 

 

 

You've done a great job, is the etch available to purchase?

[LongRail]

Etch is still available although I can’t get any at the moment as the company is in shut down can you PM me and I will let you know details and price 

[PerthBox]

On 21/04/2020 at 21:10, Merfyn Jones said:

Found another pic on flickr last night of a Transit recovery van with a red arrow, slightly bigger than a side one on the rear, but it has other extra lettering, making me think depot customising.

Nothing new in that, we had a Sherpa with Welsh flags (can't find the photo but here is the replacement) and recently a loco depot sticker was seen on a Network Rail van.

Is this "Rule 1" ?

 

 

Interestingly the livery on that is different from the livery on the HiLuxes in my area - our ones have unbroken battenberg with the NR logo and the Response Unit lettering underneath. The tailgate chevrons on ours are much smaller and use flourescent Saturn Yellow. This vintage of vehicle was generally owned outright rather than leased and typically used local garages to fit out the back and do the vinyls; I do have an electronic copy of the NR road fleet livery specs but can't locate it at the moment. They're back to leasing again these days and the livery application is much more consistent.

Edited April 24, 2020 by PerthBox

[hmrspaul]

The York Area Hilux are similar to the one illustrated https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/road/e128d665c

 

The comment about hire vehicles is interesting as a lot in York which arrived a couple of years ago are unmarked. I haven't photographed many, this is an example, https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/road/e85f06bc0 but I now realise I should as they are still being used several years on. The latest arrivals are in Network Rail vinyls, some with additions such as Samaritans https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/road/ed38b7b37

 

Also noticeable is how many private companies are illustrating their rail connections; the most recent I've recorded, (on my hour long walk) https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/road/ee7a1a75d   https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/road/ee7a1a752

 

Stay safe

Paul

[PerthBox]

After a brief flirtation with VW Amaroks, the Ford Ranger is now the Network Rail 4x4 of choice. They've not been without their troubles.

[mc1989]

This has been a great topic on British Rail yellow vehicles, but I am more interested in the mk2 Bedford Astravans. Does anyone know if you can get a kit or similar to make a replica of a British Rail one in 1:76, and did British Rail first use them in 1990 on a "G" registration? Those orange roof rail cross bars looked good on them too, but I don't think many of these vans will survive now after BR sold them. 

Cheers, Matt.

[Merfyn Jones]

14 minutes ago, mc1989 said:

This has been a great topic on British Rail yellow vehicles, but I am more interested in the mk2 Bedford Astravans. Does anyone know if you can get a kit or similar to make a replica of a British Rail one in 1:76, and did British Rail first use them in 1990 on a "G" registration? Those orange roof rail cross bars looked good on them too, but I don't think many of these vans will survive now after BR sold them. 

Cheers, Matt.

 

Unfortunately Matt, nobody does a model Astra in 1/76, wish they did.

B R started buying Bedford Astra Mk.1 when the old HA was dropped, but only in small numbers, from A reg.  The Mk.2 came along from D reg. in small numbers but from F reg. onward (1988) they came in huge numbers up to the H reg.  Then the Mk.3 as J & K reg. to the run up to the end.

Our first was a G reg. for our boss.  I was very impressed compared to the HA and Itals we had. I went out and bought an estate version followed by a Mk.3,  both very good reliable cars. 

[russ p]

23 minutes ago, Merfyn Jones said:

 

Unfortunately Matt, nobody does a model Astra in 1/76, wish they did.

B R started buying Bedford Astra Mk.1 when the old HA was dropped, but only in small numbers, from A reg.  The Mk.2 came along from D reg. in small numbers but from F reg. onward (1988) they came in huge numbers up to the H reg.  Then the Mk.3 as J & K reg. to the run up to the end.

Our first was a G reg. for our boss.  I was very impressed compared to the HA and Itals we had. I went out and bought an estate version followed by a Mk.3,  both very good reliable cars. 

 

I remember seeing a mk1 astra van in that blue that was common on police astras 

[mc1989]

41 minutes ago, Merfyn Jones said:

 

Unfortunately Matt, nobody does a model Astra in 1/76, wish they did.

B R started buying Bedford Astra Mk.1 when the old HA was dropped, but only in small numbers, from A reg.  The Mk.2 came along from D reg. in small numbers but from F reg. onward (1988) they came in huge numbers up to the H reg.  Then the Mk.3 as J & K reg. to the run up to the end.

Our first was a G reg. for our boss.  I was very impressed compared to the HA and Itals we had. I went out and bought an estate version followed by a Mk.3,  both very good reliable cars. 

 

Thanks for the info Merfyn, looks like it might be a scratchbuild job, unless it is possible to modify and extend the Oxford Diecast mk2 Astra hatchback model. Do you know where the orange roofbars came from, as they weren't standard accessories on those vans, and I had noticed in your pictures the mk2 astravan has side vents in the van body. What were these for, as they were not standard on the vans? 

[LongRail]

I produced a BR escort van Fromm a hatchback quite a big gob as the rear window is at a much steeper angle on a van compared with a hatchback

[mc1989]

I have seen that Escort Combi van you made, and it definitely looks the part. I don't know how easy it would be to scratchbuild a van body on the back of the mk2 astra hatchback model, but I know that the doors are the right size along with the wheel positions similar to the van.

[BernardTPM]

The Mk.2 Bedford Astravan is basically the 2-door estate without windows punched out, but the shapes for them are visible in the rear panels. From Mk.3 onwards the Astravan was based on the 4-door estate with new rear panels, as the 2-door estate had been dropped. There's a reasonable Mk.2 drawing here. The front grilles were revised from the beginning of 1989 and the Mk.3 was a Vauxhall (I have a feeling the last of the Mk.2s may have been badged Vauxhall too).

There are some period Bedford brochures here - scroll down towards the bottom of the section and the Astravan (and Astramax) are included.

Edited October 5, 2020 by BernardTPM

[mc1989]

25 minutes ago, BernardTPM said:

The Mk.2 Bedford Astravan is basically the 2-door estate without windows punched out, but the shapes for them are visible in the rear panels. From Mk.3 onwards the Atsravan was based on the 4-door estate with new rear panels, as the 2-door estate had been dropped. There's a reasonable Mk.2 drawing here. The front grilles were revised from the beginning of 1989 and the Mk.3 was a Vauxhall (I have a feeling the last of the Mk.2s may have been badged Vauxhall too).

There are some period Bedford brochures here - scroll down towards the bottom of the section and the Astravan (and Astramax) are included.

 

Thanks for these Bernard, they will help with my research.

[PerthBox]

5 hours ago, mc1989 said:

This has been a great topic on British Rail yellow vehicles, but I am more interested in the mk2 Bedford Astravans. Does anyone know if you can get a kit or similar to make a replica of a British Rail one in 1:76, and did British Rail first use them in 1990 on a "G" registration? Those orange roof rail cross bars looked good on them too, but I don't think many of these vans will survive now after BR sold them.

 

The former Perth Signal Section Manager's BR Mk2 Astravan is still going strong, you see it about town from time to time. Can't remember the reg off the top of my head now though. One of the former Railtrack Ops white Mk3 Astravans is still alive and well in Perth too, owned by its long-time driver who bought it from the leasing company.

[mc1989]

21 minutes ago, PerthBox said:

 

The former Perth Signal Section Manager's BR Mk2 Astravan is still going strong, you see it about town from time to time. Can't remember the reg off the top of my head now though. One of the former Railtrack Ops white Mk3 Astravans is still alive and well in Perth too, owned by its long-time driver who bought it from the leasing company.

 

That sounds like it has been well looked after! Does the mk2 Astravan have the earlier "Bedford" bumper grille or later one from 1989 onwards?