Rolling Stock for South Pelaw Junction

[Mark Saunders]

1 hour ago, AJCT said:

 

Quite so.  The side lamps are double-ended (white glass one face, red the other - I have one of the real ones) with sockets on both sides to fit the side brackets on a brake van.  I think I'm right in saying that for an unfitted goods, the side-lamps would be mounted with the red facing the rear and white facing forward: this was so that at night the engine crew could look back every so often to see the white light to check that their train was still complete.  For a fully-fitted goods the side lamps were not required, as a train becoming divided would mean parting of the vacuum bags and the resulting brake application would alert the engine crew !  So in the pic above the presence of side lamps on the brake at the rear of what looks like a Consett iron-ore train (which I understand were fully braked) is surprising, unless there were special regulations for these workings.

 

As I understand it, when an unfitted goods was "put inside" a loop or refuge siding at night, the guard would turn round the side lamp nearest the running line to display a white light to the rear, to indicate to an overtaking train that it wasn't on the same line.  Presumably the guard of a fully-fitted goods would have to remove the single tail lamp for the same reason, but perhaps some-one on here more kowledgeable than me can confirm?

 

Alasdair

 

The red on a side lamp is a slide that when removed shows white or can be swapped for a blanking plate stored on the side of the lamp so it only shows white in one direction; this is for when being propelled. 

 

The instructions for such are in the Sectional Appendix, on the Blyth & Tyne most of the area allowed two freight brake vans to be propelled.

 

Mark Saunders

[AJCT]

On 11/11/2019 at 20:42, Mark Saunders said:

 

The red on a side lamp is a slide that when removed shows white or can be swapped for a blanking plate stored on the side of the lamp so it only shows white in one direction; this is for when being propelled. 

 

 

Well, mine (possibly the BR standard version) definitely has one red and one white glass - but the type you describe with the slide arrangement may be an earlier design (eg LNER, LMS etc).

 

Alasdair

[Mark Saunders]

22 minutes ago, AJCT said:

 

Well, mine (possibly the BR standard version) definitely has one red and one white glass - but the type you describe with the slide arrangement may be an earlier design (eg LNER, LMS etc).

 

Alasdair

 

All the BR ones I ever saw had a red slide & blanking plate but never a red lens.

 

Tail Lamps were the only red lens.

 

Mark Saunders