Wagon Question

[mswjr]

Hi all, I noticed on the gravity train on the ffestiniog rly, The last wagon had a little red flag and a plate hung on it that read   LAST VEHICLE.

        Can anyone tell me if this was the norm for narrow gauge trains in the past,or is this just a preservation thing. Thankyou  Garry

[Nearholmer]

LV signs were quite normal on railways, irrespective of gauge, until probably the end of C19th, and survived on a few 'backwater' railways longer than that. I think they were superseded by 'tail-lamp, day or night' simply because it was a fag to have to stock both boards and lamps.

[mswjr]

Thanks for that, I have never seen it before, Thought it would look nice to model. Much Appreciated

[John_Hughes]

An alternative was just to mount a red flag on or above the final coupling. I have an idea that the Ffestiniog Operating Rules at one time actually included this as an option if the LV board wasn't used.

[Nearholmer]

On peat bog railways, especially in Germany, they use a tree branch, stuck in the last wagon, so that the driver can look back down the rake and see if it’s still with him. Sometimes, it isn’t, because the coupling has broken and the wagons have gone off on there own!

 

Never use a bog railway as a footpath - wagons can come hurtling along, silently, unaccompanied.

Edited October 9, 2018 by Nearholmer

[mswjr]

Useful and interesting reading guys, Can i ask would all narrow gauge trains in the U,K have this sign or red flag on the back, I am mostly interested if the penrhyn quarry trains,Mainline ,locos ,linda,blanche, as it is these that im modelling,and ive not seen the flag or sign on those trains,But the rear of them is not always shown . Thanks

[Nearholmer]

Impossible to generalise, given the huge variety of operating practices and applicable (or not) legislation. The Penrhyn specifically I think may have used brake vans on ‘main line’ trains, which made it obvious what the last vehicle was.

[Hobby]

Quite a few had brake vans, the Welshpool is another. I suspect that those built under the Light Railway Act or the earlier Tramways Act (quite a few) may have had specific instructions about it.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Hobby

[Nearholmer]

Tramways weren't subject to the requirement for brake-vans, but, being railways, railways built under the LR Act of 1896 were. But, as with all these things, there were exceptions: LR's that seem to have had special permission not to use BVs; LRs that flouted the regulations; and, tramways that used BVs for their own convenience.

 

What is easy to forget is that a lot of NG railways carried no fare-paying passengers, were not built using legally conferred powers, and so weren't 'railways' in any legal sense, they were what enthusiasts know as 'industrial railways'. But, while the vast majority of these found BVs neither use nor ornament, a tiny few did use them, notably some military lines.

[Hobby]

That's why i mentioned the ones built under the LRA, Nearholmer as I think they would have had to have the same as the SG lines. Also most of the LRA lines  carried passengers I suspect.