GWR 3 plank wagons appreciation thread

[Miss Prism]

The brake van in the Dean Goods train is a Permanent Way one, so I suspect the wagon could be an early dropside P-type.

 

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Miss Prism said:

I suspect the wagon could be an early dropside P-type.

 

I think one can make out the axlebox dust-covers.

[Compound2632]

2 hours ago, Mikkel said:

And here is 3- planker No. 36365 employed as runner.

 

Or 34365? Or 34385 or 34305, in descending order of confidence.

 

Anyway, 3x3yz with x not equal to 9 forces it to be from a lot built with round ends, or possibly the first square-ended lot, os lot 284.

 

[Chrisbr]

and what is written on the end of the round ended 3 plank in the rear of the photo? Seem too long to be the number....

[Mikkel]

22 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Or 34365? Or 34385 or 34305, in descending order of confidence.

 

Anyway, 3x3yz with x not equal to 9 forces it to be from a lot built with round ends, or possibly the first square-ended lot, os lot 284.

 

 

The photo appears in Russell's Freight Wagons and Loads in Service on the Great Western Railway (long out of print), where the caption identifies it as 36365. I assume the author had access to the original print and so could probably read it. Looking at the reproduced print through my magnifier I think he is right.

 

8 hours ago, Chrisbr said:

and what is written on the end of the round ended 3 plank in the rear of the photo? Seem too long to be the number....

 

I think it is just the blur that makes it look longer, here is a close-up:

 

 

 

 

[drduncan]

@Chrisbr Do you have the WSB entry for 36365?

 

Regards

 

Duncan

[Mikkel]

On 06/05/2024 at 07:48, Miss Prism said:

The brake van in the Dean Goods train is a Permanent Way one, so I suspect the wagon could be an early dropside P-type.

 

So steel bodied, e.g. a P4?

 

It would be a fun little train to run.

 

 

 

 

[drduncan]

@Mikkel Yes I think it’s iron or steel bodied.

 

Duncan

[Compound2632]

42 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

I think it is just the blur that makes it look longer, here is a close-up:

 

Yes, looks like five digits to me. Looking at the side as well, the last two digits are 47, not that that helps much with identification! 

[magmouse]

1 hour ago, Mikkel said:

So steel bodied, e.g. a P4?

 

It would be a fun little train to run.

 

I'm half way there:

 

Just need a PW brake van...

 

However - there is something odd about the ballast wagon in the photo. The curb rails look very deep, with the drop door hinges above the bottom edge. I can't see a diagram number that quite looks like this - P4 has the bottom of the hinges aligned with the bottom of the curb rail, and P5s have the hinges just below the curb rail (more accurately, they don't have a curb rail at all, being steel floored).

 

@Mikkel - do you have the figure number for the photo in Freight Wagons and Loads? I couldn't find it in there, but that may be my poor looking skills (a source of regular complaint by my late mother, and more recently by my wife, both able to find things in a moment I have spend 15 minutes looking for).

 

Nick.

 

[Chrisbr]

1 hour ago, drduncan said:

@Chrisbr Do you have the WSB entry for 36365?

Sadly, not yet.....

 

But, it was built under Lot 284 from March 1883 to July 1883 as one of 100 wagons and those paying attention may remember this as the Lot that commenced building with straight ends.....

[Mikkel]

19 hours ago, magmouse said:

 

@Mikkel - do you have the figure number for the photo in Freight Wagons and Loads? I couldn't find it in there, but that may be my poor looking skills (a source of regular complaint by my late mother, and more recently by my wife, both able to find things in a moment I have spend 15 minutes looking for).

 

 

Nothing wrong with your looking skills 🙂 

 

The PW train is reproduced in Atkins' GWR Goods Train Working Vol 1, p 11 (he sees the wagon as a 3-planker and wonders whether it has dumb buffers.)

 

 

[magmouse]

Thanks, Mikkel - more books to buy! I am not convinced by Atkin’s suggestion that the wagon is wooden or has dumb buffers, but there is something odd about it - it doesn’t seem to quite fit any of the diagram P types I am aware of.

 

Nick.

[Miss Prism]

Must admit it feels wooden to me, although I can't substantiate that. Maybe it's the look of the solebar?

 

 

[magmouse]

18 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

Must admit it feels wooden to me, although I can't substantiate that. Maybe it's the look of the solebar?

 

I see what you mean - no apparent flange to the bottom of the solebar. Wooden would also explain the deeper curb rail than seen on the steel types. Is is a pre-diagram type, not described in ABT? We know that book isn't good on the earlier stuff. Based in the livery the photo is 1904 or later, so it could be an early type. Or, if the photo is post 1923, the wagon could be inherited from another railway - though that seems unlikely given the presence of a round-ended 3-planker. Are there any other clues to the photo's date?

 

Nick.

[Miss Prism]

The loco has pre-1904 lamp sockets, but it has a belpaire and a post-1905 garter. I'm guessing 1906/7...

 

 

Edited May 8 by Miss Prism

[Mikkel]

Is something written in the center? E.g. LOCO ? Doesn't seem to fit, but was there a PW designation of some sort.

 

 

Edited May 8 by Mikkel

[magmouse]

The position of text on the steel ballast wagons in the large GW period varied quite a lot, but typically included "PT. WAY" in letters around 4-5" high, and some kind of working instructions in smaller letters (e.g. "Return to ..."). I suspect we have here the running number under the G, load and tare in italics under the W, "PT. WAY" on the top of the middle panel, and instructions at the bottom.

 

Nick.

[Chrisbr]

I see in Atkins Goods Train Working book the photo is attributed to STEAM. It's likely I shall visit again at some point over the summer, so I shall try and remember to ask to see the original.... Generally the quality is far superiorito the reproductions.

[Mikkel]

This one has been discussed before, but belongs here, a view of Didcot Provender store with the usual suspects: 

 

 

[drduncan]

The 2 three plankers in the front appear to be iron under frames.

D

[MikeOxon]

This early photo that I found in the BGS Journal 'Broadsheet', no.61 (Spring 2009), shows an unusual mix of broad and standard gauge wagons, apparently after a snow-fall.

 

 

[Compound2632]

21 minutes ago, MikeOxon said:

This early photo that I found in the BGS Journal 'Broadsheet', no.61 (Spring 2009), shows an unusual mix of broad and standard gauge wagons, apparently after a snow-fall.

 

Any clue as to the location? The building work going on might then give one a date.