What is a Shunting Wagon and How Might It Be Used?

[cnw1995]

I saw a recent photo of Bachmann prototypes for a shunting wagon with different sort of handrails. Can you share with me how it might be used in operations?  Thank you very much in advance for your guidance.

['CHARD]

You're not alone Doug - happily someone already trod the path....

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/69415-Bachmann-gwr-shunters-truck/

[Guest stuartp]

Whilst that thread goes into a lot of detail about the wagons themselves, it does assume that the reader already knows what they were for.

 

In short, they were coupled to the yard pilot (shunting loco) and provided somewhere for the shunter(s) to stand whilst moving about the yard. Whilst this sounds a bit hairy by modern H&S standards it was a lot less hazardous than hitching a ride on the loco steps or everybody trying to pile into the cab (assuming the driver would let you in at all). They also provided somewhere to store chocks, jacks and other tools.  

 

Not all companies had them (they were largely a GWR thing although the LMS/LMR had some too) and they fell out of favour when deisel shunters arrived as (most of) these had a proper step with handrails etc inset into the footplate for the shunter to ride on. Some 03s were paired with conflats and lowfits, but this was to ensure correct operation of track circuits rather than being proper shunters' runners.

[The Stationmaster]

Stuart is very much on the money with the above comments but one thing which is worth mentioning is that they stayed in yards or with pilot locos and didn't run about in trains (except possibly when going to/from main workshops - which in itself would be a very unlikely event as any repairs they needed short of major collision damage could easily be undertaken locally at most medium size and larger locations).  A possible exception might be lines such as the Bristol wharves where they would run over a further distance as teh yard's Shunters worked with the pilot loco.

 

The other thing is they were almost invariably based at larger stations and yards - not at places such as lesser branch junctions or branch termini.  Thus in some ways they are a bit of an odd choice for modellers as not very many tend to model large yards but having said tahh they would be quite suitable for some of the cameo type scenes we see nowadays.

[AberdeenBill]

There was just one built in BR days.   I read somewhere that they had their yard allocations painted onto them (like RU on GWR/WR brake vans).   Is there a list somewhere?  

 

Thanks,

Bill

[Satan's Goldfish]

Despite being mostly a GWR thing, are these the same wagons that could be seen with eastern region 03 shunters in the 80s?

[GBMRG]

Hello,

 

I believe a list(s) may have been published in at least one previous GWRJ, but I'm not sure which one off hand.  I'm sure a fellow member maybe able to help to pin point which journals to browse.

 

Kind regards,

 

GBMRG.

[GBMRG]

Despite being mostly a GWR thing, are these the same wagons that could be seen with eastern region 03 shunters in the 80s?

 

 SG,

 

I believe these were the conflats, etc. outlined in the earlier post by StuartP for track circuits around Ipswich, Norwich, Newcastle, etc.

 

Kind regards,

 

GBMRG.

[Napa1985]

i use conflats with my 03's 

[br2975]

You can find some GWR shunters truck allocations in the file section of the Yahoo Groups GWR e-list

 

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/gwr-elist/files/

 

Brian R

[Satan's Goldfish]

SG,

 

I believe these were the conflats, etc. outlined in the earlier post by StuartP for track circuits around Ipswich, Norwich, Newcastle, etc.

 

Kind regards,

 

GBMRG.

Thank you. Somehow i completely missed that post when i read through earlier! Sorry.

[Guest stuartp]

I believe these were the conflats, etc. outlined in the earlier post by StuartP for track circuits around Ipswich, Norwich, Newcastle, etc.

 

Correct. Something to do with 03s being shorter than some gaps between track circuits in complex pointwork and therefore disappearing off panels if stopped in just the wrong place. There's a full explanation on here somewhere but it was ages ago, might even be on the archived site.

[keefer]

thread about the cl.03 runners - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/45015-br-class-03-with-match-truck/

 

another thread, about 03s on the mainline, mentions why the runners were needed - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/58227-class-03-runners-on-the-mainline/

[Poor Old Bruce]

Not all companies had them (they were largely a GWR thing although the LMS/LMR had some too) and they fell out of favour when deisel shunters arrived as (most of) these had a proper step with handrails etc inset into the footplate for the shunter to ride on. Some 03s were paired with conflats and lowfits, but this was to ensure correct operation of track circuits rather than being proper shunters' runners.

Some were still in use within Derby Carraige and Wagon Works into the 1970s when 03 shunters were used. The wagons had handrails all round except for a central gap each side for climbing on and off as well as full length footboards so that the shunters could either stand on the footboards or ride at floor level. I think they had some sort of box (seat?) in the middle of the floor as well. I don't recall ever seeing a diagram of one.

[Fat Controller]

Some were still in use within Derby Carraige and Wagon Works into the 1970s when 03 shunters were used. The wagons had handrails all round except for a central gap each side for climbing on and off as well as full length footboards so that the shunters could either stand on the footboards or ride at floor level. I think they had some sort of box (seat?) in the middle of the floor as well. I don't recall ever seeing a diagram of one.

The box would have held things like screw jacks, pinchbars, wedges and packing to allow the crew to deal with minor derailments. The GWR shunter's truck at the former Burry Port and Gwendraeth valley exchange sidings at Burry Port lasted until the yard's closure in the 1980s; in the 1970s, I watched the crew use the available tools to rerail a wagon.