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LMS/BR Brake Van Models- what's available


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Hi All..

I'm after adding an LMS Brake to my collection. I model BR LMR circa 1980-1985. My question is what models are available and which are the most accurate. I'm afraid I know very little of these types of vehicle. I tried adding a link to a photo but i couldn't for some reason. The vehicles I have in mind have a ducket placed midside, horizontal planking, two enclosed end verandas with a 'window' opening at chest height before the cabin and a ballast box underneath the solebars.

Regards. Peak

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Hi Peak, I presume you looking for an LMS designed guardsvan like this:-

post-10324-0-56992200-1418592514.jpg

 

These were made by Airfix Models Railways, not a kit but RTR.

They are scale length unlike the old H&D one or the early Hornby one with working the red tail lamp!!!

Hornby took over the model from Dapol who got it from Airfix when they went bust and Hornby have produced it in various guises but it hasn't been available for the past couple of years.

Lanarkshire Models & Supplies make a track cleaning device to fit this van as can be seen in the photo and from time to time do a van already fitted with the Track Cleaner. We have five new vans in at the moment (one Hornby and 4 Dapol but all the same moulding) and will be producing a complete ready to use Track Cleaner vans very shortly.

Or when I get time....

 

Hope that helps

 

Dave Franks

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I think the Airfix/Dapol/Hornby LMS Brake van is probably your best bet for the period of your layout as they survived in reasonable numbers until the mid 80s, the last one going in 1989. At least 10 survive in preservation and we have two at Wirksworth, Derbyshire on The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway.

 

Unfortunately Hornby have not produced any for several years and it would be nice to see a rerelease or even a new model. In the meantime you should be able to pick up good example second hand. One tip, if you use tension lock couplings, is to replace them with the small version available as a Hornby Spare. It is literally a 10sec job as they are a push fit into a socket and it makes a big difference to the appearance of the model.

 

More information about the LMS Breakvan can be found in "British Railways Brakevans & Ballast Ploughs,"Eric Gent, pub. HMRS.

 

As far as I known none of the Midland Brake Vans survived into the 1980s, so, good model though the Bachmann one is, it would not be suitable for your period. I would welcome any information to the contrary.

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As far as I known none of the Midland Brake Vans survived into the 1980s, so, good model though the Bachmann one is, it would not be suitable for your period. I would welcome any information to the contrary.

 

The Bachmann model covers LMS diagrams derived from the Midland design and as the photos I linked above show, there were a few of these still around in the 1980s in departmental service.  I agree that the later long-wheelbase types are a notable omission from current 00 ranges (Farish do them in N of course :) )

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Hi Dave Franks. Yes, that is the one. I'm having trouble posting links to RMWeb at the moment for some unfathomable reason. Many thanks. Peak

 

Hi Peak, as I said I do have some which I got from a friend, I was going to fit them with the Track Cleaner to sell on but if you are having difficulty in locating one let me know and we can come to some arrangement... They are all like new and still in unopened boxes.

 

Dave Franks.

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Read post 7 and 10.

I read in the OP the implication of these vans being in revenue service, therefore the answer is, correctly, no. Seeing Stanier vans in revenue service was unusual in the late 1970s and I can remember being astonished when I saw a reverse Stanier brake in a siding at Norwood c1979-80, but that was in engineers service.

 

Judging by the state the vans in PB's website are in the question of whether these vans are in service or simply existing is relevant.

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I read in the OP the implication of these vans being in revenue service, therefore the answer is, correctly, no.

That is incorrect as photo evidence proves.

 

When I made my post concerning the LMS built Midland vans, I had read the OP and knew he was talking about the later LMS design but upon reading the title decided to include the Bachmann ones as they are clearly covered by that.

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That is incorrect as photo evidence proves.

 

When I made my post concerning the LMS built Midland vans, I had read the OP and knew he was talking about the later LMS design but upon reading the title decided to include the Bachmann ones as they are clearly covered by that.

With respect it is true that I read into the OP that only revenue earning vans were in scope and therefore that the pre-grouping designs, which had been withdrawn from revenue earning service by 1980, were out of the scope of the OP. Clearly we have interpreted the OP in different ways.

 

It is true that a number of vans had been sold out of service but PB's photos show them to be in a pretty dreadful condition by 1980 and it's not such an unreasonable question to ask as to whether they were being used. My observations of NCB rolling stock of the period show that, where used, they were kept in a pretty reasonable condition. But when not in use they were left to moulder into dereliction until there were enough vehicles that required scrapping to make it economically viable to spend the time to do so. PB's photos support that opinion: he has caught the moment between withdrawal and scrapping (or preservation).

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