bbishop Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 The Southern Railway / Region was catholic in the position of the brake van. This was because of the swing of the six wheel chassis of the tankers and so, to reduce the discomfort to the guard, the van B or BY was often located near the centre of the formation. But what did the other railways do? Could there be flexibility, or was the brake van always the last vehicle? I ask because I'm planning the sequence for a 7mm layout based in the West Midlands and a Dyson truck is collected at the station and attached to the through milk train. My present knowledge is restricted to SR and DB practise. Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium BR60103 Posted March 11, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 11, 2015 Bill: I just bought a copy of the January Steam Days. I noticed a couple of pictures of milk trains. The first one has a BrakeSomething (Mk1), 2 tanks, a full brake (LMS?) and 5 more tanks. Pulled by a Duchess. The other is a train of empties. Duchess again, full brake, 15 tanks, a goods brake, what looks like 7 tanks and either another tank or a goods brake (hard to tell -- there's a telegraph pole in the way.) I should mention that the main article was on Duchesses, so there is a bias in the motive power shown. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Milk trains sometimes had the brake vehicle located somewhere in the middle of the formation. Being at the end was preferred but since milk tanks were continuously braked, it was not essential. The formation of the rake was often determined by ease since milk trains normally stopped at several way-points on their journeys to pick up extra tankers. See the pics below for some examples. https://www.flickr.com/photos/robertcwp/3777700921/in/faves-39347043@N07/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/holycorner/8244490289/in/faves-39347043@N07/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/64518788@N05/10805322984/in/faves-39347043@N07/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/kerryp28/6709996375/in/faves-39347043@N07/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/6493327655/in/faves-39347043@N07/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/kindredspirituk/3306081413/in/faves-39347043@N07/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/fungus-mcbogle/5788095096/in/faves-39347043@N07/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/64215236@N03/6762603041/in/faves-39347043@N07/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 It is unlikely that the comfort of the guard was any relevance to the formation of the train whatsoever, more likely the milk tanks were added to the rear of the train en route. You are allowed up to 9 vehicles behind the rear most brake vehicle to allow for fitted vehicles to be expediently attached along the route (also as per fish trains). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMS2968 Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Not sure on that, Boris. Much would depend on whether or not the guard was involved in making up the train in the first place, but placing the brake a few wagons inside "to steady the van" was certainly not unknown. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 11, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 11, 2015 Milk trains were usually (at least on the proper railway ) formed in accordance with Marshalling Instructions - and they were based on doing teh job in the most efficient manner either at the place vehicles were attached or the place where they were detached or, ideally, both as well as being in accordance with whatever Regulations were in force at the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbishop Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 Thanks guys, seems we can couple the Dyson outside the brake van. Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I believe that the practice was to permit milk vans or tankers to be attached behind the last coach on a passenger train (not always the guard's van) so that the wagons could be attached and detached quickly at stations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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