Clerestory brake brackets?

[Darwinian]

The diagram of the D37 in Russel vol. 1 p187 and pictures on p182 appear to show a pair of some sort of bracket on the lower roof deck above the van area. Something similar appears on some other clerestory brakes, but not all.

They clearly are not roof board brackets so what are they, were they on all examples of the D37 and how do they actually fit?

If this can’t be answered I think I will leave them off my model.

Any thoughts welcome.

[K14]

Best guess... L-shaped strengtheners? They seem to occur where there's an unsupported length of roof & coincide with the hoops.

 

Pete S.

[Darwinian]

28 minutes ago, K14 said:

Best guess... L-shaped strengtheners? They seem to occur where there's an unsupported length of roof & coincide with the hoops.

 

Pete S.

That was my thinking too but they don’t seem to appear consistently between diagrams.

They look as if they bracket between the roof deck and clerestory side to me.

[stevel]

I found this picture showing those brackets, on a coach with destination brackets. They look like they would hold something in place, it would be interesting to know there purpose.

[Darwinian]

That’s perfect as it clearly shows the brackets from that end whereas I had only been able to find views from the compartment end and a lower viewpoint.

Thanks for posting it. Although they are sufficiently prominent that I had better add them to my model.

[Penrhos1920]

22 hours ago, Darwinian said:

That was my thinking too but they don’t seem to appear consistently between diagrams.

They look as if they bracket between the roof deck and clerestory side to me.

 

I agree with that theory.  The clerestory is structurally a longitudinal 3 sided box that is rigid enough to support the main roof over the van area.  In stevel’s photo the van section is open between the end and the partition that is just beyond the third clerestory window, so front an engineering point of view it’s logical to strengthen the joint between the clerestory and main roof with the L brackets.

 

If you have a look at www.GWRCoaches.org.uk/Clerestories.shtml#D9 most vans have 2 or 3 L brackets.

[JimC]

Interesting to consider whether they are original or a later fitment. You'd think for new construction they are a bit inelegant, but if as noted above the clerestory was weak in that area its an obvious quick and dirty reinforcement/repair if required. 

[Michael Hodgson]

As they are over the Guard's area, might they be a relic of early emergency communication cords, to alert brakesmen - formerly carrying an external bell as once fitted to locos for instance?

[Darwinian]

Well here is my rendition of those brackets:

 

 

They are from 15 thou black plasticard. I think the upstand part is possibly a tad tall. How they would have been painted is unclear from the image above and the pictures in Russel only show dirty roofs.

As to when they appeared, my guess is they were a feature from new. The picture from stevel above looks like the lake livery and the loco tender has the Great - Garter Arms -Western style. The pictures of the D37 in Russel vol 1 show it in postwar days (BR?) and the brackets are visible in both eras.