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matt-durkan-railways — 1450
Published: 2011-02-14 17:44:41 +0000 UTC; Views: 696; Favourites: 38; Downloads: 13
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Description
G.W.R. 14XX 0-4-2T No 1450 on a fitted mixed goods at Kinchley Lane on the Great Central Railway.Related content
Comments: 6
I'm afraid I don't understand why there is a brakevan behind the engine and then a second one at the end; regardless, it's a beautiful photograph.
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Up until the 1950s it was common for freight/goods trains to be "unfitted", that is to say there were no continuous brakes on the train (air or vacuum). Braking was provided by the locomotive's steam brake and the guard's hand brake in his brake van. The purpose of this was not only to help prevent run-aways but it was also the guard's job to keep thr couplings taught so that the wagons didn't surge forward going downhill and then snatch (and possibly break) going uphill.
This explains the need for a brake van at the rear.
As for the one at the front as well....
This was done on "regular" freight. Say for example you had one freight train going from A to B once a day, every day, always with the same wagons and payload etc. You could make up a train and keep it made up at all times. When it came to the return trip the gaurd can simply walk to the other brake van and use that, meaning that only the engine has to change ends, saving time.
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Ah, I see. Thank you for clearing that up; it certainly makes much more sense. So, this train is a "regular" freight, hmm? Do those often run very commonly on branch lines?
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Yes they would have done. Conveying things like mail and local produce as well as livestock etc
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I see; thank you for clearing that up for me.
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