GWR practice was also to marshall longer sets (eg 4 coaches or more) with a brake vehicle at either end. There were rules about how many passenger carrying vehicles could be attached behind the rearmost vehicle with a guard's brake compartment. The rules were relaxed somehwat in the late 1950s as I recall.
David
Usual practice pre- and post-nationalisation was to put the brake in the centre of the set. This meant that on a runaround at the branch terminus, the brake remained in the same position - in other words, the same number of vehicles behind the brake remained the same ie. the minimum necessary. Vehicles with first class accommodation were always positioned where they could be monitored by staff for unauthorised riders. This usually meant the brake vehicle.
All of this is a generalisation, and if you're modelling a sprcific branch you need to see a copy of the carriage set working diagrams. These will also acquaint you with regional/company practices and policies for carriage set formations. Unfortunately these publications are quite hard to find - railway historical societies are a good starting point.
I suppose another rationale for having the brake compartment in the middle was that it gave the guard the best view of both end of the train when giving the start signal (green flag, and whistle to warn the passengers).
On the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, the coaches are marshalled in semi-permanent rakes of, I think, six, with the brake compartment at the Keighley end. On the outbound (uphill) trip, the loco is at the front end facing forward. At Oxenhope it runs around, and makes the return trip in reverse with the brake compartment right next to it. Other preserved lines probably have similar practices.
In BR steam days there was a 3-coach push-pull set with the loco attached to the Oxenhope end. I imagine the guard's/brake compartment was in the end coach which housed the remote driving controls. This was briefly replaced by a 2-car DMU before BR closed the line in 1962. Although the preservation society's magazine has been called Push And Pull since the mid-1960s, they have never operated trains in push-pull mode, although on special operating days with extra service they sometimes operate with a loco at each end to reduce turnaround time.
Of course, push-pull operation is now the norm on loco-hauled mainline passenger trains in the UK. Here in the Greater Toronto area, GO Transit operates push-pull commuter trains with up to 12 bi-level coaches accommodating around 200 passengers each, propelled by a single 4,000hp MP40 diesel loco capable of 93mph. The driving trailers look like other coaches, rather than mimicking the loco or power car. Twelve other operators in Canada and the US operate similar bi-level coaches.
Must confess am amazed that other companies differed from LMS in such a basic working practice. Also suprised that Bob Essery doesnt mention it, although he has a lot of examples from the LMS he does make the effort to mention when things were different for other areas. Backtrack is a good starting point.
Cheers, Simon
Passenger stock was all alto braked by the later 19th century, following some nasty accidents. From
Some info on UK passener stock:
The Great Eastern, the North Eastern and the London Brighton & South Coast Railways were still air-braked at the time of the 1923 grouping. The North British Railway had used the Westinghouse brake but was in the process of changing to the more popular vacuum brake by the time of the grouping. As rolling stock travelled through the system the use of differing kinds of brake became a problem. Some vehicles were fitted with one kind of brake and through pipes to allow connection of differently equipped vehicles to either side (this was called 'piped' stock). A few were equipped with both air and vacuum brakes (called 'dual fitted'). Both these options cost money and added complication to an already complex network so by about 1930 all British companies had switched to the Automatic Vacuum Brake (AVB). On the continent and in the USA the Westinghouse air brake became the norm and all vehicles had to be 'fitted' hence wagons intended for cross-channel ferry working between Europe and Britain were 'dual-fitted' with both air and vacuum brakes.
In America a law had been passed in 1893 which stipulated that all railway vehicles, be they freight or passenger, had to be equipped with automatic air brakes. On the Continent air brake 'fitted' stock was the norm by the time of the First World War. In Britain however the fitting of automatic brakes was considered inappropriate to low value goods vehicles intended to travel in slow goods trains. Some unfitted wagons had the flexible connection hoses but were simply 'piped' as described above. These piped wagons could be marshalled into a fully braked train, allowing the automatic brakes on the remainder of the train to operate normally. The maximum permitted speed of the train was then determined by the number of piped vehicles in the rake (see also Freight Operations - Freight Train Speeds). Only wagons fitted with a continuous automatic braking system were allowed in trains travelling at any speed. In the context of goods traffic anything over 40 mph was classed as 'express' up to the mid 1980's.
HTH
Mike
wrote
Also if you look at most 'first generation' 2-car DMU sets the brake portion is generally adjacent to the connection between the two cars.
John.
The reason for the van being in the middle is purely practical - loading and unloading parcels/milk/etc that used to be carried. The van would usually stop adjacent to the station building, thus reducing the distance stuff had to be lugged.
Cheers Richard
So it is. I never noticed that!
That makes sense!
Perhaps in more recent times it may, but around grouping the passenger was the priority and porters could walk 10 miles if it saved passengers a few yards. Parcels etc would be loaded onto trolleys and porters knew exactly where carraige would stop so they would be ready at the right point.
Cheers, Simon
Porters eh, that brings back memories. About 30 years ago I returned to the UK and asked at the station about PLA (Passenger Luggage in Advance), the lad had to go and find an Old Bloke to sort out what it was and find out they didn't do it any more.
One of Ena Sharpels better comments was 'She's getting very luggage in advance these days'
Porters . . . (stares into distance through window in need of a clean)
Mike
Regards
Mike
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