Slater's Midland Brake Van

[Jon Nazareth]

Does anyone know how early Slater's Midland Brake van is and any views on the kit itself?

Jon

[Spitfire2865]

I havent the brake, but I have the Slaters 10T kit. Was good, though I would have prefered working brakes such as Williams kits.
The molding was good and came with everything needed. Etches were thick and strong, nothing warped or unusable.

The Midland 10T brake was built late 1800s I believe, Ill check my Essery book later for exact year.

[Jon Nazareth]

Trevor
Thank you for that, the earlier the better for me, I do like ancient.  I think that I read somewhere that it hadn't changed much since it's concept but not being able to find any drawings, I couldn't know.

Jon

[Spitfire2865]

The brake van Slaters make is I believe to diagram 390. Esserys book says built from 1885 through 1902.
Diagram 391 was the same van but vacuum fitted, built in 1904.

[MikeWilliams]

A Google search suggests that similar (but slightly different) vans were built from 1877 but I hope our resident Midland guru Mr.Boothman will confirm quite how different they were and whether it is practical to pre-date the model that far.

Mike

[Jon Nazareth]

Trevor.
Thank you for finding that out for me. The date of 1887 is a good start.

Mike.
I looked on google but couldn't find anything, obviously not looking in the right places.  If the kit can be made to look like an earlier version, that would make me very happy.

Jon

[MikeWilliams]

Jon,

I don't like quoting from other unattributed sources but this is the mention of the 1877 vans

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/43408-midland-railway-10t-brake-van/

But I do suggest waiting for Guru Boothman in case the "minor" differences are actually major.

Mike

[Andy B]

Did someone call?   

I thought  I had answered this question before somewhere - turns out it was a partial answer over on Western Thunder.
In summary, there were 2 earlier drawings; Drg 111 was dated 1875, and then Drg 302 in 1877.
I now have checked the NRM list, and confirm that they do not have Drg 111 either - so the technical details of these will remain a mystery. It is not even clear how many vehicles were built to that drawing as it pre-dates the Lot list.
In the Midland Railway Study Centre collection, we only have a poor copy of drawing 302 (not an original as are most of the collection). However, it is good enough to spot the differences to 753.

The body and all major dimensions look to be the same. The biggest difference is in the brakes - a single wooden brake block per wheel on 302, whereas 753 shows clasp brakes with Cast Iron blocks.
For the different brake arrangement, the brake pillar (inside the van) is a few inches closer to the veranda end on Drg 302.
The Drg 302 vans are noteworthy by being fitted with sanding pipes - which lead up to small open hoppers inside the van.
There is also no stove shown on Drg 302.

Wheels, springs, axle guards & boxes all look to be the same on both drawings.

Lots 2 (1877), 18 (1878), 41 (1880), 67 (1881), 126 & 132 (both 1885) were built to drawing 302, a total of 395 vehicles. The description for Lot 41 states "10 ton Goods Brake Vans (Cast iron blocks)" - these are not shown pictorially on the drawing, so one can only guess if the latter four Lots continued the single-shoe arrangement, but using CI blocks instead of wood.
However, if you want as early as possible, then one of the 100 vehicles to Lot 2 is what you're after.

Andy

[Jon Nazareth]

Andy
Is it possible to purchase a copy of the drawing to Drg 302?

Jon

[Andy B]

Jon,

Yes - I'll get back to you with details.

Andy

[Andy B]

Jon - email sent.
Andy