GWR 56987

Posted byTrevorPosted in7mm GWR equipment, Bydemill operations, Great Western Railway in 7mm scale, GWR Bydemill (Highworth), Layouts I have designed or built
With his brake van tied down on the main track near the home signal, the junior guard keeps an eye out for the goods train working the yard. Read on to learn why this van is where it is.

A visit last month from an Ontario friend, and the chance to meet a new friend here in Saskatchewan, inspired me to get back to the workbench and the result is GWR 56987 – the second brake van (“Toad”) for Bydemill.

The GWR built 12 of these short-wheelbase vans in 1898 and they ran into the British Railways era. The Diagram AA7 was designed for work in the London area, and it’s assumed their 9′ wheelbase and 16′ overall length was required to fit into short sidings and headshunts around the city. How this one ended up on the Bydemill branch is a mystery but I’m sure glad it did.

I built this model (a short-wheelbase, GWR Diagram AA7) from a Connoisseur Models kit. Like most of the equipment I’m running on Bydemill, this kit consists primarily of photo-etched brass sheets, with some white metal castings.

(According to the info etched on the fret, this kit has been offered since 1996. I’m always surprised by how well British photo-etched kits tend to stand up to the test of time. By contrast, most North American kits from 1996 look positively ancient compared to today’s offerings.)

The basic body, assembled. I used a rivet tool to form the many rivets, which are half-etched on the body pieces. I then folded up the components along the half-etched fold lines and soldered them together. Fortunately, most of my crude soldering work will be well-hidden on the finished model.
This kit came with some lovely white metal details – including two styles of brake stand and a bench with sand boxes. I’ve added round tube in the outboard corners of the veranda: These accept phosphor bronze wires soldered to the underside of the roof so the roof can remain removable for access to the interior.
The body with most details added.
Another view of the body with most details added.
Body, roof, whees, compensation hardware, and brake details, primed.

I upgraded the kit with Slaters sprung buffers and three-link couplings – my standard on the layout, for reliable operation – plus the recommended Slaters wheels. Since the kit does not come with a compensated chassis, I upgraded it by adding the necessary components – offered as a stand-alone kit from Walsall Model Industries. (Compensation holds one axle rigid while letting the other axle rock slightly, to improve the model’s reliability over uneven track work.) I finished the van with lettering from Walsall plus a Modelu 3D printed figure, which I painted.

Finishing this kit does more than add variety to my goods trains: It also enables more prototypical operation at Bydemill.

The midday goods arrives, with two brake vans in tow.

As I noted when I started building this layout, Bydemill is based on Highworth – a terminal on a short branch out of Swindon. In addition to adopting the track arrangement (although straightened to fit on a shelf) I also represented a key feature of Highworth: The steep upgrade as one approached the station. Highworth was reached via a half-mile of 1-in-44 uphill grade (about 2.27%).

As recounted in The Highworth Branch by TM Smith and GS Heathcliffe (Wild Swan Publications, 1979), two guards were typically employed on goods trains. The the junior guard would stay with the brake van, which would be detached some 50 yards from the terminal, on the main track. With rails sanded for traction and handbrake firmly applied, this van would act as a “buffer stop of last resort” should a wagon accidentally roll down the incline while sorting the goods yard. Hitting the brake van would be less traumatic than a runaway wagon (or wagons) resulting in a derailment further down the main track.

I decided to represent this not just with a second guard – but a second brake van. This lets the senior guard still take advantage of having a van while shunting.

The many differences between these two toads are readily apparent in this side-by-side view at the Bydemill platform.

I thoroughly enjoyed building this model: It made for a pleasant week. I look forward to building more wagons – including more brake vans – to add further variety to Bydemill’s operations.

Published by Trevor

Lifelong model railway enthusiast and retired amateur shepherd who trained a border collie to work sheep. Professional writer and editor, with some podcasting and Internet TV presenting work thrown in for good measure.