SR 4-Wheel Utility Vans (CCTs) and Luggage Vans (PMVs)

Transcription

1 SR 4-Wheel Utility Vans (CCTs) and Luggage Vans (PMVs) The Southern Railway built large numbers of passenger rated 4-wheel vans of a distinctive design: two pairs of doors and 4 windows on each side, side and end ventilators, and an elliptical roof. They were based on 45 SECR vans built between 1919 and 1922, but with four ventilators and chalkboards added on each side. There were two variants. Passenger Luggage Vans (PLVs), called Parcels Miscellaneous Vans (PMVs) by BR, had plain ends. Utility Vans (Van U, though with Covcar painted on the sides), called Covered Carriage Trucks (CCTs) by BR, had doors at the end so vehicles or large items could be loaded by backing the van up to an end loading dock. In other respects these vans were identical, with the same sides, roofs, and underframes. The van below is on the Bluebell railway. It was built 1935, transferred to departmental use 1957, and was bought by the Bluebell railway in 1981, where this picture was taken in It is in post 1936 SR livery, although most of the lettering is missing, the window in the end is an addition for departmental use and the chalkboards are missing. The initial batches had even planked sides, with horizontal 6½ planks. These consisted of 305 PMVs built between 1934 and 1939, and 190 CCTs built between 1928 and The next batches had uneven planking, with two 6½ planks alternating with two 3½ planks. There were 298 of these PMVs built between 1939 and 1951, and 50 CCTs built in 1938, though oddly the CCTs but not the PMVs had even planked doors. BR built further vans to the same design but with ply sides and ends (on the PMVs) and uneven planked doors: 111 PMVs in 1951 and150 CCTs between 1951 and There were also 120 PMVs built in 1942 with even planked sides except for one 3½ plank in the middle, and the vertical strapping on the ends was U section with wood on the outside reinforcing it, rather than plain L section as on all other vans. BR built vans had shell ventilators rather than torpedo ventilators, though many vans seem to have lost their ventilators in the late 60s and 70s.

2 The PMVs were intended to provide additional space for passenger s luggage. This was only regularly needed on boat trains to the channel ports, which usually had one or two of these vans attached. Otherwise they were attached as needed to passenger trains, for example Kent hoppickers specials. They, and the CCTs, carried a wide variety of goods: fruit, oysters, milk in churns, mushrooms, racing pigeons, fish, and cakes. They were widely used for parcels, letters, and newspapers, especially in BR days. In the 60s and 70s there were at least 6 trains of PMVs from different parts of the SR that ran to Clapham Junction where they were sorted into trains for destinations throughout the country, including the Kyle of Lochalsh. Thus while the vans were allocated to SR, they could be seen throughout the country. In 1951 seven vans were transferred to the Isle of Wight, being noteworthy as the only post-grouping rolling stock on the island! The vans could be found in all types of trains passenger, parcels, and goods - and in the 60s vans were sometimes attached to DMUs, especially on Western Region, though this practice died out in the early 70s. So that vans could run as part of particular trains some vans were fitted with connections for electrically heated trains, some with air brakes, and some with pushpull connections. Such vans were typically restricted to one particular working. 14 vans were fitted with hooks for bicycles for use on trains to the channel ports, these had an outline of a bicycle stencilled in the top right. The utility vans were intended as versatile vans that could replace a number of specialised van types for cars, fruit, parcels, aircraft parts, and luggage. Some were fitted with shelves that boxes of fruit could be placed on. In practice, especially in BR days, the main use was for parcels and they were used more or less interchangeably with the PMVs. The earlier CCTs with even planking were withdrawn in the 60s. Most of the remainder lasted until all except a handful were withdrawn in 1981/2 when BR stopped its parcels collection and delivery service. Many of the earliest PMVs were withdrawn in the 50s and put into departmental use, and most of the remaining even planked vans were withdrawn The rest of the vans lasted in the main until a mass withdrawal in 1981/2. Many vans of both types were transferred to departmental use on Southern Region, where they may have lasted up to 10 years more. Nine even planked CCTs were reused as barrier wagons from PMVs and 10 CCTs have been preserved. Livery When painted or repainted, the vans were: up to 1939: Sage green with chrome lettering in shaded black, labelled Southern Railway, black ends, and white roof : Malachite green with yellow lettering, labelled Southern, black ends. At least 2 vans were painted grey because of wartime paint shortages : BR Crimson sides with black ends, cream lettering, and black roof : BR Southern Green slightly darker than Malachite green, though very similar after the latter had had several coats of varnish. Cream/yellow lettering and black roof. Black ends, though a few may have had green ends after withdrawal: Rail Blue sides and ends, with white lettering and black roof. The underframe was black.

3 It was SR and BR practice to repaint these vans about every 10 years, with coats of varnish being applied in the interim. Thus about 30% of vans were never repainted crimson before green was used again, and a few vans retained crimson until withdrawal early 1980s. The vans were usually very dirty, to the extent that it is impossible in most photographs to tell whether the vans are crimson or green! The vans were all given 4-digit SR numbers in the range , including those built by BR. Batches were often given the numbers from vans withdrawn earlier, so the numbers are not sequential by date built. BR prefixed the numbers with the region they were allocated to, which was always Southern for these vans. A year after nationalisation a suffix of S was added to indicate they were Southern numbered vans, to avoid possible duplicates with vehicles from other regions that might have been reallocated, though many vans seem not to have had it painted on. The BR built vans also had this suffix as they were given SR series numbers. Around 1970 BR decided to drop the suffix. Dapol CCT Dapol introduced a CCT van in It is a model of the uneven planked Utility van, of which 50 were built in 1938, most lasting until There are four different versions and doubtless more in the future. There are two in BR(S) green, valid from 1956 until early 70s, though both have incorrect numbers S23805 has too many digits, assuming the 5 is meant to be an S the number is for an even planked van, and S2385S was an even planked van. The ends ought to be black, though it seems a few were given green ends after They could also be used from as many remained painted the very similar SR malachite green. One is in maroon and numbered M These vans never appeared in maroon and the number is not a valid number either (many were painted crimson, but would have Southern numbers).

4 The final one is painted rail blue S2514S a correct number. Vans would have appeared in this livery from 1965 until withdrawal in 1981/2. The van is accurately to scale, and has the correct even planked doors. The upper steps are moulded as part of the side and hence green instead of black, and are much too thick. These should at least be painted black, and would not be difficult to replace. The moulding is crisp though slightly heavy in places, for example the plank lines in the doors, and the roof is a little thick. The V hanger is positioned too far out, and the brake cylinder is outside them. This is incorrect, it corresponds to the earlier ex-secr PMVs. There is not quite enough side-play in the couplings on some models. If two are connected together and sent round a left then right tight reverse curve they may derail. Coupled to shorter wheelbase or bogie stock they are OK. The wheels are wagon wheels (6.2 mm diameter) and the vans look better if these are replaced with larger coach wheels (7 mm) as has been done on the one pictured. A few of the early releases of these vans had wheels with a severe wobble; it is worth checking before buying. Despite various detail quibbles above, the model is a good representation and of above average quality. Chivers Fineline CCT/PMV Kit This builds to a model of an even planked PMV or PMV, which were in revenue service from 1928 until the early 70s. The kit is accurately to N scale and crisply moulded, with a well detailed underframe. Comparing it with the Dapol van, first impressions are that they are of very similar quality, but examining the detail the Chivers is better in a number of areas, for example it models the hinge pins, and has the brake handle protruding beyond the buffer beam. The position of the V hanger corresponds to the first 50 CCTs that were built by the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Company. The later CCTs and all the PMVs have the hanger slightly further out, so the outside is in line with the outer bracing next to the windows

5 The kit is easy to put together. Suitable transfers are sheet 1MMX51 from the N Gauge Society shop. These have BR markings for PMVs and CCTs in yellow, suitable for green vans though they can be used with the crimson livery. Markings for Blue vans are not currently available. Variants The roof ventilators could be filed off or omitted, as many lost these under BR Any other variants would require significant work, filling in plank lines or scribing new ones. By removing the side ventilators and chalkboards, the Chivers kit could make the original SECR luggage vans built These were initially painted dark umber (brown) with yellow lettering. The vans were almost all transferred to departmental use in the late 40s, but then lasted extraordinarily long, most into the 70s and one into the 90s. The planking on the Chivers kit could be filled in to produce a BR ply sided PMV or CCT, or a spare PMV end from a Chivers kit could be used with a Dapol van to create one of the uneven planked PMVs. In both cases the doors would need scribing to have uneven planking, and the ends for the planked PMV. References The best book on these vans, from which most of these notes were taken, is David Gould s Southern Railway Passenger Vans. There are pictures and drawings in Peter Tatlow s Historic Carriage Drawings Volume 3. The Southern Group site has a lot of pictures and some details about the vans: Noel Leaver, 28 October 2004 Noel Leaver, 2004