Great Western brake vans

[David B]

The handrails on the side of Great Western brake vans are often seen painted white. Was this always so? Did earlier vans just have dirty handrails in photographs or were they painted the same colour as the van bodies? If white painted handrails were brought in, when was this?

Did the same policy hold for the handrails on shunters' trucks?

[petermeyer]

From gwr.org.uk:

"...Brake van handrails were originally body colour (grey), but were thought to have been first painted white during WWI..."

http://www.gwr.org.uk/liverieswagongrey.html

I just happened to have researched this yesterday as I am finishing off an AA12 van

[David B]

Thank you, Peter. That is very helpful.

[steve howe]

May I use this thread to ask advice on GWR toad handrails?

I have several Toads awaiting handrail fitting, what puts me off is the handrails (apart from early outside framed examples) seem to be fabricated as continuous rectangles with radiused corners held off the body by stanchions. My query is: is there a technique to making these assemblies consistently? I have looked at the Bill Bedford jig offered by Eileen's which seems ideal for bending handrails to the right length but only in one plane i.e loco grab rails. I suspect a home-made jig with pins in the corners is going to be the answer, but the benefit of experience would be welcome.

Steve

[grovenor-2685]

See also latest MRJ, the ones discussed there have a different arrangement of handrails.
Rgds

[David B]

Steve,

I made my handrails (including rectangular ones) using the BB handrail jig and soldering the ends together. To get the standoff, I drilled holes for the supports and soldered wire pins in, cut them off to about the same length then carefully worked them over some wet and dry on a flat board or use a largish flat file to get them all the same height. After that, I soldered the handrails on to the wire pins. The photos are of another brake van I did this with but the principle is the same and I have done it with rectangular rails.

I suggest tinning the wire with 100o solder, putting the wire in to the hole and either giving a zap with the RSU or use a hot iron on the wire to melt the solder in the hole. Drill the hole a fraction larger than the wire to accommodate the solder. I used a pointed bit and pre-cut small bits of solder when attaching the handrail.

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[Andrew Ullyott]

May I use this thread to ask advice on GWR toad handrails?

I have several Toads awaiting handrail fitting, what puts me off is the handrails (apart from early outside framed examples) seem to be fabricated as continuous rectangles with radiused corners held off the body by stanchions. My query is: is there a technique to making these assemblies consistently? I have looked at the Bill Bedford jig offered by Eileen's which seems ideal for bending handrails to the right length but only in one plane i.e loco grab rails. I suspect a home-made jig with pins in the corners is going to be the answer, but the benefit of experience would be welcome.

Steve

MRD used to sell brass stantions for GWR toad handrails but a quick trawl of the inter web is saying the business is closed. Anybody know any more?

[Joe Newman]

Model Railway Developments are due to be at the Southampton MRS show next weekend, 26 and 27 January.

Time will no doubt tell what the position is.

Joe

[steve howe]

Thanks David,

I can now see a way of using the BB jig to make continuous handrails - achieving consistency is the tricky bit!


Must try harder...

Steve