Meet 'Toad'
Hello and welcome to another edition of The Engine Shed and although it scares us to say it, the penultimate edition of 2016! This week we’re taking a closer look at a 2017 item that, amidst the announcements, live broadcasts and general excitement of Warley 2016 may have fallen under the radar somewhat. Quite why we’re not entirely sure, as the 2016 Peckett W4 shows us size doesn’t always matter! We’re talking of course of the newly tooled 20 Ton Goods Brake Van, known as 'Toad'.
The first shot off tooling sample of the new 'Toad' brake van on our stand at Warley 2016 - photographed by Callum Wilcox
Work began on the toad in the early part of 2016 with a visit to Didcot Railway Centre on a chilly, overcast day in March. No amount of heat generated from our thermoses managed to warm up our hands as we held our measuring sticks against ‘68684’ which is preserved at the railway, noting down all the important measurements which, along with original drawings, we would use to start the design of the brand new tool in an effort to create as detailed a representation of the brake van as possible.
A balancing act - attempting to keep warm, get crucial measurements
It was heart-warming to see a plaque that had been placed inside the van in commemoration of Gordon Rogers. Whilst the plaque hasn’t found its way into the model we’re producing, it is always important, we feel, to take note of the personal element of railways and the people who helped shape the industry we admire so much.
A plaque placed inside van ‘68684’ at Didcot Railway Centre
A Brief History of ‘Toad’
AA15 'Toad' 68690 at Dowlais
At first glance, it may seem that the Great Western Railway built huge numbers of 'Toad' brake vans that were all of the same design; four wheeled, of wooden construction and with a distinctive veranda at one end. Essentially this is true, as the basic design didn’t really change between 1888 and the 1950s, but the key here is ‘basic’ as when buffers, drawgear and body details changed, a new diagram number was issued and eventually this was to run to twenty three diagrams in the GWR’s AA index series.
The generic term 'Toad' refers to the telegraphic code used by signalmen of the GWR to refer to brake vans of this type, using a bell code system of communication to shorten the telegraphic messages sent between the stations and offices of the railway, replacing some complicated or regularly used phrases. Codes changed from time to time to reflect current needs, but by Grouping, most railways in the country had agreed on standard code words (although the GWR had an extended list of codes, only used within its own network).
Immediately following WW1, the Great Western Railway updated their characteristic AA11 'improved goods brake van', to a new AA15 diagram. This design differed from previous versions by having GWR self-contained buffers and drawgear, single paned windows, steel sheeting on the lower body, an offset chimney, continuous handrails, ‘J’ type hangers and GWR axleboxes.
The AA15 was rated as a 20T Brake Van, this being achieved by the addition of a significant amount of ballast. Set beneath the floorboards, between the various underframe members was a shallow well of around twelve inches into which scrap metal was packed. Coming from Swindon Works, most of this scrap constituted metal offcuts and shearings from the workshops, but this was then augmented by used bolts, nuts, washers and pins which filled out the gaps and packed down tight.
The GWR had a practice of allocating Toads to fixed runs, allowing the allocated guards to build up experience on a particular route, increasing safety and so tended to carry the name of their home depot on the side. These concerns for safety extended to the interior decor as, like the roof, the inside of the cabin was painted white, a practice derived from the procedures being followed at the period in hospitals. Given that most of the Guard’s actual operations were only possible from the open veranda, an exposed position, it is of little surprise that the Guard’s compartment was quite well appointed, containing a stove, desk and adequate storage space for the multitude of ‘implements’ required by the Guard.
RAS-GWR 14XX 1450 MJF 3504
378 vehicles were eventually built for the GWR across six different lots, between 1918 and 1926, and lasted well into British Railways days. It wasn't until the 1960s that the type was withdrawn from service, as with only a single exit from the Guard’s compartment the single verandah layout was seen as being potentially dangerous by the Unions.
The development is ongoing
We’re now well into the design of ‘Toad’ and many of you will have seen the first shots off the tooling sample on our stand at Warley last month. We have tried extremely hard to capture the detail of these unique pieces of rolling stock, including separate handrails, turned metal split spoked wheels (as seen on our recent Cattle Wagons and Coke Hoppers) handbrake levers and underside detailing. Our aim being to achieve the same level of detail as one of our main range locomotives. Just recently we have taken delivery of the second running sample of the model which now features glazed windows and a few more details which we're excited to be able to show you today. Take a look at the amount of detailing that we’ve managed to achieve in the images below.
Details of the second running sample for the new 20T 'Toad' Brake Van
As we said, work is ongoing and the next stage will be some decoration samples which won’t be received until the new year now, but still, it’s something to look forward to isn’t it! You can pre order the new 20 Ton Brake van now and they’ll be available in both GWR and BR (ex-GWR) liveries.
The B12 and Pecketts have arrived!
Also this week, we wanted to give a nod to our friend the Holden B12. After being announced last year at Warley, from yesterday they have started to make their way to layouts and model shops up and down the country!
In addition, the much loved Pecketts have just arrived in time for Christmas - as you know these little beauties sold out on pre-order on the website, but there's a chance that you might pick one up from your local stockist if you haven't already secured one.
Have you received yours yet? We’d love to see some of your photos, why not upload them to the Customer Images section of the website and we may even feature a few of them here.
Finally, we couldn't end this edition without congratulating the winner of our Christmas Customer Images Competition, as featured in the Hornby Advent Calendar. Congratulations to Ewhout Rohling who submitted this winning image.
So there we have it, be sure to let us know your thoughts of this weeks blog in all the usual places (Facebook, Twitter and our Official Forums). We're struggling to believe 2016 is nearly over and the festive season is well under way but we will be back with one more edition before the New Year, you can count on that! Until then, from all of us at Hornby, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
Happy modelling!
The Engine Shed Team
© Hornby Hobbies Ltd. All rights reserved.
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