I am confused by braking systems so, is there a timeline for the development of braking systems on narrow gauge wagons and passenger coaches?
Perhaps no brakes, one side brakes, etc. and the ones with a hose (vacuum?) when were they introduced on goods and passenger?
Were early wagons (and coaches) without brakes and reliant on the engine's brakes and the guard in the brakeman?
Thanks for any help.
I suspect the only "timeline" will be individual to the particular prototype railway you choose to model. Braked wagons and coaches were in use on sg lines long before loco hauled NG was common. So it would depend on what the railway ordered when it was built.
There is a bit on Wikipedia on vacuum braking that gives a few dates as a general starting point (mostly a SG perspective).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_brake#Introduction (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_brake#Introduction)
Someone will put me right but I'm guessing whether a train is purely passenger, goods or is mixed will have an influence.
The thing to bear in mind is there are different types of braking systems, the original was brakes on the loco only and possibly one or two coaches further back operated manually. That developed to the system we see today where most trains have continuous brakes. However I'd debate that timescale applied particularly to British Narrow Gauge which tended to buy stuff new when it opened and then the braking system used at that point was used during the whole life of the line with new stock having the same gear fitted when purchased. I believe, for example, that the Welshpool used vacuum brakes from the outset (1903) and still does. During the preservation era many lines converted to air brakes.
This Wiki entry gives the whole "timeline" for railway braking:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_brake
As Graeme says it's really down to what was being transported, passenger trains tended to get continuous brakes for safety reasons but freight trains were still loose coupled (no brakes except engine and guards van) right up to the 70s and beyond on industrial narrow gauge lines. So the answer is down to the era you are modelling and the type of railway, there are no hard and fast rules. You need to look at the line you are basing your model on...
Unless of course it was Colonel Stephens in which case it was always going to be the cheapest :laugh:
Has there ever been a TV documentary about him?
Thank you all for the information. The wikipedia links were interesting.
I am not aiming to model a particular line just something a bit like W&Ll but in S Shropshire in the 1930's
The Col Stevens reference is a good one and should prove useful. I've probably a book or two about him.
Quote from: Stephen Rainsbury on February 28, 2021, 15:28
Has there ever been a TV documentary about him?
Don't know of one but I'd watch it if there was!