BR (ex-GWR) Siphon G Bogie Van Dia.O59 #W2982 (Maroon) - Pre Order


BR (ex-GWR) Siphon G Bogie Van Dia.O59 #W2982 (Maroon) - Pre Order

Canadian RRP: $82.99 estimate   UK RRP: £54.95

Common features:

Accurascale is to produce the iconic GWR Siphon G bogie cans in OO gauge. Covering  the GWR O.33 diagram, the BR(W) O.62, the GWR O.59 and M.34 conversions, as well as the BR Newspaper Van conversions of the O.62 (NNV) in OO/4mm scale.

Extensive use has been made of metal parts to add to the detail levels throughout, the footsteps even carry diamond tread pattern and running quality hasn't been forgotten either, with the 26mm axles running in brass bearings to enable a smooth ride. Extensive areas of piping and rodding have been added to the underframe to improve the appearance of the models and the various cabinets even feature separately fitted wire handles.

The O.33 can be recognized by bodyside top vents, plain roofs and plain ends, with the wartime Casualty Evacuation Trains/US Ambulance Train Ward Car conversions adding roof mounted water tanks, end steps and handrails, plated over vents and the addition of small windows. Upon conversion back into service stock as O.59 and M.34 diagrams, the O.59 is broadly identical to the O.33 pattern, but with roof mounted ventilators, whereas the M.34 retained an appearance broadly similar to the wartime Ward Cars, but with the roof mounted water tanks being removed.

The BR built O.62 diagram retained the look of the O.33 diagram but added eight sliding vents to the lower bodysides and the later conversion of these vehicles as NNVs saw various vents being plated over on an ad-hoc basis, and the addition of Electric Train Heating apparatus and external emergency lighting points. Across all diagrams, the positions of underframe cabinets varied in size and position and two styles of handbrake lever brake cylinder positioning and two styles of handbrake lever being fitted, depending on that layout - there was even the fitting of Westinghouse brakes to the US Ward Cars! At the van ends, gangways varied slightly in style, with some vehicles being fitted with passenger communication leads, often in varying positions.

Detailed Siphon G History:

From the transportation of milk, to mail and newspapers for over 50 years, the GWR designed diagram O.33 Siphon G was widely travelled stalwart of the network. The history of these vans is varied and very interesting, venturing from providing transport for milk for the GWR, to serving as ambulance coaches during World War II, to nationalization and parcels workings, and into the BR blue era on parcels and newspaper trains as well as departmental duties into the mid-1980s.

The O.33 Siphon Gs were built in four Lots, covering a period between July 1930 and May 1945 and in total 115 vans were built to this diagram. The first, and most obvious difference in the O.33's appearance (over preceding Siphon G versions), was the introduction of vertical planking, possibly due to the wood being cheaper and easier to procure and these cost constraints were also evident elsewhere, with the first built Lots using secondhand bogies of various 9' and 8' 6" types, as well as used sets of Stones electric lighting. The O.33 were also 2" wider than their predecessors and were equipped with large round headed buffers, as well as a new style of gangway connector that hung from brackets, rather than the 'scissor' type.

As the war clouds gathered over Europe in 1938, the Government of the United Kingdom stepped up its preparations for the impact of hostilities on the civilian population, the assumption being that any bombing of the UK's cities would produce such large numbers of casualties that the local facilities would be overwhelmed. To counter this, a plan was put into place that would create Casualty Evacuation Trains (CET) and at a meeting of the Railway Superintendents held at Liverpool Street Station on April 4, 1939, it was agreed to create 34 semi-permanent Ambulance Trains, each to comprise two Brake Thirds and ten vans, capable of holding a minimum of 30 stretcher cases per van. Each Railway Company was to provide a proportion of the total trains required, with the GWR being required to supply six trains.

For the Ward Cars, the GWR opted to convert 60 Siphon Gs for the six trains (numbered 326-331), as they already satisfied the Ministry of Health's requirements for the vehicles to be electrically lit and well ventilated, but a certain amount of work was still required to seal draughts, ensure that the vehicles were light tight and to fit the brackets and shelves necessary for the conveyance of stretchers; 42 to each van, at a total cost of £82 per vehicle. By November 1939, one Siphon G had been removed from each of the GWR's CETs, being replaced by a 'Staff Car' and by December, when the total number of CETs was reduced to 18 on standby, the GWR's commitment had been reduced to the provision of four CETs, releasing 20 Siphon Gs back into traffic.

July 1943, 42 Siphon Gs were required for the Overseas Ambulance Trains (OAT) Nos.32-35 and 45-46 and again a number were modified, this time to suit operation on European railways. These modifications included the fitting of Westinghouse brakes, the removal of the handbrake gear, the addition of a water tank, end steps and handrails. In addition to the OATs, a further 12 Siphon Gs were formed into two US Army Ambulance Trains, Nos 69 and 70. With the cessation of hostilities, and the repatriation of the Siphon Gs to the GWR following their ambulance service, the resulting conversions back to service stock resulted in the creation of two new diagrams: O.59 and M.34.

Diagram O.59 called for the restoration of the Siphon Gs to their original body specification, with the louvres being restored. Indeed, the only discerning difference between the original O.33 and the O.59 conversion was that the roof mounted shell ventilators were retained. In total, 36 vehicles were rebuilt to this diagram, although there is some question as to whether vehicles 2979-2984 were conversions, or were built from new as O.59, given their date of construction and entry into traffic.

Diagram M.34 involved far less work to restore the remaining 31 vehicles to traffic, as they were unaltered in their appearance, remaining externally identical to their ambulance service configuration. As with the O.59, the original numbering was restored to the stock, however for the first time their designation was changed to Parcels Vans, rather than Milk Vans.

The Usefulness and versatility of the Siphon G design had provided the GWR with a bogie van suited to many uses, as had originally been envisaged in 1913 and this was not lost on the British Railways Board as the era of the 'Big Four' gave way to a nationlized railway in 1948. Traffic levels increased as the railways recovered from the Second World War, a result of a change in societal habits and the fledgling British Railways found itself in dire need of bogie vans capable of express speed running and so it was that three new Lots of Siphon G vans, totaling 80 vehicles, were ordered and built to a new diagram, O.62, between October 1950 and October 1955. Remarkably, the new diagram was still referred to as a 'Milk Van', even though the Siphon G now served more in a GUV role and was very little changed from the original O.33 but for one main difference; the addition of eight sliding louvre ventilators to each body side, situated just above the solebar.

The Siphon Gs were ideally suited to parcels traffic, but the sustained growth of newspaper traffic into the early part of the nationalised British Railways era probably represented the pinnacle of this type of traffic, with the Western Region relying on its fleet of Siphons to convey newsprint. At its peak during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, British Railways was running more than 50 dedicated newspaper trains every weekday, with around 75 services conveying the bulky Sunday editions at the weekend, over 75% of the country's entire weekend newspaper production. During a typical night in the 1970-71 winter service, a total of 23 Siphon Gs were booked in dedicated Newspaper working from Paddington each weekday morning, with a further five being booked into late night overnight trains carrying various articles of mail traffic and they ran westwards, variously, to destinations as far afield as Penzance, Barnstaple Junction, Kingswear, Gloucester, and Carmarthen, the destinations being carried on boards mounted to the bodysides of the vans.

Many of the O.33 and O.59 vans were withdrawn from traffic during the mid-to-late 1960s, but as the 1960s gave way to the 1970s and the Rail Blue TOPS era took hold, Siphon Gs were still in major use on the Western Region, with parcels and newspaper traffic being hauled by a variety of traction, including the Class 31s, the Class 47s and the Class 50s. Variously classed as NNV and NMV by TOPS, and in many cases now equipped with ETH, the latter years of the 1970s saw 34 Siphon Gs rebranded with BR's 'Newspapers' logo, while the remaining survivors were transferred into Departmental traffic, particularly branded as Enparts, the Western Region's fleet of vans used for transporting spare parts for locomotives and rolling stock from Swindon to the larger Motive Power Depots. A number also found their way into use as Seat Trimming Materials Stores Vans, for use between Litchurch Lane, Derby and Swindon Works and as Newspaper traffic dwindled into obscurity during the early 1980s, leading to the final withdrawal of Siphon Gs in revenue earning service, it was these last few Departmental vehicles that soldiered on into 1985, before they too were eventually withdrawn and scrapped.

Around two dozen Siphon Gs were initially saved for preservation but that number has dwindled, although there are nice examples surviving at the Severn Valley Railway, the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway, Didcot, Quainton and Shildon, several of which formed the basis for the Accurascale's surveys of the vehicles during the research phase of the project.

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