Toads and Door Bars

[drmditch]

Currently seeking distraction by building a Parkside Toad E.

It seems strange that I have never seen a picture of any Brake Van modeled with the (safety?) bar across the doors in the closed position.
A quick scan of Mr Bartlett's page ....here and following pages..., shows that out of 46 pictures, there are 8 with one or more bars closed.

Perhaps there was no point in having these closed when the van was stationary and/or unoccupied, but what about when travelling?
I don't remember having seen a photograph of a van actually travelling, and will have to look through the library some more.

Could it just be that it is easier for proprietary mouldings to show them as a lump of plastic hanging down the inside edge of the doorframe?

Has anybody modeled one or more of these closed?
What was prototypical practice?

[Dave]

If you look back on my dave c&w works I modelled/ upgraded several Parkside Toads with closed entrances. They will be several pages back as it was about 3 years ago at least.
I understand it was supposed to be standard to keep them closed when in motion to stop the guard from fallling off the veranda. But I stand to be corrected

[drmditch]

Thank you Dave.

I had not browsed your excellent thread of excellent models for a while.
The Toads appear to inhabit Pages 40 to 43, but I will look elsewhere as well.

I will also have to follow through your A14 Traction Engine Wagon.
Were you able to identify a suitable load for it?

[Dave]

Thank you for your kind comments.
No I do not have a load for the A14, it will run empty.

[jwealleans]

I have never seen a picture of any Brake Van modelled with the (safety?) bar across the doors in the closed position.

Ahem.

[Hatfield Shed]

If you look back on my dave c&w works I modelled/ upgraded several Parkside Toads with closed entrances...

Likewise this is what differentiates my kit built vans from the RTR items. Since there only three from kits among a fleet of twenty by now, I probably ought to undertake some additions to the RTR specimens...

I have to say that the 'safety bar' is laughably inadequate. I expect that goods guards worked on exactly same principle as those that worked at sea: one hand for the ship, one hand for yourself; always holding on to something solid with at least one hand when the train is in motion or liable to move.

[drmditch]

I have never seen a picture of any Brake Van modelled with the (safety?) bar across the doors in the closed position.

Ahem.

Mea culpa!

Next Question is how did you mount them?
I was thinking that trying to hinge them might (with my limitations in skill) look clumsy.

[jwealleans]

Hinging them looks massively overscale. Most of them are just drilled through from the end of the van.

[drmditch]

Hinging them looks massively overscale. Most of them are just drilled through from the end of the van.

Thank you again.

[drmditch]

Hinging them looks massively overscale. Most of them are just drilled through from the end of the van.

Well, I have made this attempt at hinging.
What do you think?

(One day I may manage to take better photographs.)

This Parkside kit is definitely tricky, and were I to build another one I would probably attempt to replace the footboards and brackets in brass.
On the other hand, provided it doesn't need to be handled too much I do quite like the result.
The only problem being that I now ought to re-work a number of other Toads!

[Dave]

It all looks good to me, are they hinged ?.

I agree that kit is not for beginners and like you I had to revisit my earlier ones and upgrade them, I
think it's called progress.

[drmditch]

Yes, they are hinged at the 'inboard end'.

The bars are made of old-fashioned solid copper core 'layout wire'. Hammered flat at one end and drilled with a .45mm drill. It is then tidied up by clipping around the hole - with sharp clippers! Easier to do than to describe, and I only scrapped one piece!

A hole is drilled in the bulkhead (?) just beneath the window.

A thin wire is passed through the flattened and drilled end of the bar, passed through the hole, and glued on the inside of the cabin.
I did think of trying to make a socket for the other end, but common sense intervened so that end is just turned at 90 degrees, flattened and glued in place.

So - have hinges - but glued up solid!

When I make some more I'll try to take pictures of the process.

[Hatfield Shed]

...This Parkside kit is definitely tricky, and were I to build another one I would probably attempt to replace the footboards and brackets in brass...

When I built a pair from the old Parkside kit for a B, (one as a B the other as an E with duckets salvaged from an old Airfix kit) I did think of the very ancient Jidenco LNER B/E toad kit in etched brass, which had proved to be too hideous in scale terms to be worth completing as the intended item and got repurposed into something long (and probably best) forgotten. But the unused footboards also were so much overscale as to be unusable, roughly 5mm/ft on one axis...

[jwealleans]

I used 3 x 1mm brass angle on mine when I built it. You can also see the relatively crude way I've represented the safety bars open and closed here.

[Graeme Leary]

Very pleased I browsed through this series of posts. Jogged my memory as have been meaning to do this to my 4 or 5 Brake Vans for some time - something more to fill in the remainder of 'lockdown'.

Graeme Leary