Last stock without EP brakes

No, the W&C stock was Westinghouse to the last. Some of the redundant air brake equipment was, how shall we say, "requisitioned" some time before they were withdrawn for use on a presrevd railway that only uses Westinghouse brakes, but the less said the better. lol.

The Westinghouse on those trains was usually excellent. It was possible to stop on a sixpence, and at exactly the same place every time.

I was involved in filming the Dempsey and Makepeace episode on the W&C on the early 80's. The film director wanted me to stop the train "just there", which I did. I then backed out of the station and came in again and he was suprised that I stopped exactly in the same place. When I told him I did that 16 times a day, he was still quite amazed.

I managed to get a 16 hour sunday out of it, and 3 meals at the location unit in Threadneedle Street! No repeat appearance money from the repeats on UK Gold though.

This may add to the confusion or it may help: I have in my hot and stickies a Westinghouse publication: 'Self Lapping Interlocked Electro-Pneumatic Brake Equipment with Retardation Control'. I've not got many of my westinghouse bits with me (they are predominantly signalling based) so I can't work out exactly which iteration of the EP brakes this refers to, apart from:

• Catalogue is printing reference 1939/2M.1046/2M.0148/2M.0149 (which looks suspiciously like a 55, Broadway typing pool code, rather than a Westinghouse reference).
  
• Catalogue has reference EP 4 and covers
  • Brake Controller type 'D'
    
  • Reducing Valve type C. 6. C.
    
  • Contactor Unit, style 'A'
    
  • EP Brake Unit, Type F2
    
  • Safety Valve Type E1
    
  • Trip Valve, Type D.R. 2
    
  
  
• I'm pretty sure the large fold out wiring diagram at the back is for '38 stock
  

I think Westinghouse were almost pathologically obsessive in labelling their components, and the order in which revision had been made.

Catalogue is the fourth edition, because it is the 4th type of EP brake controller - 'D', third type of reducing valve, 6th revision. This doesn't always hold true - often the reference letter is the initial letter for something (and you have to try and work out what on earth it is referring to); in this catalogue the retardation controller is referred to as 'Type LT' (wot a surprise!). Revisions to equipment not printed in the catalogue are covered by bulletins - I know I've got a couple (somewhere) on the Quick Acting Triple Valve (which is only glossed over in this publication, a curious omission).

Anyhow, make of this what you will. ;D

Type D was introduced on the 38 Stock. The O Stock originally did not have self-lapping brakes. The P Stock did I think but I am away from my library at the moment.

*Interest Piqued* I guess that this was on the Circle proper, as the CWL was de-juiced in '35 and O stock didn't come in until '37?

Checking my library, I found that the O Stock was delivered with type B non-self-lapping brake controllers, whilst P Stock had self-lapping controllers. The O Stock controllers were converted to type BD during 1951-2 (before the Metadynes were removed) so that they then also had self-lapping brake controllers.

Would it not depend on how the train was formed? Such as E-E-W or E-W-W?

At least theres an historical precident for Quaintons 3 car set then!

The D end motor car carried the compressor rather than the trailers, I guess because the trailers were an afterthought. The aim was to reduce train failures by having 2+ comps per train. This is why standard stock stopped running in 3 car trains (M-T-CT except on the GN&C) and why uncoupling was stopped on the T stock so all trains were M-T-T-DT+DT-T-T-M or M-T-DT+DT-T-M.

Think the O/P stock had a busline, but not between different units.

No I meant a unit bus line not a train bus line,it was needed as if the car with the compressor was in the middle on a shed road there would be no feed to it otherwise.