

South Eastern & Chatham Railway
6-Wheeled Birdcage Brake Van No.719

This six-wheeled van, built in 1905, is unusual in that it has both a "birdcage" lookout on the roof and side duckets for the guard. In addition to accommodation for the guard, the rest of the space was used for luggage. On withdrawal it was transferred for service use as an ARP Cleansing Van, based at Bricklayers Arms Locomotive Depot in London.
With no further use for it after the war, in 1947 it was sold to the independent Derwent Valley Light Railway in Yorkshire. On its second withdrawal from service it was bought by the Southern Locomotive Preservation Co., who moved it, with the rest of their stock, to the Bluebell in late 1971 and early 1972.
The van's eventual restoration will require, as its first stage, the complete reconstruction of its wooden/flitch-plated underframe.
Type: Guard / Luggage Van
Built: (by Metropolitan Amalgamated Carriage & Wagon Co., in Birmingham) 1905
Original No: 719
Other Nos: 719A, 616, 1601S
Length: 32 ft
Weight: 13 Tons
Withdrawn: 1941, 1967
Preserved: 1967
To Bluebell: 9/2/1972
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© Copyright April 1995 and December 1998 by Richard Salmon.
Last updated by Richard Salmon, 30 July 2009
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