Isle of Man ‘E’ Van Accucraft

The ‘E’ vans were four-wheeled brake and luggage vans fitted with lookout duckets, but otherwise entirely sealed with only two drop-sash windows at the guard’s door. None of these vans survive today, and they were effectively made redundant when later passenger coaches had their own braking systems. The primary purpose of the ‘E’ van was to provide luggage accommodation and braking for the original ‘A’ – ‘D’ class most of which did not have their own brakes when supplied in 1873/4. One surviving member of the class sat at the end of the Port Erin arrival platform at Douglas for many years and retained its pre-war two-tone brown livery. The Manx Northern Railway owned a pair of similar vans for use with the ‘N’ class carriages, but these seem to have been replaced in the 1890s and then used for goods traffic until they were scrapped in the 1920.

The roof is removable if required for customers to install their own interior detail, for example, or lighting.  An additional set of 32mm wheels is also provided.  Although the models are 1:20.3 scale they look well with 1:19 scale equipment and are probably larger than the equivalent scale models of Talyllyn coaches!

Specifications:

• Scale: 15mm to 1 foot (1:20.3)
• Length over couplings: 302mm (12 inches)
• Width over footboards: 135mm (5 ¼ inches)
• Height over ventilators: 148mm (5 ¾ inches)
• Gauge: 32mm or 45mm
• Min Radius: 750mm (2 feet 6 inches)

Versions available, subject to production batch:

R19-24 IoM ‘E’ Van, Maroon & Cream