Carraige questions...

[Dannypenguin]

Evenin' all,

As you can see from the PFLR's thread, I am planning a coach. The coach, as you can see from the picture, is planned to have a centre half door arrangement. My question is, would a coach with a half open door have roof vents? There's a possibily that it will have no glazing either, does this change things?

Secondly, why do coaches have steps on for people to get to the roofs? I'm guessing this is for maintenance?

Lastly, what are the saftey chains for?

I may have more questions soon, as you can see from above I know literally nothing about coaches...

Thanks.

[bazzer42]

Wish I could help Danny and look forward to finding out. Were safety chains used as additional measures against accidental uncoupling?
Glad to see you're still building, bit of a standstill here moving both sets of parents at once

[Big Jim]

I think steps up the end of the coach were for maintaining the oil or acetylene lamps that lit the interior, most railway companies fitted the lamps from the outside, presumably to stop people pinching them or nicking the paraffin. Some things that look like vents on a coach roor may be the top of the lamp holder.

I would guess that anything that was not glazed or fully enclosed would not have vents. I would also imagine that most small narrow gauge lines would probably not bother with roof vents at all due to the cost.

Safety chains were a sort of belt and braces approach to couplings. If the chopper failed then the chains would stop a runaway.

[laalratty]

Safety chains are normally used where stock is not fitted with continuous brakes, so therefore you don't normally get vacuum/air pipes and safety chains together.
Steps are for serving oil lamps, so again if your coach is supposed to be preservation era with electric lights or no lights at all then you don't need them.
Vents on the roof I'd imagine would be dependent on whether there are any in the door.

[Dannypenguin]

Thanks for the replies -

The saftey chains will probably be fitted then as all PFLR trains are unfitted. I might get enough for the rest of the fleet while I'm doing it.

It'll be fitted with cosmetic oil lamps as although the PFLR is preservation we want to be as authentic as possible! I am hoping to fit a working electric light however.

The door is only half a door so I suspect there wouldn't be any roof vents either. That sorts an issue!

Thanks again and if anyone else has any more to add I'd love to hear it!

[IrishPeter]

Another reason for putting the lamps in from outside is that very often two compartments shared a common lamp.  35 years ago some of the carriages on the Isle of Man Railway still showed where the cut out for the lamp housing had been filled in.  It would not have been uncommon for a six compartment bogie coach to be arranged 3/33/33/3 with the three oil lamps all let into the roof over the partitions.  The reason the coach was arrange 3/33/33/3 was that it meant common drawings could be used for both brake-thirds and thirds making them cheaper to produce, it also made it easier to fit in ladies' only, and smoking compartments.  

Safety chain(s) were added because of the tendency of three link, link-and-pin, and chopper couplers to jump of the hook. They were required on coaching stock, but some railways - e.g. NSB, the Isle of Man and the Manx Northern - fitted them to all stock.  Some railways using the centre couplers used two chains secured to the headstocks; others attached two chains to the same casting as held the buffer, whilst some used a single chain mounted under the Norwegian coupler.

In the case of choppers various methods were used to secure the chopper.  In Scandinavia a chain with a cast iron ball was the norm; in Ireland and the Isle of Man an iron hoop was usually preferred.  Both were effective.  On the whole, safety chains were retained on coaching for a while after continuous brake became all but universal, then faded from the scene.  However, where chopper couplers are still used they tend to still be using side chains. On the Isle of Man, the norm today is centre chopper couplers, side chains, and vacuum brakes.  Side chains are retained because there is an outside chance of someone forgetting to put the hoop over the chopper to secure it.

Roof vents on a semi-open are essentially redundant, but might be present if a coach was converted from a closed vehicle into a semi-open.  

Peter in AZ

[JMORG]

A lot of Narrow Gauge had side vents and drop lights instead of roof vents. The Talyllyn never had roof vents. In the 1920's, most Ffestiniog stock lost theirs aswell (as did all NWNGR carriages when they were cut down for the WHR). Open carriages obviously made any form of vent redundant...
Is there a prototype Dan?