"E" Brake Vans

The “E” Series : Brake Vans

These four-wheel brake vans were similar to the passenger carriages but with no accommodation for anyone but the guard and/or brakeman and lookout duckets for ease of visibility, this detail on the Manx Northern Railway stock varied in design, details of which can be found in the individual pages below; early plans were to have these capable of carrying third class passengers and drawing exist illustrating this with a second set of double doors and bench seating with addition windows but this was never carried through and all examples remained for staff use only. Upon delivery of the first bogie carriages with guards compartments in 1876 they gradually became obsolete and found a variety of other uses, bodies being reused as grounded stores and underframes being converted.

Their places were taken by bogie stock with integral brake compartments, notably the large luggage vans (of half-brakes) while several of the underframes were re-used for other stock; today the only remaining remnant of the series survives as the underframe of closed van G.19 which is displayed in the Railway Museum. The bodies went on to see further use as storage spaces, with examples existing at Sulby Bridge Station until 1937, and long survivors at Santon Station until 1974, Colby Station until 1973, Peel Road Station until 1975 and a number in the yard at Douglas Station, all of which were destroyed as part of the infamous Ballasalla Bonfire of 1974. One surviving compartment door from a brake van has survived and is stored in the workshops, displaying remnants of original gold and vermilion lining out detail, it is not know from which van this originates.