BR 993876 'Shark' Ballast Plough Brake
This Ballast Plough Brake, of type ‘Shark’, was built by BRCWBirmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company at Smethwick in 1957 to Diagram 1/597, Lot 3040. The type was based on an LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway design, and had large metal ingots installed below the Guard’s floor to add extra weight. Fitted with a handbrake and stove, they were used in ballast train working; the ploughs being used to spread newly-dropped stone ballast.[1]
DB993876 in service
A Hornby model of DB993876 has been produced showing the brake van in Loadhaul livery, and other references can be found referring to the van in this context. Loadhaul Ltd was a railfreight operator based in the north east of England which came into being in 1994 during the privatisation of BRBritish Rail or British Railways and ultimately became part of the company English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWSEnglish, Welsh & Scottish Railway, a rail freight company).[2]
Prior to acquisition by the SVRSevern Valley Railway, DB993876 was used on Bridport steel trains on the East Usk Branch. An article and photo by Paul Theroux describes the process, which involved the locomotive running round the train at East Usk yard and then propelling it down the branch with the brake van leading.
DB993876 in preservation
It arrived at Kidderminster on 30 March 2017 by road from East Usk yard.
