Bachmann 20Ton Ex-GWR Brake Van 33-306C
Like so much on the Great Western Railway, the 'Toad' brake van changed little in appearance down the years. Second to the BR standard brake van, it is the most familiar, having been a popular subject with model manufacturers. The vans had a verandah at one end only and no side duckets. Later versions, which tend to be the subject of models, had a 16' wheelbase. They had mostly restricted use ('RU' painted on their sides) and generally carried the name of the yard to which they 'belonged'.
In GWR days the brake vans were painted dark grey and usually had white roofs. A lighter grey (including roofs) was applied in BR days but, following the fitting of vacuum brakes and up grading to XP rating, they were painted in BR bauxite brown.
The model was introduced to the Mainline Railways catalogue in 1978 and later it was joined by the Airfix version when Palitoy took over the Airfix range. They parted company in 1985 when Dapol acquired the Airfix tooling but the Mainline tools stayed with Kader in China. The later would later be used for the Bachmann Branchline models, of which the latest is in BR grey, numbered W68567 and allocated to Machynlleth Yard.