Braking the LMS inspection saloon

[Steven B]

When in use, inspection saloons usually ran alone with the loco, either hauled or propelled. Note that in the diesel era the saloon would need a yellow warning panel if propelled.

Several of the preserved examples now run as an observation car and would be seen as part of a passenger train on the preserved railway.

There are plenty of photos on Flikr of just about every combination of loco & livery (including hauled by single and two car DMUs).

There are several pictures of inspection saloons that make up part of a regular train. Parcels or mail trains appear to be favourites for moving inspection saloons around:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/32140916@N02/5496640056
https://www.flickr.com/photos/63308252@N06/6181720817

Inspection Saloons had two sets of brakes; Like other brake coaches (BSO, BCK etc), they had a hand-brake. This would be used to secure the coach when parked. They also had a control for the automatic train brake (vacuum or air depending on era and what was fitted). This allowed someone in the "cab" of the Saloon to slow down the train (the driver would have to watch the brake pipe pressure and reduce engine power accordingly). Again, standard brake coaches (and piped brake vans) had a lever allowing the automatic train brakes to be applied. The only difference is the the inspection saloon had automatic train brake controls close to a window at the ends of the vehicle in addition to the one in the guards compartment.

The inspection saloon could therefore be used as a brake vehicle within a normal train.

What the driver in the inspection saloon was capable depends on era and the vehicle. In steam days all he'd have control of is the brake. Jump forward a few years and complete control of the loco is possible, as seen from the picture half way down this web-page:
https://paulbigland.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/the-gnge-joint-line-renaissance/


Happy modelling.

Steven B.