As part of preparing ‘First’ for ExpoNG I have been working on this 009 brake van. I got it secondhand many months ago. Compact, with a short wheelbase it’s ideal for the tight curves on ‘First’.

It came with two very different couplings, a PECO 009 coupling on one end and a homemade wire hook on the other. It runs well when it is pulled by one of my locos, but when you push it the brake van derails. The couplings seem to get tangled up with the Greenwich couplings I use and this causes the derailment.

There’s an easy solution – replace the couplings. The originals were removed and the Greenwich coupling height gauge used to work out where to mount the couplings.

Here’s the brakevan with the new Greenwich couplings. I’m looking forward to using it on ‘First’.