Category:British Railways "Shark" Ballast brake van

English: Ballast brake vans, used for spreading ballast evenly beneath and between the rails, are given the telegraphic code name 'Shark'. The British Railways 'Shark' was based on a design by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (one of which survives today) who in turn based their's on a Caledonian Railway design. 206 of these BR brake vans were built to diagram 1/597 and an unknown number to diagram 1/598 between 1951 and the early 1960s. 48 examples of diagram 1/597 vans survive today, and one built to diagram 1/598 survives also. These brake vans, despite being replaced by other machines, managed to survive in not-so-frequent mainline usage. One, DB993733, was left in a siding at Shenfield station from around 2009 to late 2018. Most of the preserved ballast brake vans serve heritage lines as one of their main departmental vehicles, assisting with ballast laying and other duties.
Another type of Shark ballast brake van also exists, a design made by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. The prototype, number 6330, was built in 1914 to diagram 3489, it is now preserved. This type would later pass onto the Southern Railway, who adopted the design just before BR took over, building a few of their Shark designs in 1949. Four of these ballast brake vans survived today, the youngest on the Bluebell Railway, the eldest at the Mangapps Railway Museum, one on the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway and one on the Kent and East Sussex Railway.