Shark ballast brake van Profile and Models

British Rail constructed over 200 'Shark' brake vans, based on an existing LMS design (which itself traced back to the Caledonian Railway). These ballast plough brakes featured manually operated ploughs at each end of the van, which would then be slowly propelled over freshly-laid ballast to level it off. These vehicles remained in engineering service for many years, and later in life received air-braking upgrades and other modifications to extend their lifespan. Some examples could still be seen in use as of the early 2000s.

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Surviving Examples