Brake vans

Showing my ignorance again... but I don't know the answer to this question. Did the French metre gauge lines use brake vans/guards vans at the tail of freight trains?

I suspect the answer is both yes and no depending on which line. I'm quite a fan of brake vans as they add an extra twist when operating, particularly an end-to-end layout so I'd like to use them on our club layout if possible.

I think you answered your own question. I am certainly no expert at voies metriques, but I have seen photos of such trains with and without what appears to be brake/guards vans. For example, here's a passenger train with what appears to be a brake or guards van at the end:


Some french lines also seem to have had an aversion to running locomotives in "reverse", which also adds another twist, unless you run a tramway or "bicabine" style loco.

Thanks. I know that luggage vans were often on the tail of passenger trains (and were not shunted) but as I said, it's freight I'm most interested in.

I suppose there is no reason why I can't represent a railway that had unfitted wagons and so used guards vans; I just wondered if it was a completely unprototypical practice.

They also used this sort of car:

Martin, the fact of the matter is that there was no set order. i have as many postcards showing a brake van immediately after the engine as at the rear of the train. The 'chef de train' would often ride in a 'fourgon' with dogs,bikes,parcels and post , until La Poste insisted on their own employees accompanying it. I have found with modelling french outline that you can think of an idea and there is a prototype for it!

Mikey

OKay, that's interesting. My reason for asking is that our layout is planned as an end to end run and in Britain, as you probably all know, all railways before the advent of fully fitted (i.e. continuously braked) freight trains in the 1960s had to have a guards van as the rear vehicle, both so that a pair of professional eyes was around to keep a lookout for various things (both on the train itself and the surroundings) and to operate a hand brake in accordance with whistle signals from the locomotive.

In an end to end layout this vehicle will need placing at the correct end of the train when it reverses direction and this adds to the operating interest. I may have brake vans regardless of how prototypical or not it was since it's more entertaining for the operators. I was just curious about reality!