BR 20 Ton Brake Vans

The BR 20 Ton Brake Vans are a standard type of goods brake van. They are added to the back of goods trains and a guard operates them. Each brake van is equipped with strong brakes to assist with slowing and stopping the train. From here, the guard can keep an eye on the train in case of problems, such as hot axle boxes, or trucks becoming uncoupled while running.

The Railway Series
Stepney used one of these brake vans to help transport four cricket players and Caroline to the Elsbridge Cricket Field after she had broken down.

One of these brake vans was involved in an accident when Oliver fell down the turntable well.

Thomas & Friends
The BR 20 Tons are commonly seen on the back of goods trains. They are Sodor's main type of brake van. The brake vans have also been used as part of the Mail Train, the Flying Kipper and the Circus Train.

A van attached to a goods train once waited on a siding to let Henry and the Flying Kipper pass while the Engine's crew were enjoying cocoa in the brake van. As snow had forced the signal down and the points were frozen towards the siding, Henry collided straight into the train at full speed. The crew had just left the train and avoided the crash.

One of these brake vans (along with the Troublesome Trucks) broke away from their engine Edward, and chased Duck down Gordon's Hill. The trucks had bumped their guard off his brake van, and left him far behind after he had whistled a warning. Duck and his crew bravely attempted to take control of the train, but crashed through a barber shop.

The Spiteful Brake Van, another van of this design, caused grief for James and Donald and Douglas. In an attempt to cause trouble for James, he urged the Troublesome Trucks to hold the train back. Douglas was able to help James' train up Gordon's Hill. However, the van found himself wedged between Douglas and the rest of the train. The guard jumped clear before the van was crushed by Douglas. .

When Percy's train of Troublesome Trucks barged forward and push him down the line and into a train of stone trucks, he destroyed a stationary brake van and perched himself on the remains of a truck.

Bill and Ben took a party of railway enthusiasts in a "brake van special" for a tour of the China Clay Works.

Personalities
A majority of brake vans are non-sentient. However, there are at least three known vans depicted with faces. They are spiteful, elderly, and troublesome respectively.

Types of sentient brake vans:

Basis
These brake vans are based on the real BR Standard 20 Ton brake vans, which were built to the LNER 20 Ton Brake Van design. The Elderly Brake Van and Spiteful Brake Van (TV version) share the same basis.

Livery
In the Railway Series, one of these brake vans is painted brown with a white roof and red bufferbeams.

Appearances
Railway Series=

The Railway Series
Television Series= {{Scroll box|
 * Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine - Train Stops Play
 * Enterprising Engines - Super Rescue
 * Oliver the Western Engine - Resource and Sagacity
 * Tramway Engines - Woolly Bear

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 1 - Thomas and Gordon, Edward and Gordon, The Sad Story of Henry, Edward, Gordon and Henry, Thomas' Train, Thomas and the Trucks, Thomas and the Breakdown Train, James and the Coaches, Troublesome Trucks, James and the Express, Thomas Goes Fishing, Thomas, Terence and the Snow, Tenders and Turntables, Trouble in the Shed, Percy Runs Away, Coal, The Flying Kipper, Whistles and Sneezes, Thomas in Trouble, Dirty Objects, Off the Rails, Down the Mine and Thomas' Christmas Party
 * Series 2 - Thomas, Percy and the Coal, Cows, Saved from Scrap, Old Iron, Thomas and Trevor, Percy and the Signal, Duck Takes Charge, Percy and Harold, The Runaway, Percy Takes the Plunge, Pop Goes the Diesel, Dirty Work, A Close Shave, Better Late Than Never, Break Van, Daisy, Percy's Predicament, The Diseasel, Wrong Road, Edward's Exploit, Ghost Train, Woolly Bear and Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree
 * Series 3 - A Scarf for Percy, Percy's Promise, Time for Trouble, Donald's Duck, Thomas Gets Bumped, Thomas, Percy and the Dragon, Diesel Does it Again, Henry's Forest, No Joke for James, Thomas, Percy and the Post Train, Trust Thomas, Mavis, Toby's Tightrope, Edward, Trevor and the Really Useful Party, Buzz, Buzz, All at Sea, One Good Turn, Tender Engines, Escape, Oliver Owns Up, Bulgy, Heroes, Percy, James and the Fruitful Day and Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure
 * Series 4 - Four Little Engines, A Bad Day for Sir Handel, Trucks, Home at Last, Rock 'n' Roll, Special Funnel, Steam Roller, Passengers and Polish, Gallant Old Engine, Thomas and Stepney, Train Stops Play, Bowled Out, Henry and the Elephant, Toad Stands By, Bulls Eyes, Paint Pots and Queens, Fish, Special Attraction and Mind that Bike
 * Series 5 - Horrid Lorry, Lady Hatt's Birthday Party, James and the Trouble with Trees, Gordon and the Gremlin, Bye George!, Baa!, Put Upon Percy, Toby and the Flood, Haunted Henry, Stepney Gets Lost, Something in the Air, Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach, Thomas and the Rumours, Oliver's Find, Happy Ever After, Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday, A Surprise for Percy, Make Someone Happy and Busy Going Backwards
 * Series 6 - Salty's Secret, Harvey to the Rescue, It's Only Snow, The World's Strongest Engine, Percy and the Haunted Mine, James and the Red Balloon, Gordon Takes a Tumble, Percy's Chocolate Crunch, Thomas the Jet Engine and Edward the Very Useful Engine
 * Series 7 - Emily's New Coaches, What's the Matter with Henry?, James and the Queen of Sodor, The Spotless Record, Something Fishy and Bulgy Rides Again
 * Series 8 - Percy's Big Mistake, Emily's New Route, Spic and Span, Thomas and the Circus, As Good as Gordon and Fish
 * Series 9 - Emily Knows Best and Saving Edward
 * Series 10 - Toby's New Shed
 * Series 16 - Muddy Matters, Whiff's Wish and Happy Birthday Sir!
 * Series 17 - Kevin's Cranky Friend, Scruff's Makeover, Wayward Winston, Gordon Runs Dry, Calm Down Caitlin, Steamie Stafford, Henry's Hero, Not Now, Charlie!, The Lost Puff, The Thomas Way, The Phantom Express, Percy's Lucky Day, Bill or Ben?, No Snow for Thomas, Santa's Little Engine, Away From the Sea, Gone Fishing, The Afternoon Tea Express, The Smelly Kipper, No More Mr. Nice Engine and Thomas' Shortcut
 * Series 18 - Not So Slow Coaches, Flatbeds of Fear, Disappearing Diesels, Signals Crossed, Toad's Adventure, Duck in the Water, Thomas the Quarry Engine, Missing Gator, No Steam Without Coal, Spencer's VIP, Toad's Bright Idea, Long Lost Friend, Last Train for Christmas, Duncan the Humbug, The Perfect Gift, Emily Saves the World, Timothy and the Rainbow Truck and Marion and the Dinosaurs
 * Series 19 - The Truth About Toby, Lost Property, A Cranky Christmas, The Beast of Sodor, Toad and the Whale, Very Important Sheep, Salty All at Sea, Helping Hiro, Slow Stephen, Two Wheels Good, Reds vs. Blues, Best Engine Ever, The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead, Philip to the Rescue, Diesel's Ghostly Christmas, Rocky Rescue, The Other Side of the Mountain, No Help at All and Goodbye Fat Controller
 * Series 20 - Sidney Sings, Toby's New Friend, Henry Gets the Express, Diesel and the Ducklings, Bradford the Brake Van, Saving Time, Ryan and Daisy, Pouty James, Letters to Santa, Mucking About, All in Vain, Mike's Whistle, Three Steam Engines Gruff, Engine of the Future and The Missing Breakdown Train
 * Series 21 - Dowager Hatt's Busy Day, Stuck in Gear, Runaway Engine, P.A. Problems, Cranky at the End of the Line, New Crane on the Dock, The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor, The Big Freeze, Emily in the Middle and Terence Breaks the Ice
 * Series 22 - Number One Engine, Forever and Ever, Trusty Trunky, Thomas in the Wild, Thomas and the Monkey Palace, Outback Thomas, School of Duck, Tiger Trouble, Seeing is Believing, Apology Impossible, Thomas' Animal Ark, Cyclone Thomas, Rosie is Red, Counting on Nia and Hunt the Truck
 * Series 23 - Crowning Around, The Other Big Engine, Batucada, Thomas Makes a Mistake, Diesel Do Right, Grudge Match, Steam Team to the Rescue, Panicky Percy, All Tracks Lead to Rome, Mines of Mystery, Laid Back Shane, Wish You Were Here, Out of Site, First Day on Sodor!, Deep Trouble, Too Loud, Thomas! and Diesel Glows Away
 * Series 24 - Thomas and the Royal Engine, Emily's Best Friend, The Great Little Railway Show, Thomas and the Forest Engines, Emily to the Rescue, Nia and the Unfriendly Elephant, James the Super Engine, Thomas' Not-So-Lucky Day, Ace's Brave Jump, A New Arrival, World of Tomorrow, Nia's Bright Idea, Sonny's Second Chance, Thomas and the Inventor's Workshop, The Inventor's Spectacular Bridge, Yong Bao and the Tiger, Gordon and Rebecca, Coming Through!, Kenji on the Rails Again, Cleo the Road Engine and Thomas' Animal Friends
 * Other - Thomas & Friends in 4-D: Bubbling Boilers

Specials
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 * 2000 - Thomas and the Magic Railroad
 * 2012 - Blue Mountain Mystery
 * 2013 - King of the Railway
 * 2014 - Tale of the Brave
 * 2015 - The Adventure Begins and Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure
 * 2016 - The Great Race
 * 2017 - Journey Beyond Sodor
 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures!
 * -|Other Media=

Magazine Stories

 * 1987 - Thomas' Christmas Party
 * 1988 - James and the Troublesome Trucks, The Flying Kipper, Cows and Percy and the Signal
 * 1989 - The Escape
 * 2015 - Flatbeds of Fear

Trivia

 * To date, the Spiteful Brake Van, the Elderly Brake Van and the brake van in A Close Shave are the only known brake vans of this design to have faces.
 * A few brake van models are on public display: one of the models used to be on display at Drayton Manor, and few models are currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum.
 * The brake vans seen from the first to the fifth series were made from modified Tenmille gauge one kits. These kits are still distributed by Tenmille today.
 * In The Flying Kipper, the brake van of the goods train has additional side windows.
 * In Percy's Predicament, Percy collides with a brake van that is missing its duckets.
 * In the same episode, and another one, the base of another brake van was used as a truck.

Merchandise

 * Motor Road and Rail
 * TrackMaster
 * Thomas Engine Collection Series
 * Bachmann
 * Hornby
 * Pocket Fantasy