British Rail Universal Trolley Equipment (BRUTE) was a system of mobile containers used by British Rail from 1964 to the early 1990s to enable the sorting, handling and distribution of parcels, newspapers etc. in connection with railway operations.
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The BRUTE were a simple wheeled platform, generally fitted with a mesh around three sides of the body, whilst the fourth side is open but provided with canvas or plastic straps for restraint of the load. The front included a panel that allowed notes to be chalked to help sort traffic. As well as the usual cages, other BRUTE platforms were provided with just the front (for carrying bulky loads too big for the cage), and others with no sides but instead two hinged ramps that could be used to load or unload BRUTEs into railway vans.
Each trolley has two fixed wheels at the rear, and two swivelling caster wheels at the front. These were all fitted with polyurethane tyres and ran on taper bearings.[1]
A coupling was provided front and rear. The front being a pin, and the rear being a hinged loop on a sprung shaft. A lever on the front operated brakes on the rear wheels and also lifted the coupling pin.
Their first use was on the Western Region on parcels services connecting twenty stations on the routes between Paddington, Bristol and Carmarthen.[2] By the end of 1964, the name "British Railways Universal Trolley Equipment" and the acronym "BRUTE" were in use, by which time some 2500 were in use on the Western Region, with a further 2000 on order for the other regions.[3] They were fabricated on a production line at Swindon Works. In August 1964 output was 100 per week, 150 per week two months later, and 200 per week in the early months of 1965. 40 men were employed in their production, mostly people who had previously built steam locomotives. All parts were made at Swindon except for the wheels and bearings.[1]
Unlike traditional station trolleys they would be loaded each with parcels for a particular destination and wheeled into the train's luggage area. This saved train waiting time and also cut down on handling. They went out of use when the parcels service (known as "Red Star") was discontinued.
BRUTEs could be carried in most parcels vans or passenger brake vehicles with double-width doors, but several types of van were specially modified to carry them. Yellow circular labels stating 'BRUTE CIRCUIT ONLY' were stuck on the side to identify them.[4] When TOPS CARKND codes were introduced they had different codes to unmodified vans.[5]
Modified bogie General Utility Vans (GUVs) were fitted with hinged beams that folded down inside the double doors to protect doors from being burst open should a BRUTE hit them unintentionally. The footsteps below the doors were also removed as these were easily damaged during careless unloading of the vans.[6] They were given TOPS CARKIND NK.[7]
Many four-wheeled British Rail-built Covered Carriage Trucks (CCTs) were fitted with chains inside to stop BRUTEs moving during transit. They were given TOPS CARKIND NP.[7]
A unique bogie Parcels Carrying Van (PCV) vehicle was constructed in 1970 as a BRUTE carrier. It was built from GRP on the underframe of dismantled corridor composite Sc15170. In its new role it was numbered E85000 and was in service until 1982.[8]
There are some examples of BRUTEs to be seen in The Warehouse at the National Railway Museum in York.