Midland Railway Box Van

Midland Railway Box Van

One of the handful remaining of a type first introduced in 1893, eventually 7,261 of these were built up to 1916.

It is 16’6’’ (approx.5metres) long over headstocks and has a capacity of 8 tons.

This example dates back to 1902, fitted with grease axle boxes and brake gear on both sides.

Sold by the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) railway to Bass, Burton-on-Trent who used this type of van on their internal railway system to carry grain (barley and malt).

At Burton from the late 1930s, the van was rescued by the Railway Preservation Society in 1967, costing £50.

The number 1109 is the LMS number.

The Midland Railway

In the 1830s several companies were formed with the intention of building railways in the Midlands. This included the Midland Counties Nottingham to Derby North Midland Railway, Derby to Leeds, York & North Midland, York to Newcastle upon Tyne andBirmingham & Derby.
The chairman of the York & North Midland was George Hudson. In 1844 Hudson arranged for his own company to amalgamate withMidland Counties, North Midland Railway and the Birmingham & Derby. Hudson became chairman and leading shareowner of what was now known as the Midland Railway. This was the first large scale amalgamation of several small railway companies into one large company.

In 1845 George Hudson added the Birmingham & Gloucester and the Bristol & Gloucester to the Midland Company. Hudson’s companies now controlled 1,016 miles of railway track and he obtained the title, the Railway King. A survey that year revealed that Hudson had £319,835 invested in railway shares.

North Eastern Railway Box Van

North Eastern Railway Box Van

Manufactured around1900 and numbered100-684, this ex NER goods van was sold out-of-service on an unknown date and was resident at Cadbury’s Bournville until1973, when it was the last wooden van there, having survived for use as a mobile breakdown van containing permanent way equipment.

The van was not the usual Cadbury reddish brown livery, but was painted grey.

Donated by Cadbury-Schweppes in 1973.

Rail traffic ceased at the Bournville factory in 1976.

The North Eastern Railway

In 1854 three companies, York & North Midland,  Leeds Northern and the York, Newcastle & Berwick amalgamated to form the North Eastern Railway. The amalgamation produced a system 700 miles long, with administrative headquarters at York. The North Eastern Railway continued to expand and gradually other companies were taken over. This included: South Durham & Lancashire (1862), Stockton and Darlington (1863) and the West Hartlepool Railway (1865).

The North Eastern Railway now had virtually a monopoly of rail transport in the north-east. However, integration was slow, and an increase in accidents brought warnings concerning the dangers of trying to organize such a large company. After four serious accidents took place on the North Eastern at the end of 1870, the company’s general manager, William O’Brien, was sacked.

The North Eastern Railway relied heavily for its income on the transport of coal and other raw materials. This trade declined in the early 1870s and in order to maintain revenues, the company decided to vigorously promote third-class travel travel.

Lancs & Yorks Box Van

Lancs & Yorks Railway Box Van

This goods van was constructed at Newtonheath in 1895, eventually passing from the L & Y to the London, Midland & Scottish Railway at the 1923 grouping.  At an unknown date the vehicle was sold to the Rolling Stock Company, Darlington and, after renovation, sold on to the well-known chocolate manufacturers, Cadbury’s of Bournville and numbered 144 in Cadbury’s wagon fleet.

During 1963, with the arrival of new all-steel box vans at Cadbury’s, the majority of the old internal user vans were withdrawn, with 144 being donated to the Railway Preservation Society and transported to the Hednesford depot before later being transferred to Chasewater.

The van carried the ‘Cadbury’ logo in white at the top of one end, with its stock number at the opposite, lower end.  Overall livery was reddish brown.

Of particular note is the canvas roof flap, a once-common feature enabling goods vans to be loaded from overhead hoists.

Rail traffic at the Bournville factory ceased in 1976.

The Lancs & Yorks Railway

In 1840 the Manchester & Leeds Railway was completed. Seven years later the company acquired eight smaller companies and called itself the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. It now stretched across the country from the west coast at Liverpool, Southport, Blackpool and Fleetwood, to the east coast at Goole on the Humber.

The Lancashire & Yorkshire line had to cross a large number of hills and valleys. Of the 580 miles (933 km) of the railway, only 25 miles (40 km) was level track. As a result of this terrain, there were almost 100 tunnels and viaducts on the route. At first the railway mainly transported cotton, wool, fish and coal. With the development of seaside resorts such as Blackpool, the trains carried a growing number of passengers.

Riding Van

 

This is an LNER Riding Van, built by Pickering of Glasgow in 1947, No.DE544440.  It came to Chasewater from Shackerstone.

The first photo was taken shortly after arrival, the second after considerable renovation work had taken place.