"OUR CARRIAGES"

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Giant railway companies such as the Midland Railway, after a meeting of their Carriage and Wagon Committee, were able to order new carriages in their dozens or even hundreds. Smaller companies were not so fortunate. One such was the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway, whose works at Melton Constable spent most of the time prolonging the lives of its carriages by extensive rebuilding. The initial reports by the parent companies' officers in the year of the creation of the M&GN (1893) acknowledged that much more stock was needed in order to run the trains, and a large number of secondhand Midland Railway and Great Northern Railway vehicles were hired to the Joint, eventually being purchased outright in 1902. Although now owned by the railway, these "new" carriages were never regarded in the same light as a small number of vehicles of unusual outline that were inherited from the M&GN's predecessor, the Eastern & Midlands Railway. These were always considered "our carriages" at Melton Constable, and their often confusing story is the subject of this article.

The E&M existed between January 1883 and July 1893, and was itself an amalgam of the Lynn & Fakenham and the Yarmouth & North Norfolk Railways. For the few years of their independent existence, these two lines utilised four-wheel carriages rather similar to those of the neighbouring Great Eastern Railway, but with the addition of clerestory roofs. In 1882, however, the L&F took delivery of the first of a new generation of vehicles. These were built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. of Smethwick. They had semi-elliptical roofs and because of their impressive size were soon dubbed "Large Stock" by the young Engineer and Locomotive Superintendent of the E&M, one William Marriott, in the notebook which he started c.1884. This notebook, known as the "day book", can be seen today at the Public Record Office, Kew. The original vehicles were sensibly termed "Small Stock" and over the succeeding years received modification, principally the removal of the clerestories. From 1893 they were steadily withdrawn, and none or very few survived in 1902 when the whole M&GN passenger fleet was renumbered. They therefore do not feature in this story.

The Large Stock was certainly impressive for such a small line, and the passenger-carrying vehicles were provided with six compartments, rather than the more usual five. During 1882 and 1883 twenty-eight vehicles were delivered, all 8 feet wide and in three types:

TABLE 1: LARGE STOCK

The styling was uniform, having the semi-elliptical roof, conventional beading on the body and ends divided into six panels. The materials used were oak framing panelled on the outside with mahogany, and planked on the inside with a less expensive wood, possibly pine. In fact remains of these carriages (see later) show that the interiors were quite basic, and early photographs show that when delivered, only the first class compartments had full-height compartment walls and their own oil lamps. Third class compartments shared an oil lamp. Westinghouse brakes were fitted throughout, with oil axleboxes and Mansell wheels, except on the brakes which had open-spoke iron wheels. Full-length footboards were provided, and each vehicle had lamp irons on all four corners.

The wheelbase on the six-wheel vehicles was surprisingly small, allowing a considerable overhang at each end. This could not have helped the riding characteristics. One would have thought that the E&M abounded in sharp curves but as a matter of fact the ruling radius was 40 chains (half a mile). The reason for the small wheelbase remains unknown, it might have been specified by Mr Marriott's predecessor on the L&F Mr J.W.Mann. The four-wheel luggage brakes had a more normal wheelbase for their length. Round-topped duckets were provided at the brake end in the GER style.

The Large Stock did stirling work for the E&M, even travelling off the home lines onto the GE, as the shared Westinghouse brake allowed them to do. Reports of brake failures find them at Ely and Cambridge, probably on excursions. However, while the Large Stock had been a significant boost to the E&M's stock, more vehicles were needed to maintain a decent service on the expanding railway. To this end, some sets of Midland Railway carriages (of Kirtley vintage) were purchased in 1886/7, followed by some North London Railway vehicles in 1888/9. At Melton, Mr Marriott was hard put to it to keep these aged carriages in traffic, withdrawing some and rebuilding others. He also decided to build some new vehicles, apparently using salvageable parts of the running gear from the MR and NLR carriages as they were withdrawn. The outline he used for this "New Stock" as he called it in his day book mimicked exactly the BC&WCo carriages. The note "All new and rebuilds to these dimensions" in the day book I think shows his determination that there should be a uniform standard for the line, and influenced the decisions made in the Melton drawing office even thirty years later. Just as for the Large Stock, the New Stock were 8 feet wide with semi-elliptical roofs:

TABLE 2: NEW STOCK

The first modification of the E&M stock, which became necessary on the Midland and the Great Northern Railways becoming joint owners of the system, was the replacement of the Westinghouse brake with automatic vacuum, which both the parent companies used. Then, when in 1902 and 1903 the large number of secondhand MR and GN vehicles became Melton Constable's responsibility, steps were taken to unify and modernise the whole fleet, including the ex-E&M stock. Externally, all corner lamp irons were removed, and the luggage brakes had their duckets altered to have a flat top in order to receive GN-style lamps, and some had end windows installed. Internally, gas lighting was substituted for oil and the opportunity was taken at the same time to provide full-height compartment walls and a lamp for every compartment where they had not existed before. Communication cords were also installed with end-mounted alarm fittings, replacing the old rope-and-eye system outside the windows. In addition, the whole fleet was renumbered into logical groups of type, subdivided within each group by origin. Most of the old MR Kirtley stock and NLR stock had been immediately withdrawn in 1893, although the luggage brakes were retained and, I strongly suspect, rebuilt into the standard Melton form, but all the Large and New Stock vehicles survived to be renumbered, and a Weekly Notice of 1908 helpfully shows the identities of the four-wheel carriages. The Large Stock thirds became Nos.51 - 55, 59 - 69, the composites became Nos. 7 - 14, and the luggage brakes were grouped with the New Stock brake and all the other surviving E&M brakes at Nos.183 - 194. The New Stock thirds became Nos.56 - 58, the composites were grouped with two others of unknown origin at Nos.15 - 18, and it seems possible that the saloon became No.1, but this point needs clarification.

So far, so good, but the Large Stock was ageing. After over twenty years of continuous hard use, it must have been showing signs of wear, despite the best efforts of the Carriage & Wagon department. Their odd size and wheelbase may also have been cause for concern when compared to the ex-MR and ex-GN vehicles to which they were often coupled. Whatever the reason, between 1906 and 1924 all the ex-E&M passenger vehicles were rebuilt, or withdrawn.

The reader may be justified in wondering where the mystery is in all this. To fully understand the progress that has been made even to be able to write the paragraphs above, I must take you back to the summer of 1985. At that time, the only source of M&GN rolling stock numbers was the 1919 Diagram Book, brilliantly analysed for the M&GN Circle by John Watling, some notes from LNER documents of 1936 and 1938 collected by Guy Hemingway, information extracted from the Minutes of the Joint Committee, and Mr Marriott's day book. As can be seen, the evidence was heavily weighted towards the latter days of the M&GN. There was no other information from the earlier period apart from a few photographs that showed numbers which appeared to contradict the Diagrams. The E&M stock was known to have existed, but where did it go? The 1919 Diagrams would have you believe that the M&GN possessed only ex-GNR vehicles, hence the confusion.

Fellow M&GN Circle members John Watling, John Hobden and myself found this an unsatisfactory state of affairs, so I went carriage hunting. In 1985 I measured my first grounded body, M&GN (ex-GN) luggage brake No.215 at Aylsham, and over the next few years I clocked up a total of sixty carriage bodies, of which twenty-three were M&GN, including four ex-E&M and four ex-MR vehicles. At first I had no foolproof way of finding M&GN running numbers, although I was lucky with some vehicles because their numbers were on the garnish rail below the droplight on the back of the door, or sometimes even survived legibly outside. However, I discovered that the number was always pencilled on the inside of the ventilator at the top of the door, so the part wouldn't get lost in the workshops. Two of the ex-E&M carriages I found had stamped numbers as well. In addition to the ex-GN vehicles, which were able to confirm (and in some cases correct) the 1919 Diagrams, I was able to identify E&M large brake No.184, E&M large third No.55 (formerly 55), E&M large third No.66 (formerly 47), MR third No.74, MR brake third No.178 and MR luggage brake No.204.

From these results, and from new photographs and other documents that were slowly coming to light, I was able to evolve the theory referred to earlier in this article. The whole passenger stock had been renumbered in 1902, in blocks according to type, and within those types they were ordered according to origin: E&M, MR, GN. Furthermore, the rebuilds of the E&M vehicles by the M&GN had masked their original form. This was a real breakthrough, and threw light onto a period of M&GN history which had formerly been obscure.

Now to the M&GN rebuilds of ex-E&M carriages. The LNER documents show that the M&GN rebuilt eight thirds between 1906 and 1914, but I believe that the first candidates for rebuilding were the composites. In 1919, there existed seven composites, 29' 0" long, on a 19' 0" wheelbase. They seated 20 thirds and 12 firsts and so must have had four compartments. That is almost the extent of our knowledge of them, but for two telling statements in the Officer's Minutes:

            February 1924: Seven old Eastern & Midlands composites built in 1882/3 are being sufficiently repaired for use on local services, but these should be replaced with modern stock.

            February 1925: Seven old Eastern & Midlands composites have been withdrawn, and a recommendation for their replacement has been put forward.

There is also a pencilled note on the Diagrams "Bodies of 8 - 14 sold 1926". That would appear to be the end of the story, but what about the beginning? From my renumbering scheme, it seemed likely that the Large Stock composites were moved to Nos.7 - 14, and this was confirmed by a photograph of No.11 in a train at Hellesdon c.1908. Therefore, Nos.8 - 14 had been rebuilt as four-compartment composites, possibly starting as early as 1904. A photograph of a train leaving Cromer Beach c.1914 shows this rebuilt version, with details such as door ventilators unchanged from their previous form, and seemingly with equal compartment spacing. This would give a compartment width of 7' 0", good for first class, but very generous for third. The unchanged door ventilators led me to believe that the rebuilds used a lot of the original material from the Large Stock composites and certainly the 19' 0" wheelbase underframe was used again, but the other Melton rebuilds were more extensive. It seems that No.7 survived unaltered until 1914, when it was rebuilt as a third (see below), becoming No.70.

Large Stock thirds Nos.51 - 55, 60, 63 and 65 were also "rebuilt". The discovery of the body of No.55 reveals that this rebuild, unlike that of the composites, was actually construction from new. The 32' 0" six-compartment thirds became five-compartment thirds with a body length of 31' 10". Not only were the door ventilators different, based on the Anderson vents as used by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, but a completely new standard underframe was introduced with a wheelbase of 20' 8½". Only the beading style and semi-elliptical roofline were preserved. The result was a handsome and well-proportioned vehicle. Third No.56, the New Stock vehicle with a 30' 0" body was also rebuilt after 1908, receiving a new six-wheel 20' 8½" underframe, but apparently remaining otherwise unaltered.

The rest of the Large Stock thirds remained in their original condition, but their turn came in 1915. This time it was decided to "rebuild" the thirds into 28' 0" six-wheel luggage brakes. Between 1915 and 1917 they became Nos.195, 197 - 199, 201, 202, 204 and 205, taking the numbers of ex-MR four-wheel luggage brakes which had been withdrawn, or like 195A and 199A put on the duplicate list. The discovery of the body of No.66 shows that this was again a new build, however the original 18' 0" wheelbase was used, suggesting that major parts of the underframes survived. The original drawings show that Melton at first intended to use the standard beading and finish (painted and grained, see later), but then the design was changed. The semi-elliptical roof was retained as was the overall layout of doors, duckets and windows, but the cladding and beading design was now wholly Great Northern in style, executed in teak.

The original twelve ageing ex-E&M luggage brakes would no doubt have been withdrawn had not the First World War intervened. In 1916 the Government put out a request for vehicles to be used by the Railway Operating Division in France, and many hundreds of British wagons and carriages were sent overseas. The M&GN supplied 6 brake thirds, 14 luggage brakes and 20 eight ton wagons, and there is little doubt that the 12 ex-E&M brakes were sent. They were not returned until late in 1919, by which time they had been condemned and were not numbered in the Diagrams of that year. Nevertheless, Mr Marriott cited them in a Minute of September 1920, saying that they were aged 27 to 48 years old and were worn out, requiring replacement. This range of ages is correct if one considers that four vans were once North London vehicles of the 1870s and the New Stock van was built in 1892, but I find it very doubtful that the NLR vans had escaped rebuilding in the 1890s to New/Large Stock appearance. In a rare development, Melton was given permission to construct its own new luggage brake vans. Built at the rate of three a year between 1921 and 1924, Nos.183 - 194 were very similar to the 1915 vans, 28' 0" long but with a 19' 0" wheelbase. The bodies were again clad in teak, but the semi-elliptical roof remained testament to Mr Marriott's decision in 1892 "all new and rebuilds to these dimensions". A thirteenth van No.207 was sneaked in, apparently to replace an older sort of ex-GNR luggage brake which had been withdrawn.

So what of the New Stock? Third No.56 we have already dealt with. In 1912 six four-wheel passenger vehicles were put on the duplicate list with an "A" painted after their number, and were altered to be used as fruit vans. It is almost certain that these included the four 27' 0" New Stock four-wheel passenger vehicles (two composites and two thirds), plus the other two composites of unknown origin. The saloon appears to have escaped, only to be condemned in 1919. The fruit vans themselves were withdrawn in 1923, and their bodies turned up at various stations as goods offices or sack stores.

The rebuilt (or more correctly "new") thirds and luggage brakes put in many more years of useful service on M&GN trains. The only perceptible change came in 1933, when thirds Nos. 51 - 54, 63 and 65 were made into composites, the withdrawals of the ex-E&M composites in 1925 and some older ex-GN composites in 1932 reducing the number of first class seats available. Two compartments in each carriage were upgraded by improving the upholstery and finishes. By this time, however, "our carriages" tended to be put aside in storage at various stations up the Norwich line for use only in the summer season. They were gradually withdrawn between 1937 and 1944. The rebuilt luggage vans were withdrawn in 1937 and 1940, but the new Melton vans soldiered on into the British Railways era, over half surviving until 1960.

Even after their withdrawal, M&GN carriages generated much-needed income. Over the years 1915 to 1926 fifty-one old carriage bodies were "sold locally by Engineer" as reported in the Minutes, raising £605 - 5s - 0d. The going rate was between £8 and £15 for a four- or six-wheeler, depending on the size and condition, and over £20 for a bogie vehicle. Delivery was carried out by horse-drawn "lorry" under the charge of Mr Bangey, who had a wooden leg (you couldn't make this stuff up, could you?). Some of the buyers were named, and we see in June and September 1921, Mr Marriott bought two bodies, which went to make a summer house for the Marriott family overlooking Sheringham station. In December 1921, two bodies were sold to Driver A.Lambert of Themelthorpe, which were rediscovered in 1986, one of which was obviously a Large Stock luggage brake, the other was an ex-MR brake third. Driver Lambert's nephew still owned them at the time, and he told me that his uncle asserted that they had both been to France in the Great War, a statement that seemed unlikely but turned out to be true. In fact the MR vehicle still had its WD number painted inside. Other bodies went to become dormitories for fruit-pickers in the Fens, where seventy years later, an over-excited carriage hunter could be seen capering in the middle of the road, having spotted that tell-tale E&M elliptical roof.

However, not all bodies were sold; sixty-four are unaccounted for. Many of them must have been scrapped, but several were used on railway property. In this way, an ex-E&M Large Stock brake survived until recently at Stalham, having been installed as a goods office c.1924. Its M&GN number was 190, and a bracket from it stamped "L&FR" now adorns my bookcase.

The remains of Nos.55, 66 and 184, although in a sorry state, gave the opportunity to take samples of the body finishes. Analysis of the paint layers shows a consistent approach. Throughout the carriages' lives they were painted and grained in a reddish brown finish to resemble teak. One contemporary observer compared them to the "mahogany" finish of London Brighton & South Coast Railway carriages, but the samples show that the graining was by no means as red as that. The first coat of paint each time the carriage was fully repainted (approximately every seven years) was of lead grey primer, followed by a coat of "buff", which was yellow ochre mixed with white. Onto this the senior painters applied the graining in water colours, using metal graining brushes. After a coat of varnish, the lining and transfers were applied. Lining was a quarter inch lemon chrome line around all the mouldings, except on the carriage ends, fine-lined on each side with ultramarine blue. Two more coats of varnish followed. Roofs were white lead, and solebars were "teak colour" paint. For lettering styles, refer to the drawings and photographs.

I must express a deep gratitude to John Watling and John Hobden for their diligent research in this area, which has enabled me to build the edifice of my ideas upon solid foundations.

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