Carriage number 32357

[John Palmer]

Amberley Publishing's photographic record of the Mallaig Extension in its 'Great Railway Journeys Through Time' series, quite recently published, has some fine views of Mallaig. In the one of these pictures, at page 84, there is visible the right hand end of a carriage which I suspect to be of North Eastern Railway origin. Its number is 32357, and I am hoping that someone can supply some further information about it. What can be seen of the vehicle shows that it is a side corridor coach having Third Class accommodation and domed ends to its roof, and is probably gangwayed. Can anyone shed any further light on it, please?

[Bill Bedford]

32356-61 were built in 1924 to modified NER designs for the SSA. They were corridor brake composites, 58'6" over frames fitted with LNER standard bogies. Their most well known role was as the through coaches on the Aberdeen-Penzance workings.

[John Palmer]

Thank you very much Bill. Exactly what I was hoping for.

[Kestrel]

Aberdeen to Penzance must have been a long journey time wise.

I remember going from Liverpool to St Ives in the early sixties, leaving Lime Street at 11:45pm Friday night, stopping at Bristol Temple Meads at 6:00am, Newton Abbot at 10:00am before dropping off at St Erth for St Ives at 2:30pm Saturday afternoon and Penzance is further on than that so that was over 15 hours. The journey from Aberdeen must have taken well over a day.