The LNER Encyclopedia

This pic has just popped up on my fb site with the description as follows]- Dunbar & Rustin steam navigator at West Woodburn station bound for the Catcleugh Reservoir project in Northumberland around 1900. What are the two wagon that appear to be built like battleships?

Consulting Tatlow LNER Wagons vol 2 page 146.
NER Flat Trolley wagons.
Introduced from 1890 through to 1914 under 6 codes
Flatrol C, K, N, X, D and M
Built at York and Gateshead.

Thanks Bryan

A very interesting photo. Do we know where Dunbar and Rustin had their place of business?
That said, I am not so certain that the vehicles were of NER origin. I have looked through my photos of NER Diagram J1 and there are several differences. In particular the substantial cross bracing adjacent to the axleboxes at each end of the vehicle is not evident. There is a good photo of a J1 vehicle on page 147 of Vol 2 of Peter Tatlow's book. There were four such vehicles and all were based at different places in the north-east. I have also seen a photo of a J1 in later use as a crane runner wagon after withdrawal and it retained this cross bracing. In short I suspect that the wagons came from the railway company served by Dunbar and Rustin.

These look like Midland wagons, specifically D310 - see 'An Illustrated History of Midland Wagons Volume 2', Essery, OPC, 1980, pp24-26.

D

I wondered if Rustin was a misspelling of Ruston and the excavator came from Lincs.

I agree with Darryl that the two furthest vehicles look like 18T Midland trolleys to D310. The nearest vehicle is to a different design, and I think is probably a 15T Midland trolley to D311.