The LNER Encyclopedia

The North Eastern Area would appear to have acquired a job lot of redundant ex-6-wheelers (?) and used them as grounded bodies on various station platforms on the Wansbeck Valley line (Morpeth to Reedsmouth).

There are various views in Ernie Brack's Flickr album - links given below:

Meldon - https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswis ... 232283623/

Knowesgate - https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswis ... 232283623/

Woodburn - https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswis ... 232283623/

Most have been altered by addition of weatherboarding to the lower body sides and the addition of a set of double doors in the centre.

What were they? The window and ventilators hoods point to ex Great Eastern, possibly some sort of open saloon vehicle. Any pointers gladly received.

Thanks

My suggestion is that all three bodies are North British in origin and dating from the Wheatley era, during which Ashbury of Manchester supplied a quantity of 4-wheeled, arc-roofed carriages to the NBR. The window layout of each of the bodies illustrated bears a strong resemblance to that of the Third Class carriages supplied by Ashburys measuring 25' X 7' 6". A North British origin is what I would expect for carriage bodies located on the Wannie, though identity of the owning railway is by no means an infallible guide - I can cite the case of a grounded LNWR/WCJS full brake in the heart of S&D territory!

John

Thanks for that. I had a quick flick through Bill Sewell's book on NBR coaches, but nothing leapt out at me. I'll have a trawl through the NBRSG Journals next to see if there's anything there.

Back to filing B-switches then.

John

Ashamed to say that as a lapsed member of the NBRSG my materials pertaining to NB carriages are sparse, and in this case I was relying on the drawing of an Ashbury-built Third that appears at p.100 of Sandy Maclean's "The Edinburgh Suburban and South Side Junction Railway" - a book I wholeheartedly commend to anyone interested in 'the Sub'.

A quick search for 'carriages' in the Journal index put online by the NBRSG at https://www.nbrstudygroup.co.uk/nbrsg/a ... search.php indicates that there are quite a few items within the Journal pertaining to Ashbury carriages, so that may also prove a profitable line of enquiry.