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    Railway Carriages
    Railway Carriages
    Railway Carriages
    Ebook105 pages58 minutes

    Railway Carriages

    By Tim Bryan

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    About this ebook

    Evolving from the horse-drawn stage coaches that they soon eclipsed, railway carriages steadily grew in sophistication so that by the end of the nineteenth century the railway passenger travelled in comfortable rolling stock of a design familiar to many until the 1960s. While modern trains look different from those built more than a century ago, even today the facilities are not so dissimilar from those enjoyed by our Victorian ancestors.

    This book describes the development of the railway carriage from those early days to the present, highlighting some of the key developments in the history, design and construction of carriages. It also looks at the innovations that made life easier for the passenger, such as the introduction of heating, lavatories and restaurant and buffet facilities, as well as the differences in comfort between the various classes of traveller.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateMay 30, 2019
    ISBN9781784423193
    Railway Carriages
    Author

    Tim Bryan

    Tim Bryan worked as curator at the GWR and STEAM museums in Swindon for more than twenty years and is now Director of the Brunel Institute at the SS Great Britain in Bristol. He is the author of several books on railway and heritage topics and has written six titles for Shire. He lives in Swindon, UK.

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      Book preview

      Railway Carriages - Tim Bryan

      The angular lines of GWR Railcar No. 22 built at Swindon in 1940 are clearly seen in this image taken at Didcot in 2017.

      INTRODUCTION

      THERE IS LITTLE doubt that the railway carriage has been of rather less interest to railway enthusiasts and historians over the years than the steam locomotive and its diesel and electric successors.

      Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis, whose standard work published more than sixty years ago remains an affectionate and at times almost poetic celebration of the humble carriage, noted that the study of its development was a ‘fascinating subject, full of human, as well as technical, interest’. So often seen as the poor relation of the locomotive, the development of the railway carriage mirrors the social and economic history of Britain from the 1830s to the present and it is hoped that this book might help redress just a little of the historical balance in favour of the carriage.

      The story of carriage development is one of evolution, increasing sophistication and the application of new technology and materials. The earliest passenger vehicles owed much to the mode of transport they were to supplant, the horse-drawn carriage, and in the course of the nineteenth century their design incorporated all manner of features both in terms of their construction and also the range of innovations they included to improve the comfort of the passengers they carried. As a result, features such as heating, lighting, lavatories and restaurant facilities all became commonplace.

      While millions of passengers travelled (and still travel) in what might be termed ‘workaday’ standard carriages, it is the more specialised and often luxury rolling stock that has attracted the most attention and it is fitting that this book will highlight some of those special vehicles that have graced the British railway network. In this category are included royal carriages, luxury vehicles such as those built by the Pullman Company and more specialised coach designs such as dining cars and sleeper carriages. Railways initially bought carriages from coachbuilding companies and rolling stock suppliers but eventually built their own workshops to construct rolling stock. The situation today has turned full circle, and with the closure of BR workshops in more recent times, railway operators lease rolling stock built by private manufacturers.

      A 1934 LNER 61ft 6in open third carriage seen at Highley on the Severn Valley Railway in 2012. These beautiful varnished teak livery carriages were the most numerous of those designed by Sir Nigel Gresley.

      This book also concentrates on railway carriage development on Britain’s mainline railways from the 1830s to the present; space prevents the inclusion of stock used on urban transport networks and narrow gauge railways. There is also no doubt that carriage design and development can be a technical subject; while the book has a social history emphasis, a short glossary has been included to explain some of the technology. The reader will also note that the word ‘carriage’ and ‘coach’ are used interchangeably, as they have been in writing about the subject for many years.

      There is not room in a slim volume like this to do anything but attempt the most basic survey of what is a complex and evolving story; today’s railway carriages are a world away from those travelled in by the Victorian passenger; levels of comfort are generally much higher, trains are faster, but the compartments and traditional materials and design familiar to travellers are long gone. Modern trains are clean, bright and mainly rapid, with features like Wi-Fi connectivity reflecting the changing times; some readers looking at some of the evocative images of carriages reproduced here might, however, reflect that in the age of steam passengers travelling by train could do so in some style on the best expresses!

      An engraving from the Illustrated London News of 1846 showing the class distinctions of rail travel and the differing accommodation for each class.

      HISTORICAL SURVEY

      AS THE EARLIEST British railways were intended for the transportation of coal, minerals and other goods, very little attention was initially paid by engineers to the design of rolling stock to carry passengers. Accommodation on what is widely held to be the first public railway, the Stockton and Darlington, was primitive. When something was required to transport the railway’s directors on the first trial trip on the line on 27 September 1825, George Stephenson provided them with ‘Experiment’, a carriage that was essentially a crude wheeled wooden shed. The unfortunate passengers were helpfully provided with six square apertures in the sides to provide light and a door at one end.

      What could therefore be loosely described as the world’s first railway carriage was replaced a fortnight later by another vehicle – also named ‘Experiment’ – that was used on regular services on the new line. This

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