No drawings survive for these late 1830s carriage trucks but they frequently appear in contemporary illustrations and there are written accounts describing them together with references in company minute books. This one conforms to the dimensions given by Wishaw of a Grand Junction Railway carriage truck c.1837.

‘The carriage trucks are each 13 feet 8 inches long, 7 feet 1-1/2 inches wide, and the sides 1-1/2 inches high; the weight being about 43 cwt., and the price £130.’

I should add that this is my interpretation of the scant historical information relating to these vehicles. That they existed is not in doubt, dimensions given by contemporary authors are as accurate as we’ll ever get. Such trucks were probably on their last legs by the time the LNWR was formed but some may have survived for a few more years. The London & Birmingham Railway board minutes record that the carriage committee should,

‘…consider the possibility of reducing the enormous weight of those in use on the Grand Junction Railway…’ 

and Brees provided a drawing of a L&B’ham carriage truck of somewhat smaller and lighter dimensions, perhaps a direct result of this consideration.

The truck and carriage, a ‘travelling chariot’ are 4mm scale, built entirely from scratch using a combination of brass fret off-cuts from the scrap box and my own whitemetal castings. I would also like to thank Tom Nicholls for sharing the results of his diligent research into such early vehicles.

The truck itself is based on the ‘chassis’ of a London & Birmingham Night Second carriage (the subject of another kit and possible future post) which matches the dimensions given in Wishaw.

The travelling chariot is based on photos and a few measurements of the real thing. 
 

Thankfully such horse drawn carriages seem to have had a better survival rate owing to the fact that they can be stashed away in the corner of a barn unlike railway trucks…!

The truck on the left is the London & Birmingham version illustrated in Brees. It’s smaller but fairly sturdy and I can’t imagine it was that much lighter really.