I shall round off my modelling of the early wagons, produced for the GWR during the formative years before 1840, by considering three types intended for specific duties, rather than the ‘general purpose’ wagons described in my previous two posts.

 

Sheep Truck 1840

 

A sheep truck is one of the types mentioned in Whishaw’s ‘The Railways of Great Britain and Ireland’, published 1842. He described these ‘trucks’ as having high sides, four wheels, and to weigh 8,237 lbs. Apart from that, there is very little documentary evidence to work from.

 

There is a rather fanciful lithograph by L.Haghe, dated c.1840, which is supposed to show a GWR train at Kelmston near Bath. Some of the wagons are suspiciously similar to ones shown in an illustration of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway but they also show some ‘Broad Gauge’ features – notably the large wheels set outside the wagon bodies. The engine carries the name ‘Wharncliffe’ – not a known GWR engine name but that of the MP who steered the GWR Bill through Parliament.

 

 

 

Eddy Brown deduced that the low weight rules out most of the known vehicle types of the time, except the Small Box Wagons. An additional factor supporting this idea is that these wagons, with their wheels outside the body, are the only ones with unobstructed floors, which would probably be essential for carrying small livestock, such as sheep. A stock list of 1842 includes a ‘wagon’ (no description) with a Tare Weight of 3T.-14cwt, which corresponds to 8,288 lb – close to Whishaw’s figure.

 

Another drawing by Seymour Clark, dated Dec.1841, illustrates modifications that were carried out on three Luggage Wagons that were returned to Goods traffic after use on Passenger trains. These had underslung springs, which seem to have been applied to most wagons by this date.

 

Based on these fragments of evidence, Broad Gauge Society (BGS) Data Sheet 413 shows the possible appearance of one of these ‘Sheep Trucks’, as mentioned by Whishaw. For my conjectural model, I have raised the sides of my model of a Small Box Wagon and exchanged the axleboxes and springs for the underslung type, which I had already created for other models. Raising the sides in ‘Fusion 360’ was simply a matter of selecting the top faces and using the ‘move’ tool. The software automatically extends the sides at the same angle as the existing sides.

 

My 3D Model of an 1840 Broad Gauge Sheep Truck

 

I felt very tempted to introduce slats in the sides but this would be pure conjecture on my part. I decided to complete my model as shown on BGS Data Sheet 113.

 

Coke Wagon – 1840

 

The Coke Wagon is the other variant mentioned in Whishaw, 1842. Following a detailed description of the 4- and 6-wheel wagons, described simply as ‘small’ and ‘large’, he mentions that there were also coke-wagons, mounted on six wheels, and each holding from 150 to 200 bags of coke.

 

It is hardly surprising that these wagons were needed from the outset, as the steam locomotives of the time were fuelled by coke, to meet the Government requirement that ‘locomotives should consume their own smoke’. Whishaw reports that “The coke-ovens are situate at West Drayton, about half a mile to the east of the station ; and are very similar to those of the north of England and Scotland, being without a lofty chimney, which adds so greatly to the cost. They are conveniently placed on the level of the railway, which saves much labour in filling the wagons.”

 

At the time, West Drayton was the central depot on the first stretch of line from Paddington to Maidenhead, opened to the public on 4th June, 1838. Wishaw notes that in thirteen weeks, including July, August, and September, 1839, the quantity of coke consumed amounted to 3,323,376 lbs (almost 1,500 tons) so, even at this very early stage, the coke traffic was considerable.

 

BGS Data Sheet 406 states that 9 coke wagons were listed in a Stock Account dated 6th Oct.1840, and that these were based closely on the 6-wheel Utility Wagon, although with several minor modifications.

 

The modifications included new wheel sets, with 11 split spokes, splayed outwards towards the hub. These represented my first new modelling task for this wagon. I created the flanged outer rim, and a hub to fit around a 2mm steel axle. I then drew a single spoke to the new design and completed the wheel by using the ‘pattern on path’ tool in ‘Fusion 360’. This automatically created a circular pattern of spokes around the central axis of the wheel. My models of both the original Losh wheel and the splayed-spoke wheels are shown below:

 

My 4’ Dia Wheels modelled in ‘Fusion 360’

 

In addition to the drawing included in BGS Data Sheet 406, the Coke Wagon is also shown in a more detailed drawing in Alan Prior’s book: ‘19th Century Railway Drawings’. I imported this drawing as a ‘canvas’ in ‘Fusion 360’ and compared it with my existing 6-wheel Wagons to determine the additional modifications required.

 

The required changes included new 2-plank sides, without drop flaps. Because of the simplicity of the new sides, I decided that it was easier to create new sides than to remove the details of the doors from the existing model. In fact, when I created my previous variants, I sometimes felt it might have been easier to re-start some parts from scratch, rather modifying the old parts, which was often a very fiddly task.

 

Other parts, including the end flaps and strouters could be re-used without modifications but the top rails along the side were now metal bars, for adding strength to the sides.

 

Modified features in Coke Wagon

 

There were some subtle changes to the chassis. The springs were now longer, still underslung, but mounted on bearings placed 3’ 6” apart under the frames (rather than 3’ 0” as previously).

 

I created one new axle box and spring assembly and then copied this for all 6 wheels.

 

The floor planking continued to run lengthwise and was laid over the headstocks and intermediate transverse bearers, which were higher than the tops of the Solebars, leaving a visible 3” gap underneath the floor, when viewed from the sides. This feature is shown clearly in Alan Prior’s book.. In addition, the Solebars were extended at both ends, so these could ultimately act as dumb buffers on tight curves.

 

With these modifications applied, my 3D model, rendered in ‘Fusion 360’ is shown below:

 

My 3D Model of 1840 Broad Gauge Coke Wagon

 

Coal Wagon 1842

 

These wagons are not mentioned in Whishaw’s account dated 1842 and probably came too late for inclusion there. The possibility of taking coal traffic in competition with the Kennet & Avon Canal presumably occurred to the Directors after the main line was completed between London and Bristol, with its proximity to the Somerset coalfield.

 

According to Eddy Brown’s BGS Data Sheet 412, the evidence for existence of these wagons, specifically intended for carriage of domestic coal, comes from the 1842 Truck list, where one such vehicle has the description ‘Coal‘ and 9 others share similar Tare weights. There is also an 1840s drawing with the hand-written annotation ‘Coal Wg’

 

The annotated drawing indicates a three-plank structure with sides supported by strouters and drop flaps at both sides and ends. Additional strengthening plates were shown over the axleguards, outwardly offset to disperse the greatest stress. As in the case of the coke wagons, described above, there was a clear space between the underside of the floor and the tops of the solebars.

 

These coal wagons display most of the features included in the other ‘revised’ wagons, which were produced to meet the overall requirement for 250 wagons in time for the opening of the complete line between London and Bristol.

 

My model is closely based on my Standard Box wagon. Because I had kept the various components as separate bodies within ‘Fusion 360’, it was easy to delete the original wheels and axle guards and replace them with the newer type, which I had already designed for the Coke Wagon, described above. I made a new top rail to encircle the whole body, above the sides and ends. In the prototype this rail was split into removable sections to facilitate loading and unloading.

 

Following all these minor adjustments, my model of an 1842 coal wagon appeared as shown below:

 

My 3D Model of 1842 Broad Gauge Coal Wagon

 

For anyone interested in the onward development of Broad Gauge wagons, I have previously modelled another Coal Wagon, dating from the 1850s, described in an earlier post

 

My 3D Model of 1853 Broad Gauge 12T Coal Wagon
(iron frame, springs behind W-irons, brakes, & sprung buffers)

 

Summary

 

Over the course of three posts, I have described the creation of nine 3D models of Broad Gauge goods wagons dating from the earliest days of the GWR. Strictly, the Horse Box belongs to Passenger traffic since, at that time, horses were often transported along with the carriages owned by passengers. It seems, however, that some of these horse boxes were converted to Fish Trucks and appear as such in the July 1842 Goods Truck List. Conversely, some of the early goods wagons were used for the carriage of passengers, until the Government intervened and insisted on minimum standards for 3rd class passengers.

 

The various wagon designs can be traced to three basic types – small box, large box, and 6-wheel box. My modelling has been an exercise in adapting models for different applications, which mirrors the procedures actually used for their prototypes. There are several cases where the amendments required for a new version were simply added to existing drawings.

 

The complete ‘family’ of my 3D models, produced in this series, is shown below. Continuing my musical analogy with Trio Movements, I could describe these as ‘Variations on a Theme’:

 

 

 

Mike