Eloped PO Colliery Wagons

[Dazzler Fan]

+

 

Often PO wagons would go missing, co-opted by other operators.

A well document example are the GWR Sheet Rail wagons found so

useful by other Companies that the GWR dispensed with the rail to

stop them from eloping.

 

Of the various private North Somerset Coal Mines, was there much

of a named collieries wagons getting lost amongst those of other

collieries fleet?

 

Noel

 

[bécasse]

Private owner wagons didn't get "borrowed", they were used solely for the traffic for which they were intended and returned empty once unloaded. Their only "side" trips would have been to wagon repairers. The Railway Clearing House employed checkers to check and record the movement of wagons.

 

This, of course, changed when a pool was compulsorily established in WWII in an effort to maximise the use of the national wagon fleet while minimising the number of train-miles operated. Once pooled, wagons of individual private owners could be seen anywhere where wagons suitable for the traffic concerned (and occasionally unsuitable) were required. The pool was retained after the end of the war and pooled PO wagons were compulsorily nationalised in 1948, acquiring P------- painted numbers in due course.

 

Prior to WWII, at any given colliery it would be possible to see PO wagons belonging to the colliery concerned, PLUS (possibly) wagons owned by that colliery's owners but carrying the livery of another of that owner's collieries, PLUS wagons owned by customers, large (e.g. gas companies) and small (e.g. coal merchants), PLUS wagons owned by coal factors and the like (e.g. SC = Stephenson Clarke), PLUS (sometimes) wagons owned by certain railway companies (the Midland and the NER, for example, long encouraged collieries to use their wagons rather than have their own).

 

This is intended as a quick summary of the situation.

[Dazzler Fan]

*

Thank you.

 

For a number of years I have collected PO Open Wagons of the Southwest

and was finally drawn to Writhlington as a good site with the sidings to display

them in use.

With the current prices from Rails etc., a siding now holds a small fortune with

two and three copies of some being classified as rare.

 

Rakes are made up for the possible traffic North, South, on SDJR and

transfers to GWR.

 

Noel

[wagonman]

Bear in mind that wagons from Somerset collieries didn't travel all that far. The coalfield had established markets to the east from canal days, plus south and west but not much to the north beyond the old GW main line. The pits were generally small and expensive to work so could not easily compete with coal from the Midlands and even the Forest of Dean. In the far south west, of course, most of the coal came by sea.

[JZ]

They didn't travel far for repair either, with Marcoft, on the GWR, and British Wagon Co, on the S&D, both in Radstock.

[Dazzler Fan]

Bear in mind that wagons from Somerset collieries didn't travel all that far.............................. but not much to the north beyond the old GW main line. 

 

In research of Writhlington I read somewhere that Portishead Power Station

was the main customer in latter days.

 

Noel

[Fat Controller]

In research of Writhlington I read somewhere that Portishead Power Station

was the main customer in latter days.

 

Noel

Post-Nationalisation, very much in latter days- Portishead B wasn't opened until 1949. 

[RailWest]

I once travelled in a "brake-van special party" on one of the coal trains from Writhlington to Portishead via Westbury and Bath.

 

Naturally, we all crowded on the front verandah of the brake-van at the rear of the train to get the best pictures. Fine on the outward journey from Westbury to Radstock (South) yard with the empties. BIG mistake on the return journey - once the train got moving at a reasonable speed all the coal dust blew straight in our faces and we rapidly retreated inside the van!  Rather surreal 'gliding' through Bath on the rear verandah admiring the view, to the bemusement of passengers waiting on the platforms :-) But it would be nice to be able to do it again.....