Cleminson Coal Wagon (NWNG)
This wagon was drawn by the Metropolitan Railway Carriage & Wagon Co, in 1878, and so was probably built by them (but not necessarily, it seems that the original brake-composite carriages for the NWNGR, drawn by Brown Marshalls in 1872, are now believed to have been built by Ashbury in 1877). The drawing was reproduced in Boyd[1] and the wagon differed from the FR Cleminson wagon in that it had wooden underframe and sides. It was intended for coal traffic.
It can be seen in a photo taken at Rhyd-ddu (South Snowdon) in 1893-4 and discussed on the welshhighland Forum.
There is a photograph of a demolition train at Glanrafon in 1941 showing a large flat wagon. This has a heavy wooden underframe, set low, with the running gear invisible behind. It is loaded with sleepers, known to be 4' long and 9" wide. They cannot be counted exactly but the approximate number gives about 17-18 ft long, which, allowing for gaps between them, is close to the 18'4" body length shown on the drawing. This could be the remains of the Cleminson minus sides and ends. In 1972 Boyd[2] thought the wagon in this picture was a WD wagon, which it clearly is not. In 1989[3] he thought it was a bogie coach frame, but from the estimation above it appears too short for the 25' of the Ashbury brake-compos, the shortest of the coaches. One of these was indeed used as a timber flat (see WHR Carriages (Pre Preservation)), and could well be the long wagon in this shot - note the timber sideframes seem higher yet shallower than the wagon in the Glanrafon shot. The bogies are visible but the angle is too acute to estimate the length.
The Cleminson wagon did not survive the 1941 scrap drive. It is not known if any more than one were built.
[edit] References
- ^ Boyd, James I.C.. Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire. Lingfield, Surrey, England: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 9780853611158. OCLC 707587. "(Later editions split into 2 volumes)" 1972 edition, p212
- ^ Boyd, James I.C.. Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire. Lingfield, Surrey, England: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 9780853611158. OCLC 707587. "(Later editions split into 2 volumes)" 1972 edition, after p320, picture 31
- ^ Boyd, James I.C.. Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire, Vol. 2, The Welsh Highland Railway. Blandford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-383-4. after p102, picture 2
