Ridge-roofed Covered Wagons (NWNG)
Ridge-roofed covered wagons of the NWNGR.
Early photographs[1] [2] show at least two wagons of an unusual type. They are about the size of the later Large Open Wagons, having sides 6 planks high (size of planks not known) but have ridged roofs, the ends being one-and-a half planks higher at the centre. There are doors in the centre of one side and a brake lever on the other side. Most unusually for NWNG wagons, they have chopper couplers like those on the locos and coaches, implying that they were intended for regular use in passenger trains. Their purpose is anyone's guess. Being lower than a van, they would have been awkward to use for passengers' luggage or similar traffic. However this may have been their function as the passenger brake vans, both the Ashbury and Gloucester types, only had very small guard's compartments, so maybe these wagons were used for parcels and small goods traffic, passengers' luggage etc. The later Pickering brake compos did have larger luggage compartments, which may have meant that these wagons were no longer needed for this purpose.
A recent discussion on the Welsh Highland forum[3] commented on a photo of South Snowdon in 1893/4. There is a train consisting of a Vulcan Fairlie, a ridge-roof wagon, three large opens and an Ashbury brake compo. Although a long shot, it can be seen that the ridge and the large opens are almost exactly the same size in length and height of side.
In WHR days almost all other NWNG wagons (where the ends are visible in photos) including vans and large opens had a simple curved metal strip as a buffer, with hook and link below, as on FR iron slate wagons. The exceptions were the above, and the NWNG all-metal slate wagons, which had a square metal buffer, probably sprung. However, in 1890, according to Boyd [4] the NWNGR reported to the House of Commons that of its 120 wagons 105 were coupled by hook and link and 15 by hooks with eccentric and ball-weight (ie chopper type). These 15 may be the ridge-roofs and the large opens, to facilitate the sort of train mentioned above, though that seems to imply that they were later converted to hook-and-link.
The ridge roofs do not appear in photos of WHR days. Maybe they were converted into the two vans with corrugated roofs seen in WHR photos?
[edit] References
- ^ Prideaux, J.D.C.A., The Welsh Narrow Gauge Railway, David & Charles, 1976, ISBN 0 7153 7184 3 p31. (this photo also appears in Boyd but has been cropped, the whole wagon can be seen in Prideaux)
- ^ Johnson, Peter. An Illustrated History of the Welsh Highland Railway. Hersham: Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 0-860935-65-5. OCLC 59498388. p6
- ^ http://welshhighland.freeforums.org/a-postcard-reveals-almost-all-t1416.html
- ^ 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)" p224
