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© ForgottenRelics
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IN ORDER to
understand the rolling stock used by the Stainmore railway it helps to know a
little of the origins of the route.
The
Industrial revolution was powered by steam, fuelled by coal and built of iron. The need to supply these heavy minerals to the
burgeoning industrial areas could not be met by the roads and transport
available at the time, hence the investment in railways, ideal for bulky heavy
traffic, to fulfil the need.
Initial
growth in iron production was adjacent to the ore supplies and saw the
development of large iron making complexes in both the North East of England
and West Cumberland. The need to transfer minerals across country to feed these
industrial complexes was instrumental in the demand for a Trans-Pennine
railway, but was further enhanced by a quirk of geology.
The iron
ores quarried/mined in West Cumberland were much lower in phosphorus content
than those of Durham/North Yorkshire, which has a significant impact on the
quality of steel that is produced.
In 1856 the
production of steel was vastly enhanced by the development of the Bessemer
Furnace, the first of which was installed in Workington and this, combined with
the quality of the iron ore, meant the Cumberland Ironmasters had a huge demand
for coal and coke to fuel their furnaces.
Consequently,
it was a win win situation with coal and coke shipping East to West and quality
iron ore West to East, a route over the Pennines was inevitable. Construction
started in 1857 and the line opened for mineral traffic in 1861.
The NER was
the principle operating company associated with the mineral traffic over
Stainmore and were to develop a number of suitable wagons over the years, but the final format
was the P7, which were produced in huge quantities (by the time of the 1923
grouping there were over 17,000 of the NER wagons in use).
Construction
started in 1903 and, as was often the case, the design evolved over time. The
above picture is typical of the early construction with brake levers at both
ends but brake pads only to one side. Note the extended end posts which acted
as dumb buffers when the wagons were shunted with Chaldron wagons.
The NER
undertook a number of experiments with these vehicles to attempt to reduce
rolling resistance including the provision of a second outside set of W irons to add stiffening to the axles. A
further variant, saw an anti-friction bearing added. This was a wheel
that ran on the top of the axle and the idea was that as it rotated less, there
would be less friction. The introduction of an open bearing surface
that would instantly get contaminated with coal and dust would actually have the
exact opposite impact and these were no
longer seen by the grouping era.
Following
grouping many of these wagons passed into LNER hands, who quickly decided to chop off the extensions
and this version is the first mineral wagon created for the route.
The other
major variation to the P7 was the provision of brake handles to the side,
rather than the end and this is the second variant modelled for the route.
The LNER
were obviously happy with this design as they went on to produce over 7000
wagons to an almost identical pattern, the principle difference being the use
of T-section iron end posts in place of
the wooden ones seen in the NER versions. These wagons were to continue in
service for a long time, some were still in use in the 1960's, many finding
work as internal user wagons in NCB coal yards long after retirement from main
line use.
This was the
third variant modelled for the route, shown here in Workington Iron & Steel
Co. livery. Note that, as can be glimpsed in this picture, all these wagon
models can be selected as either unloaded or with a coal load.
It is of
interest to note that the NER discouraged the use of Private Owner wagons, preferring to lease out its
own high capacity hopper wagons at competitive rates, in the interests of
standardisation, rather than allowing PO
versions, However, any that can be identified may be included with the route.
The final
variant is a low poly version of the LNER wagon for populating sidings.
The Railway
Clearing House (RCH) was an organisation supported by all Britain's railway
companies. Its main function was to apportion income for journeys that crossed
company boundaries, but it also had the role of developing standard patterns
for wagons, which could be built by any railway company or private owner in the
knowledge that they would be accepted anywhere.
In 1907 the
Railway Clearing House (RCH) prepared a set of regulations for the construction
of 8,10 & 12 ton wagons, however after about 1910 the 12 ton wagons became
more popular and by 1923 a new RCH specification was released, a rugged and
simple design employing standard RCH fittings throughout, which included oil
axleboxes, brake shoe that could be fitted universally and coil sprung buffers.
Originally they had to be built with seven side planks, making an overall body
height of 4' 4", although an 8 plank variant was later permitted, plus various
configurations of side doors, end door and bottom doors, however, the weight of
the unladen wagon was not to be above 7 tons 5 cwt. It became the most numerous
design of coal wagon built in the UK.
The 1923 RCH
standard was used not only for private owner wagon construction, but also
readily adopted by the L.M.S. and L.N.E.R. In fact the L.M.S. constructed more
that 30,000 wagons to the standard 7-plank design many wagons lasting well into
the 1960’s.
Whilst
typically used to transport coal for domestic and boiler use rather than
steelworks, they undoubtedly played a significant part in the Stainmore mineral
traffic.
An LNER
version has been modelled for the route, other liveries may be included, along
with low poly versions.
Because coal
has a density, when in lumps, of about
1100kg/cu metre, compared to 550-65kg/cu metre for coke, the carrying ability
of these wagons was under resourced when used for coke, therefore, there was a
need to enhance the volumetric capacity. This was achieved by raising the
overall height of the wagon with additional planks known as "raves". An example
of this is included with the route.
In view of
the extensive use of hopper wagons for the conveyance of coal, in 1936 the LNER
released diag 100, a design for an all steel riveted construction 20 ton hopper
wagon. They would later be upgraded to 21 ton capacity.
This was to
be nearly as successful as its NER predecessor with over 13,000 built prior to
Nationalisation. Following nationalisation the 21ton steel-bodied coal hopper
was the standard BR coal hopper until the advent of air-braked types in the
1960s and 1970s. The first three lots built for BR comprised a total of 1200
wagons to diagram 1/141, built in 1949 the design was identical to the
LNER-built wagons and even featured the distinctive straight brake levers. Over
23,000 wagons were built, making them one of the most numerous types on BR. The LNER version has been modeled for the route.
In
many pictures these wagons have plates riveted to the side of the hopper body,
but, as they aren't shown in Peter Taplow's famous book, nor did they appear
consistent with the construction of the wagon, they were omitted from the
model. Examples
of the plates can be seen in this welded version hopper at the NYMR.
I
have since established that these are "Rap" plates. They were strong
points on the hopper so it could be hit (rapped) with a sledge hammer to
dislodge wet or frozen coal that had become stuck in the wagon! Never
too old to learn. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RAVENSTONEDALE STATION served the village of Newbiggin on Lune, and
indeed was so named until 1877, renamed presumably to avoid confusion
with Newbiggin by the Sea in Northumberland. Ravenstonedale itself is a
valley some two miles toward Kirkby Stephen, so query whether the
overall level of understanding was improved!
Passenger traffic was light - the typical working was a solitary coach
hauled by a J21 or an Ivatt / Standard Class 2 from Tebay to connect
with the Darlington - Penrith service at Kirkby Stephen. 
