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IAN POPE

ON THE

PRIVATE OWNER COAL WAGONS

BUILT BY THE

GLOUCESTER

RAILWAY CARRIAGE AND WAGON COMPANY

  
     
  I am particularly pleased to be able to present this feature based on the archives and words of leading private owner coal wagon authority Ian Pope, whose books - along with those of fellow historian Keith Turton - published by Lightmoor Press have done so much to expand the horizons of railway modellers, historians and general enthusiasts.

What is not so well known is Ian's prowess as a 7mm scale modeller. Click here for details

  
     
  In each case, the official monochrome Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company photographs below can be clicked to link to my own critique of the ready to run models that have been produced to represent the appropriate prototypes.  
     
  Elders was a colliery owner intent on supplying its own ships ona regular line service to the Canary Islands and the British colonies on the west coast of Africa, bringing mostly palm oil - for the soapmaking and food trade - and fruit back to the British isles, with general cargo in the opposite direction. The Elder Dempster Steam Navigation Company was established in 1852 and following the acquisition of the competing Palm Line and other smaller concerns, eventually owned a fleet of 105 ships. The company fell on hard times in the 1920s and eventually folded up. from the ruins a new company was formed in 1932, which traded for many years until the advent of containerisation of cargoes which changed the face of the industry forever, including the disappearance of many of the great names of shipping companies which had become household words throughout the World.  
     
  Keith Turton's book "Private Owner Wagons: A Second Collection" ( published by The Lightmoor Press ) offers the following insight into Elders Navigation Collieries Ltd:

Elders was a colliery owner intent on supplying its own ships on a regular line service to the Canary Islands and the British colonies on the west coast of Africa, bringing mostly palm oil - for the soapmaking and food trade - and fruit back to the British isles, with general cargo in the opposite direction.

The Elder Dempster Steam Navigation Company was established in 1852 and following the acquisition of the competing Palm Line and other smaller concerns, eventually owned a fleet of 105 ships. The company fell on hard times in the 1920s and eventually folded up. From the ruins a new company was formed in 1932, which traded for many years until the advent of containerisation of cargoes which changed the face of the industry forever: including the disappearance of many of the great names of shipping companies which had become household words throughout the World.

Despite this, the 1970 edition of the Observer's Book of Ships still lists Elder Dempster Lines Ltd as trading out of the Port of Liverpool and its yellow funnelled ships as bearing African place names. It also reveals trade routes for the company as being from the USA, Canada and India to West Africa.

The Elder Dempster company eventually became part of the Ocean Transport and Trading group, into which had been merged many familiar names in the industry, including Wm Cory & Sons, one of the biggest in the coal shipping, trading, bunkering and transporting business. Cory Bros. (a different Cory) were also the sales agents for Elders Navigation Collieries, and that Elders coal was sold on the open market in Southampton is an indication that the steamship company did not use all of it.

Elders Navigation Collieries Limited were the owners of the Oakwood Colliery, a short distance south of Maesteg on the Great Western Railway branch from Tondu to Maesteg and the Llynfi Valley. Oakwood was purchased by the company circa 1900, and then passed on to the Celtic Oakwood Collieries Company shortly before it was worked out roughly 25 years later. it is impossible to prove that the wagons owned by and lettered "CELTIC" were acquired at the same time, but Celtic wagons were certainly around in the late 1920s. At around the same time the company also owned another colliery, Garth Merthyr, near Garth on the Port Talbot Railway, which was a convenient location as this railway was owned by the same interests as the docks in Port Talbot. This also ended up in the ownership of Celtic Collieries Limited.

That the Elders company decided to retire from the colliery business in the 1920s is concurrent with the more general introduction of liquid fuel: in 1925 they had a known contract for the purchase of fuel oil which was an indication of the change in fuels which indirectly was responsible for the decline in both the production and sale of the high quality steam coal for which South Wales was famous.

The Elders company purchased new wagons from both Hurst Nelson and the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company and also purchased Yorkshire coal from Bullcroft Main. Welsh steam coal and anthracite was also sometimes sent to such east coast ports as Hull and Elder Dempster ships also called at Liverpool and Southampton

  
     
  Elder Dempster Line and its flag - with a golden crown superimposed on the Cross of St George - became so famous that both were immortalised by Bulleid "Merchant Navy" Pacific 35030 seen here about to leave Waterloo for Bournemouth in September 1964.  
     
  Elder Dempster Line and its flag - with a golden crown superimposed on the Cross of St George - became so famous that both were immortalised by Bulleid "Merchant Navy" Pacific 35030 seen here about to leave Waterloo for Bournemouth in September 1964. Click on picture for more on the development of steam locomotives  
     
  The registered office of George & Matthews moved several times, starting out in Bilston Road and later in Queen Street, Walsall Road, Wolverhampton. The comany was restructured in 1924 after which the address was Metropolitan Chambers, Litchfield Street, Wolverhampton. George & Matthews were a medium sized coal merchant who held a number of industrial accounts as well as supplying house coal. Wagon 5 was photographed in October 1908 when the company purchased two wagons. This was their only dealing with the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company. The wagon was painted purple brown with white lettering, shaded black. More information about George & Matthews will be appearing in the next volume of Private Owner Wagons from the Lightmoor Press.  
     
  The registered office of George & Matthews moved several times, starting out in Bilston Road and later Queen Street, Walsall Road, Wolverhampton. The company was restructured in 1924 after which the address was Metropolitan Chambers, Litchfield Street, Wolverhampton. George & Matthews were a medium sized coal merchant who held a number of industrialaccounts as well as supplying house coal. Wagon 5 was photographed in October 1908 when the company purchased two wagons. This was their only dealing with the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company. The wagon was painted purple brown with white lettering, shaded black. More information about George & Matthews will be appearing in the next volume of Private Owner Wagons from the Lightmoor Press.  
     
   
     
  The gas works were located at Hemsted to the south west of the city and alongside the Gloucester & Sharpness ship canal by which all coal was originally delivered. Most of this would have come from the Midlands via the canal system and the River Severn. Later the works were served by their own siding off the Midland Railway's new Hempsted Branch. The company offices were in Eastgate Street.

As is typical of gas works serving a town the size of Gloucester, gas coal was supplied under contract and the annual average consumption between 1920 and 1940 was 24 000 tons ayear whilst 34 815 tons of coal were carbonised in 1938. Most of the coal was transported by the Midland Railway, and later the LMS, from collieries in the Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire coalfields. These included Wath Main, Wombwell Main, Wharncliffe, Thorncliffe, Mitchells Main, Tankersley, Elsecar and Barnsley Main.

Occasionally coal was purchased elsewhere including the Forest of Dean and Somerset. Like many other gas works of similar size, most coal was purchased through coal factors such as Evesons, Wilson, Carter and Pearson, Renwick, Wilton & Dobson and J.C. Abbott, with the business being spread between several suppliers. The contracts specified that a reduction in price of two shillings a ton would be granted if the gas company sent their own wagons.

The first reference to a wagon that can be found is in the Gloucester RCW books in February 1900 when a repairing contract was signed for a period of 7 years and 16 days on thirteen 10-ton wagons. The origins of these wagons are, at present, unknown. The contract was renewed in 1907 for a further seven years and again in 1914.

Between December 1905 and April 1908 ten secondhand 10-ton wagons were hired from Gloucester RCW each year. They were taken on simple hire for six months (from December 1905) four months (from December 1906) and five months (from November 1907) With the hire period coinciding with the winter months it is likely that they were either used to bring in extra coal supplies or that they were to take away the build up of coke from the works. A gas works had to operate continuously and removal of the by products was always a problem. The tar from the Gloucester works was probably removed by canal.

A change came in 1909 when 5 10-ton wagons were hired for one year in August followed by a hire of twenty new wagons for one year in July 1910. It appears that wagon 35 was part of this order. it could be that the two hires were later amalgamated as in March 1912 comes a hire for 25 second hand 10-ton wagons for a one year period and this hire recurs until June 1917 when the 25 wagons were taken on hire for a five year period.

In 1923 it is possible that the hired wagons had been returned to Gloucester RCW as there are no further mentions of them but in January of that year ten 12-ton wagons were purchased new for cash at a cost of £ 135 / 10 shillings each. Number 51 - as seen in Gloucester RCW Official Photograph 4881 - modelled ready to run by Airfix - is from that order, number 4881.

1924 saw twenty 12-ton wagons - fleet numbers 18-37 - obtained from Gloucester RCW at a cost of £ 163 each. In September 1932 a single 12 ton wagon was bought for cash and the final entry in the Gloucester RCW books is for the hire for five years of one 12 ton wagon from March 1936. The Gloucester Gas Light Company probably lost its wagons under pooling in 1939 prior to the double hit of the nationalisation of both the gas and rail industries.

  
     
  The Great Western Railwaymen's Coal Association. Photographed in March 1903 when a single wagon was purchased. By 1932 the Association had a fleet of four wagons but only this example was supplied by Gloucester. Painted lead, lettered white, shaded black  
     
  The Great Western Railwaymen's Coal Association. Photographed in March 1903 when a single wagon was purchased. By 1932 the Association had a fleet of four wagons but only this example was supplied by Gloucester. Painted lead, lettered white, shaded black  
     
  Osborne & Son appear to be a small coal merchant based in the East End of London, with their depot at West Ham South on the former Great Eastern branch from Stratford to Silvertown, which incorporated several industrial and dock railways.  
     
  Keith Turton's book "Private Owner Wagons: A Second Collection" ( published by The Lightmoor Press ) offers the following insight into Osborne & Son:

Osborne & Son appear to be a small coal merchant based in the East End of London, with their depot at West Ham South on the former Great Eastern branch from Stratford to Silvertown, which incorporated several industrial and dock railways.

In 1930 the company ordered two 12 ton side door wagons from the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company with the unusual body colour of Sheffield Green. This appears to be unique among railway wagon liveries and appears to be a lighter shade than Emerald Green. Sheffield Green was revived by the Ford Motor Company as a standard colour for their 1966 to 1968 models and its nearest modern match is Dupont 8268L 98256.

Other wagons for Osborne and Son came from W.R. Davies in October 1930 (Fleet numbers 7 and 8) and Roberts in October 1937 (Numbers 1-6 ). However, Gloucester RCW also supplied fleet numbers 11 and 12 in July 1942. These had similar markings to 9 and 10 but were end and side door wagons equipped with disc wheels and finished in grey with black vertical ironmongery as befitted wartime conditions.

Coal would have most likely arrived from Doncaster or Mansfield via Whitemoor Yard.

  
     
  A. J. Salter, of London, fleet number 202 was photographed in February 1937, painted red, lettered white, and shaded black. Small lettering on solebar reads 'For repairs advise A. J. Salter & Co. Ltd 8 Cambridge Street, St. Pancras, London NW1'. The Cambridge Street address was the registered office of the business. The business continued through the Second World War with some further wagons being taken from Gloucester RCW in 1943. A. J. Salter had also taken eight 12-ton wagons from Gloucester in December 1932. However, no trace of the 1937 order can be found and the LNER wagon register puts wagons numbered 202 to 240 (even numbers only) down as having been built by Wm Rigley of Bulwell Forest, thus this wagon remains a bit of a mystery.  
     
  A. J. Salter, of London, fleet number 202 was photographed in February 1937, painted red, lettered white, and shaded black. Small lettering on solebar reads 'For repairs advise A. J. Salter & Co. Ltd 8 Cambridge Street, St. Pancras, London NW1'. The Cambridge Street address was the registered office of the business. The business continued through the Second World War with some further wagons being taken from Gloucester RCW in 1943. A. J. Salter had also taken eight 12-ton wagons from Gloucester in December 1932. However, no trace of the 1937 order can be found and the LNER wagon register puts wagons numbered 202 to 240 (even numbers only) down as having been built by Wm Rigley of Bulwell Forest, thus this wagon remains a bit of a mystery.  
     
  A major problem with the Bachmann model of wagon 901 of The South Wales & Cannock Chase Coal & Coke Co. Ltd is that it is the wrong colour! It also should not have coke rails.Details of the wagon can be found on page 88 of Keith Turton's book "Private Owner Wagons : A Third Collection." published by the Lightmoor Press. The Gloucester RCW description board clearly states that the wagon was painted 'Lead' colour. Lead is well known to mean grey, Bachmann interpreted it as meaning red lead.  
     
  A major problem with the Bachmann model of wagon 901 of The South Wales & Cannock Chase Coal & Coke Co. Ltd is that it is the wrong colour! It also should not have coke rails.Details of the wagon can be found on page 88 of Keith Turton's book "Private Owner Wagons : A Third Collection." published by the Lightmoor Press. The Gloucester RCW description board clearly states that the wagon was painted 'Lead' colour. Lead is well known to mean grey, Bachmann interpreted it as meaning red lead.  
     
  Spencer, of St Paul's Halifax, fleet number 24 was photographed in September 1936 and painted red, lettered white and shaded black. From the Gloucester RCW order book one has to assume that it is William Spencer who ordered three 12-ton wagons in July 1936. William Spencer had wagons as early as 1892. The wagons from Gloucester were numbered 24-26 and were registered with the LMS. Spencer was still trading in 1938 at 245, King's Cross, Halifax.  
     
  Spencer, of St Paul's Halifax, fleet number 24 was photographed in September 1936 and painted red, lettered white and shaded black. From the Gloucester RCW order book one has to assume that it is William Spencer who ordered three 12-ton wagons in July 1936. William Spencer had wagons as early as 1892. The wagons from Gloucester were numbered 24-26 and were registered with the LMS. Spencer was still trading in 1938 at 245, King's Cross, Halifax.  
     
  Another with a major problem, i.e. the wrong colour body. Wagon 1 should be light grey 'light lead' colour, not red. Lettering was white and shading dark blue. Ironwork assumed to be black. Wagon photographed in January 1898 when Harry Syrus purchased two new wagons. He purchased a further three wagons in September 1900  
     
  Another with a major problem, i.e. the wrong colour body. Wagon 1 should be light grey 'light lead' colour, not red. Lettering was white and shading dark blue. Ironwork assumed to be black. Wagon photographed in January 1898 when Harry Syrus purchased two new wagons. He purchased a further three wagons in September 1900  
     
  Wimberry Colliery was formed in 1891 to take on the workings of Messrs Trotter, Thomas & Co begun in 1867 but surrendered back to the Crown in 1890. By April 1900 however the limits of coal working had been reached, and Wimberry became part of Cannop Colliery after 1904.  
     
  Wimberry Colliery was formed in 1891 to take on the workings of Messrs Trotter, Thomas & Co begun in 1867 but surrendered back to the Crown in 1890. By April 1900 however the limits of coal working had been reached, and Wimberry became part of Cannop Colliery after 1904.

Although Thomas, Trotter & Co had operated wagons from the Cheltenham & Swansea Wagon Company, the first known Wimberry Colliery wagons - six second hand ten tonners - were leased by GRCW for a period of 14 months in August 1894. After the purchase of the batch of new wagons in 1896, June 1897 saw a further twelve ten ton second hand wagons let to Wimberry Collliery by Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company on deferred purchase over seven years. Similar arrangements were made for further batches of second hand wagons throughout the 1890s but no more brand new vehicles were purchased.

Click here for more details of Ian Pope's 7mm scale model