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GLOUCESTER RAILWAY CARRIAGE AND WAGON COMPANY PRIVATE OWNER COAL WAGONS

  
     
 

PART ONE : INTRODUCTION, AIRFIX AND BACHMANN MODELS

  
     
 

PART TWO: DAPOL & GRAFAR MODELS

  
     
 

PART THREE : HORNBY MODELS

  
     
 

PART FOUR : ROBBIE'S ROLLING STOCK

  
     
  GLOUCESTER RCW PRIVATE OWNER WAGON CHRONOLOGY  
     
 

NOTES

ANTICS SE = ANTICS SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION

GLOS.W.R. SE = GLOUCESTERSHIRE & WARWICKSHIRE RAILWAY SPECIAL EDITION

PL = PLATE REFERENCE IN KEITH MONTAGUE’S BOOK " PRIVATE OWNER WAGONS FROM THE GLOUCESTER RAILWAY CARRIAGE AND WAGON COMPANY LTD" OXFORD PUBLISHING COMPANY 1981 SBN 86093 124 2

POPE = PAGE REFERENCE FROM IAN POPE'S BOOK " PRIVATE OWNER WAGONS IN THE FOREST OF DEAN" LIGHTMOOR PRESS 2002 ISBN 1 899889 09 4

POPE G = PAGE REFERENCE FROM IAN POPE'S BOOK " PRIVATE OWNER WAGONS OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE" LIGHTMOOR PRESS 2006 ISBN 1 899889 23 X

G = MODEL WAGON FITTED WITH GRCW "G" PLATES

OWNER

FLEET NO

TARE

LOAD

DATE

DATA SOURCE

FIDELITY TO SOURCE MATERIAL

DAPOL

METAL OPEN WAGONS SIDE DOORS AND ONE END DOOR
Dapol reference B685. Although lettered for Gloucester Corporation Electricity Department, wagon 3 was one of four all-steel high capacity vehicles ordered in 1942 to serve the newly constructed electricity generating plant on Castle Meads by Messrs Kennedy and Donkin Ltd of Weybridge. And the plot thickens when the Dapol model is compared to the official Gloucester RCW photograph of fleetmate number 4! As outshopped from Bristol Road in December 1942, this vehicle - with a tare given as 10-19-0 and white wall tyres - seems to be a shade of grey so dark that the body barely contrasts with the solebar and although the four side doors with double door stop springs seem correct both the ends were plain with two vertical stanchions. The Dapol model, however, features a tipping door reminiscent of the later BR standard 16 ton mineral wagon nearest to the tare markings. In fact the GRCW data board specifically mentions "Width over stanchions 8' 8" and the photograph also shows that the Gloucester Corporation wagons were fitted with handle-like metal stanchions - each secured to the extreme ends of the bodysides at four points. It is highly likely that these were used to connect with a rotary tippler in the new power station, which was linked to the coalfields of the Forest of Dean via the GWR's Dock Branch from Over. Another aspect of the GRCW photograph not replicated on the model - which seems to be based on a GWR locomotive coal wagon - is a set of eleven sections of rail attached across the full width of the open top both to strengthen the whole structure and stop large foreign bodies entering the coal supply. However, the legend "Empty to Northern United Colliery sidings" - although not appearing in the original 1942 photograph - does appear both on the model and in images dating from 1948, along with a new lower tare weight.
GLOUCESTER CORPORATION

3

8-3-5

20T

1942

POPE G

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
Dapol reference B685. Although lettered for Gloucester Corporation Electricity Department, wagon 3 was one of four all-steel high capacity vehicles ordered in 1942 to serve the newly constructed electricity generating plant on Castle Meads by Messrs Kennedy and Donkin Ltd of Weybridge. And the plot thickens when the Dapol model is compared to the official Gloucester RCW photograph of fleetmate number 4! As outshopped from Bristol Road in December 1942, this vehicle - with a tare given as 10-19-0 and white wall tyres - seems to be a shade of grey so dark that the body barely contrasts with the solebar and although the four side doors with double door stop springs seem correct both the ends were plain with two vertical stanchions. The Dapol model, however, features a tipping door reminiscent of the later BR standard 16 ton mineral wagon nearest to the tare markings. In fact the GRCW data board specifically mentions "Width over stanchions 8' 8" and the photograph also shows that the Gloucester Corporation wagons were fitted with handle-like metal stanchions - each secured to the extreme ends of the bodysides at four points. It is highly likely that these were used to connect with a rotary tippler in the new power station, which was linked to the coalfields of the Forest of Dean via the GWR's Dock Branch from Over. Another aspect of the GRCW photograph not replicated on the model - which seems to be based on a GWR locomotive coal wagon - is a set of eleven sections of rail attached across the full width of the open top both to strengthen the whole structure and stop large foreign bodies entering the coal supply. However, the legend "Empty to Northern United Colliery sidings" - although not appearing in the original 1942 photograph - does appear both on the model and in images dating from 1948, along with a new lower tare weight.

9 PLANK OPEN WAGONS SIDE DOORS AND ONE END DOOR
Antics limited edition 6586208 bears a strong resemblence to a 20 ton RCH pattern wagon photographed by Gloucester RCW in August 1904 ready for an exhibition except with the tare and dimension data transposed. The model also has units of weight and dimension painted above the relevant figures 9 (T) 2 (C) 2 (Q) - tons, hundredweight, quarters ( 1 quarter = 2 stones ) and feet and inches ( 21' 0" 7' 6" 9' 2"). The real wagon also featured two G plates on the steel solebar under the centre section and white wall tyres. Click on picture for more about Gloucester RCW wagons for hire.

GLOUCESTER RCW

-

9-2-2

20T

1904

POPE G 36

MARKINGS ALMOST AS PER PLATE
Antics limited edition 6586208 bears a strong resemblence to a 20 ton RCH pattern wagon photographed by Gloucester RCW in August 1904 ready for an exhibition except with the tare and dimension data transposed. The model also has units of weight and dimension painted above the relevant figures 9 (T) 2 (C) 2 (Q) - tons, hundredweight, quarters ( 1 quarter = 2 stones ) and feet and inches ( 21' 0" 7' 6" 9' 2"). The real wagon also featured two G plates on the steel solebar under the centre section and white wall tyres. Click on picture for more about Gloucester RCW wagons for hire.

7 PLANK OPEN WAGONS SIDE DOORS AND ONE END DOOR
Asquith and Tompkins 21. Dapol reference B546.14’5" length, 7’ width, 4’ depth. Three G plates on the solebar ( ranged left from under the A in STRATFORD ) denoted a hired or deferred payment acquisition and a repair contract are depicted in PL12 but are not present on the model.
ASQUITH & TOMPKINS

21

6-7-0

10T

1904

PL12

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
Dapol reference B546.14’5" length, 7’ width, 4’ depth. Three G plates on the solebar ( ranged left from under the A in STRATFORD ) denoted a hired or deferred payment acquisition and a repair contract are depicted in PL12 but are not present on the model. Wide corner plates at each end depicted in PL12 may indicate a non end tipping wagon
Bute 115. Note how load and tare data are placed in opposition to to normal practice. Data on left reads "Empty to Bute Collieries, Cwmbach Sidings, Aberdare. 15'6" length, 7'4" width, 4' depth. Solebar G-plates should be present under the U and T in Bute and also just to the right of the lower end of the right hand diagonal side brace.

BUTE

115

6-9-1

12T

1907

PL84

AS PER PLATE ANTICS SE
Dapol / Antics reference ANT 008. Note how load and tare data are placed in opposition to to normal practice. Data on left reads "Empty to Bute Collieries, Cwmbach Sidings, Aberdare. 15'6" length, 7'4" width, 4' depth. According to Gloucester RCW Official Photograph 3381 of June 1907 solebar G-plates should be present under the U and T in Bute and also just to the right of the lower end of the right hand diagonal side brace. Prototype wagon also outshopped with white wall tyres.

The Marquis of Bute helped make Cardiff the rival of coal-exporting Newcastle in the middle of the Nineteenth Century. At the height of their busiest eras, Bute East and West Docks saw a coal wagon discharging into a ship’s hold every thirty seconds. The end door – faithfully modelled here with its commode style handles – was thus an essential design feature as laden trains from the mines up the valleys would "Cwmbach" time and again! In fact in 1900 the Great Western Railway introduced its own class of inside-framed 2-8-0s to haul heavy coal trains. They were known as "Aberdares"!

The ancestral home of the Roman Catholic Lords of Bute was Dumfries House near the village of Cumnock in the Scottish borders. This Palladian residence was designed by John, Robert and James Adams in the 1750s and contained arguably the World's largest collection of Thomas Chippendale furniture. Until 1999 the Crichton-Stuart family also owned the island of Great Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde and still own Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute itself.

Dumfries House was saved for the nation in 2012 after Prince Charles finished paying off a £ 45 million a loan taken out in 2007 to pay the Marquis of Bute.

The Seventh and current Marquis of Bute also has strong connections with transport through his motor racing career. Driving under the name of Johnny Dumfries, he graduated from mechanic to become British Formula 3 Champion in 1984. The qualified painter and decorator then spent the 1986 Formula 1 season as second driver to Ayrton Senna at Lotus and also won the Le Mans 24 hour race in 1988 for Jaguar.

Click on picture for more about Gloucestershire motor sport
Dapol reference B 638. Gloucester RCW Official Photograph 4903 of September 1933 shows a wooden underframed wagon with a G-plate solebar just to the left of the brake gear V-hanger, white wall tyres and the white letters CB over W three planks down on the end door. Otherwise Dapol have got the markings - very like those of the Lunt Brothers of Birmingham - spot on! The "small print" on the left reads "Phone 1830 Wallasey, Office 62 Seaview Road Wallasey, Empty to W.I. Craig and Sons, Chirk." The Craig family's Brynkinnalt Colliery was situated on the Great Western line between Wrexham and Shrewsbury while Wallasey is near Birkenhead but on the former Wirral Railway at the head of the Wirral Peninsula. Cains wagons were therefore likely to be seen in a limited area around Chester and Wrexham, despite the inclusion of Railway Clearing House Commuted Charge Scheme markings to the left of the running number.

CAINS OF WALLASEY

3

6-6-0

10T

1933

1 TURTON 42

MARKINGS ALMOST AS PER PLATE
Dapol reference B 638. Gloucester RCW Official Photograph 4903 of September 1933 shows a wooden underframed wagon with a G-plate solebar just to the left of the brake gear V-hanger, white wall tyres and the white letters CB over W three planks down on the end door. Otherwise Dapol have got the markings - very like those of the Lunt Brothers of Birmingham - spot on! The "small print" on the left reads "Phone 1830 Wallasey, Office 62 Seaview Road Wallasey, Empty to W.I. Craig and Sons, Chirk." The Craig family's Brynkinnalt Colliery was situated on the Great Western line between Wrexham and Shrewsbury while Wallasey is near Birkenhead but on the former Wirral Railway at the head of the Wirral Peninsula. Cains wagons were therefore likely to be seen in a limited area around Chester and Wrexham, despite the inclusion of Railway Clearing House Commuted Charge Scheme markings to the left of the running number.

The Cain Brothers of Wallasey fleet number 3 was in fact a refurbished rather than a brand new wagon and so - in the depths of the Depression following the 1929 Wall Street Crash - would have been sold for as little as £ 60.00 each as opposed to around £ 120.00 each for a new wagon. In contrast, during the boom years of the early 1920s,Walsall Corporation paid Stablefords of Coalville £ 225.00 apiece for a fleet of 25 new wagons!

The Cain Brothers were still in business in 1966 as coal merchants at both 471 Cleveland Street Birkenhead and 62 Seaview Road.
This wagon gives - along with Montague's Plate 103 depicting wagon 21 of the Devon based fleet - gives us some clues as the to the evolution of the firm. The red livery with white lettering shaded black is common to both vehicles but wagon 21 is a six plank wagon with side doors only rather than a seven plank wagon with side doors and tipping ends. However, both wagons have steel solebars even if 4 is modelled without 21's as-new white wall tyres and solebar G-plate under the tare data. The lettering on 21 also reads CARPENTER & SONS, MERCHANTS TIVERTON with NO 21 being placed centrally on the side door and DEVON appearing opposite the data panel which gives both load and tare weights. Could the differences in nomenclature indicate that more than one son was now involved in a business which had by 1900 spread beyond Devon? Wagon 21 had a 10 ton capacity, 6-2-1 tare and measured 15' 6" x 6' 11" x 3' 9".

CARPENTER & SON

4

6-2-1

10T

1900

PL103

21 SHOWN ON PLATE
Dapol reference B550. This wagon gives - along with Montague's Plate 103 depicting wagon 21 of the Devon based fleet - gives us some clues as the to the evolution of the firm. The red livery with white lettering shaded black is common to both vehicles but wagon 21 is a six plank wagon with side doors only rather than a seven plank wagon with side doors and tipping ends. However, both wagons have steel solebars even if 4 is modelled without 21's as-new white wall tyres and solebar G-plate under the tare data. The lettering on 21 also reads CARPENTER & SONS, MERCHANTS TIVERTON with NO 21 being placed centrally on the side door and DEVON appearing opposite the data panel which gives both load and tare weights. Could the differences in nomenclature indicate that more than one son was now involved in a business which had by 1900 spread beyond Devon? Wagon 21 had a 10 ton capacity, 6-2-1 tare and measured 15' 6" x 6' 11" x 3' 9".
Alexander Crane 102. Dapol / Antics reference ANT 006. Above the "Empty to" legend is the double C marking of the Railway Clearing House Commuted Charge scheme. This involved the owner’s payment of 1/- per wagon per year to avoid a 1/- shunting charge and a siding rent charge of 6d per wagon per day.

ALEXANDER CRANE

102

5-16-2

10T

1902

POPE 115

MARKINGS AS PLATE. ANTICS SE
Dapol / Antics reference ANT 006. However, the official Gloucester RCW photograph shows a side door only six plank wagon ( albeit with a very deep top plank ) built without diagonal side bracing and outshopped with white wall tyres. Also noticeable is the way in which the words ALEXANDER CRANE stretch from one corner plate to another and the bodyside G plate, Empty and Tare data all range left. Two further G-plates should also appear on the solebar under the letters G and L in GLOUCESTER.

Mystery surrounds Alexander Crane himself. Research has found that from 1910 to 1918 at least, Alexander Crane was based at 3 Whitfield Street, Gloucester. The 1910 Gloucester Directory mentions a coal yard on the railway side of Great Western Road while a half page advertisement was printed in the 1912 Gloucester Directory. A William George Crane was also listed as living at 32 London Road that year, although the 1920 Smarts Directory lists a Miss B. Crane as a coal merchant at 3 Whitfield Street, after which the firm is no longer mentioned until 1927! At the time, a new Eastgate Station was operating on the site of today’s Asda, a goods depot stood on the site of Metz Way and what is now the Bus Station was Gloucester’s Cattle Market.

Other fleet members were 103 ( Modelled as an identical wagon to 102 by Dapol but built in February 1903 as a side door only five plank 8 ton wagon ) and 115, similar to 103 but outshopped in March 1911 in overall black with white lettering. However, photographic evidence from 1909 suggests that some of the Alexander Crane wagons were end tippers and may have been used to take coal from Princess Royal colliery in the Forest of Dean to Lydney Docks. From there the coal could have been tipped into barges or trows for forwarding to Gloucester or destinations on the Stroudwater Canal.
Critchlow & Sheppard 15. Antics reference ANT011. Photographed as one of a pair with fleetmate 13 by Gloucester RCW in June 1904, Critchlow & Sheppard 15 was in fact only a six plank wagon of 15' length, 6'11" width and 3'9" depth outshopped from Bristol Road with white wall tyres. As well as the bodyside G-Plate, two more should be present on the solebar - one inside and one to the left of the brake V-hanger. In May 1902, Critchlow & Sheppard number 3 - a five plank 10 ton vehicle - had been produced by Gloucester RCW painted lead with white lettering shaded black and black ironwork.
CRITCHLOW & SHEPPARD

15

5-8-1

10T

1904

PL 137

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE

ANTICS SE
Dapol / Antics reference ANT011. Appearing as one of a pair with fleetmate 13 by Gloucester RCW in Gloucester RCW official photograph 2981 of June 1904, Critchlow & Sheppard 15 was in fact only a six plank wagon - without diagonal side bracing - of 15' length, 6'11" width and 3'9" depth outshopped from Bristol Road with white wall tyres. As well as the bodyside G-Plate, two more should be present on the solebar - one inside and one to the left of the brake V-hanger.

In May 1902, Critchlow & Sheppard number 3 - a five plank 10 ton vehicle with side doors only - had been produced by Gloucester RCW painted lead with white lettering shaded black and black ironwork. A very similar wagon - numbered 9 - was also outshopped from Bristol road with minor differences in G-plate positions in September 1903.

In 1906 Critchlow & Sheppard were based at 3 Imperial Buildings, St George's Road, Cheltenham. At the time the Cleeve end of the business would have involved the use of horse drawn carts – or perhaps a steam wagon or early lorry – as the Great Western line from Cheltenham to Bishop’s Cleeve was not opened until 1 August 1906.

This route is now part of the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway but Critchlow & Sheppard had ceased trading by 1935.
Dudley & Gibson 101. The only improvements needed to this model are white wall tyres and a solebar G-plate under the gap between DOWN and STATION - lettering, colour and body style being totally correct.

DUDLEY & GIBSON

101

6-16-4

12T

1924

POPE 136

AS PER PLATE
The only improvements needed to this model are white wall tyres and a solebar G-plate under the gap between DOWN and STATION - lettering, colour and body style being totally correct.

Interestingly, fleet 401 - a side door only seven planker - was built by GRCW in November 1902 and outshopped in overall black with white lettering. While the top line was the same as that seen on 101, 401 had the words CLIFTON DOWN STATION spread evenly across the side, Tare ranged left under "Empty to" and the fleet number on the right, just inboard of a bodyside G-plate. Another G-plate and an oval plate reading "A.E. Gibson Bristol" were positioned on the solebar under the side doors.

While Montague's PL 176 is not dated however,it shows a rake of five plank round-topped 10 ton wagons with similar lettering ( but with Empty and Tare in line ) and colouring to 101, a central solebar G-plate and white wall tyres. These wagons are numbered 403 - 407 and are known to have been built in July 1909. By 1935, the company was trading as Dowding, Dudley & Gibson.
Matthew Grist 2. One of the first Antics Special Editions, ANT 003 comprised the two Woodchester based wagons depicted above and below packaged in a long box that was mainly brown rather than the more attractive purple of later Dapol offerings. This model, although accurate in terms of the lead livery with white letters shaded black, diverges from Pl 250 which depicts a tare of 5-18-3 rather than the model's 6-7-6. Indeed, this value is only present on the in-picture data board of the 14'5" x 6'11" x 4' seven planker, no load or tare marking being visible on the lower bodyside of the wagon itself. Other discrepancies are two G-plates on the wooden solebar (one in the brake V-hanger and one to the left ) and another on the bodyside just below and to the right of the number 2. Although Dapol usually include bodyside G-Plates, this could have been omitted as it would have been positioned directly on top of the model's diagonal side brace - diagonal side bracing being absent on the original photograph. Wide corner plates at each end depicted in PL250 may also indicate a non end tipping wagon and as outshopped Matthew Grist number 2 had black ironmongery and white wall tyres. However, it could be argued that the model could still accurately represent the prototype wagon in a later, modified form.
MATTHEW GRIST

2

6-7-6

10T

1901

PL 250

PLATE MARKINGS SIMILAR. ANTICS SE
One of the first Antics Special Editions, ANT 003 comprised the two Woodchester based wagons depicted above and below packaged in a long box that was mainly grey rather than the more attractive purple of later Dapol offerings. This model, although accurate in terms of the lead livery with white letters shaded black, diverges from Pl 250 which depicts a tare of 5-18-3 rather than the model's 6-7-6. Indeed, this value is only present on the in-picture data board of the 14'5" x 6'11" x 4' seven planker, no load or tare marking being visible on the lower bodyside of the wagon itself. Other discrepancies are two G-plates on the wooden solebar (one in the brake V-hanger and one to the left ) and another on the bodyside just below and to the right of the number 2. Although Dapol usually include bodyside G-Plates, this could have been omitted as it would have been positioned directly on top of the model's diagonal side brace - diagonal side bracing being absent on the original photograph. Wide corner plates at each end depicted in PL250 may also indicate a non end tipping wagon and as outshopped Matthew Grist number 2 had black ironmongery and white wall tyres. However, it could be argued that the model could still accurately represent the prototype wagon in a later, modified form. Matthew Grist is mentioned in the Severn & Wye Railway Joint Committee's Minute Books as having opened a ledger account on the Forest of Dean line on 24 January 1905 and is listed in a trade directory of 1906 as a "washed wools and mill-puffs manufacturer" of Merrett's Mill, Woodchester. The firm was still trading in 1935.
Harris & Co 21. The second wagon of ANT 003 stays faithful to PL 260 in terms of white lettering on black but according to Gloucester RCW the tare was a lighter 6 tons and the 14'5" x 7' x 3'8" open wagon was a six planker rather than a seven. This might also explain why the model's fleet number, bodyside G-plate, word WOODCHESTER and tare and load data are all one plank too high up. However, this does allow the bodyside G-plate to be positioned just above the problematic diagonal side bracing which the original Harris & Co 21 lacks. Unfortunately PL 260 is a little faint on one end so I will give the model the benefit of the doubt and say that it really did have one end tipping door. There was also one G-Plate inside the brake V-hanger on the wooden solebar and the tyres were white walled in the photograph.
HARRIS & CO

21

6-7-6

10T

1893

PL 260

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE. ANTICS SE
The second wagon of ANT 003 stays faithful to PL 260 in terms of white lettering on black but according to Gloucester RCW the tare was a lighter 6 tons and the 14'5" x 7' x 3'8" open wagon was a six planker rather than a seven. This might also explain why the model's fleet number, bodyside G-plate, word WOODCHESTER and tare and load data are all one plank too high up. However, this does allow the bodyside G-plate to be positioned just above the problematic diagonal side bracing which the original Harris & Co 21 lacks. Unfortunately PL 260 is a little faint on one end so I will give the model the benefit of the doubt and say that it really did have one end tipping door. There was also one G-Plate inside the brake V-hanger on the wooden solebar and the tyres were white walled in the photograph.
Henry Heaven 1. Antics reference ANT017 has all the right data in the right colours in the right order but there should not be an extra plank vertically separating the words MERCHANT and NAILSWORTH. Like Harris & Co 21, this model should really be a six planker ( measuring 14' 5" x 6' 11" x 4' 0 1/2" ) with all round wide corner plates and only side doors. White wall tyres and three solebar G-Plates ( two left and one right of the brake gear V-hanger ) were also fitted as new.

HENRY HEAVEN

1

5-18-2

10T

1909

PL 272

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE. ANTICS SE
Dapol / Antics reference ANT017 ( only 250 made ) has all the right data in the right colours in the right order but there should not be an extra plank vertically separating the words MERCHANT and NAILSWORTH. Like Harris & Co 21, this model should really be a six planker ( measuring 14' 5" x 6' 11" x 4' 0 1/2" ) with all round wide corner plates and only side doors. White wall tyres and three solebar G-Plates ( two left and one right of the brake gear V-hanger ) were also fitted as new.
Hockaday & Co 4. The carton label for my example of Dapol reference B855 reads "Hockaday, Monmouth" where "Monmouthshire" ( nowadays Gwent ) would be more accurate: while the small print on the left reads "Empty to Derlwyn Colliery New Tredegar B & M Railway" ( The Brecon & Merthyr Railway would be absorbed by the Great Western on 1 July 1922 ) On the positive side, all the other markings are as per plate and the vehicle does have an end tipping door. On the negative side, Plate 286 shows a 14'6" x 6'11" x 3' 81/2" six planker with dumb buffers! The model could possibly represent a modernised version of the wagon and for once there are no recognisable solebar G-plates in the Gloucester RCW photograph.
HOCKADAY & CO

4

5-5-2

10T

1886

PL 286

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
The carton label for my example of Dapol reference B855 reads "Hockaday, Monmouth" where "Monmouthshire" ( nowadays Gwent ) would be more accurate: while the small print on the left reads "Empty to Derlwyn Colliery New Tredegar B & M Railway" ( The Brecon & Merthyr Railway would be absorbed by the Great Western on 1 July 1922 ) On the positive side, all the other markings are as per plate and the vehicle does have an end tipping door. On the negative side, Plate 286 shows a 14'6" x 6'11" x 3' 81/2" six planker with dumb buffers! The model could possibly represent a modernised version of the wagon and for once there are no recognisable solebar G-plates in the Gloucester RCW photograph.
Dapol reference 6364208. Antics Limited Edition. Gloucester RCW official photograph 3674 of May 1910 shows a seven plank wagon with two side doors, internal diagonal side bracing, white wall tyres and three G-Plates - just outside the brake gear V hanger and just to the right of the label clip to the right of the tare weight - on the wooden solebars.

R.A. LISTER & CO LTD

1

6-1-3

10T

1910

POPE G 209

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
Dapol reference 6364208. Antics Limited Edition. Gloucester RCW official photograph 3674 of May 1910 shows a seven plank wagon with two side doors, internal diagonal side bracing, white wall tyres and three G-Plates - just outside the brake gear V hanger and just to the right of the label clip to the right of the tare weight - on the wooden solebars.

As far as is known, Listers appear to have purchased only two wagons, probably used to bring in coal for the boilers at their Dursley plant or coke for the foundry. They were bought from Gloucester RCW in May 1910 and were new on deferred purchase terms. Livery was chocolate, lettered white shaded black and with black ironwork. Gloucester RCW owner's numbers were 50258 and 50259 and Midland Railway registration numbers 62777 and 62778. A repair contract for fleet numbers 1 and 2 was renewed in June 1917.

Robert Ashton Lister started his engineering firm in 1867 in a smithy and first made corn crushers, chaff cutters and farm implements. The plant next to Dursley station - which even had its own fire brigade -later expanded to cover 92 acres and employ 4 00 people to produce petrol ( from 1908 ) and diesel ( from 1929 ) engines for land and marine applications, electric generating sets, cream separators, dairy and sheep shearing equipment, water pumping sets and the well known Auto Trucks. Lister factories eventually stood in Cinderford, Stamford, Walkden in Manchester, Wroughton near Swindon and in Australia. Listers were absorbed into the Hawker Siddeley Group in 1965.
W. Miles 5. Dapol / Antics reference ANT 001.Gloucester RCW official photograph 669 reveals a five plank side door only wagon without diagonal side bracing or indeed the hinge washer plates just touching the W and S in the owner's name on the model. With one G-Plate mounted centrally on the solebar, the photograph gives dimensions as 14'5" x 7' x 3'1". W. Miles was based at Wallbridge, Stroud, on the former Midland Railway branch.
W. MILES

5

5-16-1

8T

1892

PL386

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE. ANTICS SE
Dapol / Antics reference ANT 001.Gloucester RCW official photograph 669 reveals a five plank side door only wagon without diagonal side bracing or indeed the hinge washer plates just touching the W and S in the owner's name on the model. With one G-Plate mounted centrally on the solebar, the photograph gives dimensions as 14'5" x 7' x 3'1". W. Miles was based at Wallbridge, Stroud, on the former Midland Railway branch.
Dapol / Antics reference ANT015. Gloucester RCW official photograph 2651 shows a 7 plank 10 ton coal wagon painted black with white lettering, but only having side doors and also being outshopped with white wall tyres, no diagonal side bracing and wooden solebars with G-plates inside and just to the left of the brage gear v-hanger. To be perfectly accurate, the model would also have the second line of lettering ranged left so that the MANU in MANUFACTURER was on the side door. These points aside, it is interesting to note that the running number is the same as the year built - perhaps a deliberate choice rather than an indication of the fleet size - and that GUILDFORD is qualified as being on the London & South Western Railway. These markings may well have persisted long after the Grouping of 1923 created the Southern Railway. Dimensions were 15' 6" x 7' 0" x 4' 0".

T. MITCHELL

1902

5-19-1

10T

1902

PL391

MARKINGS ALMOST AS PER PLATE. ANTICS SE
Dapol / Antics reference ANT015. Gloucester RCW official photograph 2651 shows a 7 plank 10 ton coal wagon painted black with white lettering, but only having side doors and also being outshopped with white wall tyres, no diagonal side bracing and wooden solebars with G-plates inside and just to the left of the brake gear v-hanger. To be perfectly accurate, the model would also have the second line of lettering ranged left so that the MANU in MANUFACTURER was on the side door. These points aside, it is interesting to note that the running number is the same as the year built - perhaps a deliberate choice rather than an indication of the fleet size - and that GUILDFORD is qualified as being on the London & South Western Railway. These markings may well have persisted long after the Grouping of 1923 created the Southern Railway. Dimensions were 15' 6" x 7' 0" x 4' 0".
Pates 22. Model sold in aid of the restoration of GWR heavy freight 2-8-0 locomotive 2807. Box end stickered with the number 1371.

PATES

22

5-19-3

10T

1906

POPE 113

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE. GLOS WR SE
Model sold in aid of the restoration of GWR heavy freight 2-8-0 locomotive 2807. Box end stickered with the number 1371.

Pates - who have no connection with Pate's Grammar School in Cheltenham - were trading in St George's Road, Cheltenham, by 1893 and also had a depot at Fosse Cross on the Midland & South Western Junction Railway.

December 1893 also marked their first known order from Gloucester RCW with the delivery of fleet number 6. This side door only six plank 10 ton wagon bore the legend CENTRAL WHARF ( located at St James Station on the Great Western Railway ), was fitted with one central solebar G-plate and was painted red with white lettering shaded black.

The 1901 Census recorded five Pates family members living in Cheltenham including 27 year old coal merchant John Pates.

Wagon 18 was outshopped from Bristol Road in November 1905 in the same livery but with the main lettering confined to the top two planks and branded for return to Moira Colliery in Leicestershire.

Wagon 22 meanwhile was photographed by Gloucester RCW in September 1906 as a seven plank side door only wagon without diagonal side bracing but with - as had been the case on previous company wagons - other ironwork painted black. Perhaps the most noticeable difference from earlier fleet members however was the new reported location - COLLEGE COAL EXCHANGE. In the original photograph this is shown as centred with the word COAL on the side door and EXCHANGE fully to the right of it. Three solebar G-Plates were also fitted, one under the C in CHELTENHAM, one inside the brake gear V hanger and a third under the N in CHELTENHAM. The data panel on the left of wagon 22 - measuring 14'5" x 6'11" x 4' - read "Empty to Woorgreens Colliery, Forest of Dean." Interestingly, a siding to Woorgreens Colliery was only laid in October 1903.

In Kelly's Directory of 1926 Pates & Co are listed as working from both Central Wharf and College Coal Exchange.

Gloucester RCW official photograph 3526 of October 1908 shows a seven plank wagon with wooden solebars carrying a G-plate and owners plate under the word ABINGDON and another G-plate and GWR registration plate under the number 25. There is also no spring stop under the doors and no tipping door at one end, but white wall tyres are shown in ex-works condition. Internal dimensions were 14' 5" x 6 11" x 4' 1/2".
PEMBERTON & CO 25 6-1-0 10T 1908 PL 457 MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
Gloucester RCW official photograph 3526 of October 1908 shows a seven plank wagon with wooden solebars carrying a G-plate and owners plate under the word ABINGDON and another G-plate and GWR registration plate under the number 25.  There is also no spring stop under the doors and no tipping door at one end, but white wall tyres are shown in ex-works condition.  Internal dimensions were 14' 5" x 6 11" x 4' 1/2".
Osman Trevor Powell 57. Dapol / Antics reference ANT 024. Gloucester RCW official photograph 3141 of November 1905 shows a seven plank wagon with end and two side doors and white wall tyres but no diagonal side bracing. Solebar G-Plates were either side of the brake gear V hanger with another under the A in OSMAN. Dimensions were given as 14'5" x 6' 11" x 4' and the data panel on the left read "Empty to Foxes Bridge Colly, Forest of Dean.
OSMAN TREVOR POWELL

57

6-1-2

10T

1905

PL 476

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE. ANTICS SE
Dapol / Antics reference ANT 024. Gloucester RCW official photograph 3141 of November 1905 shows a seven plank wagon with end and two side doors and white wall tyres but no diagonal side bracing. Solebar G-Plates were either side of the brake gear V hanger with another under the A in OSMAN. Dimensions were given as 14'5" x 6' 11" x 4' and the data panel on the left read "Empty to Foxes Bridge Colly, Forest of Dean.

Osman Trevor Powell – first listed as a coal factor and merchant in a trade directory of 1876 - obtained his wagons on lease from Gloucester RC&W Co. Trevor Powell's main business address was at 23 Commercial Road, Gloucester, and he also had offices at Cookson Terrace Lydney, from where the coal was most likely purchased and transport arranged. Gloucester RCW minutes recorded 28 10-ton wagons hired to Trevor Powell in October 1875, the minute suggesting that this was a renewal of hire. Despite several orders in the Gloucester company's books only one official photograph is known, quite unusual as the company normally routinely recorded its work and products on film.

Coal factors were wholesalers of coal, purchasing large quantities (hundreds of tons) from collieries, often when demand (and therefore the price) was low, and selling the coal on in smaller quantities (e.g. 10-ton wagonloads). Coal factors would also purchase coal from several sources, allowing coal merchants to obtain different types and grades of coal economically without having to contract with several collieries. Many factors also supplied industrial consumers who did not wish to own railway wagons.
Gloucester RCW official photograph 3872 of February 1912 shows a seven plank wagon without end tipping door but with white wall tyres, GLOUCESTER embossed axle boxes and three G-plates and a registration plate on its wooden solebars. Internal dimensions were 14' 5" x 6' 11" x 4' and the outside body planking was branded "Empty to Princess Royal Colliery Co."
THE PURIFIED FLOCK & BEDDING COMPANY LTD 20 6-0-3 10T 1912 PL 480  POPE 126 POPE G 195 MARKINGS AS PER PLATE.
Gloucester RCW official photograph 3872 of February 1912 shows a seven plank wagon without end tipping door but with white wall tyres, GLOUCESTER embossed axle boxes and three G-plates and a registration plate on its wooden solebars.  Internal dimensions were 14' 5" x 6' 11" x 4' and the outside body planking was branded "Empty to Princess Royal Colliery Co." 

The Purified Flock and Bedding Company Ltd operated on the Avening Stream at Spring Mills, Nailsworth, from 1893 to 1970 and number 20 may have been its only wagon, acquired by an agreement of December 1911 on seven years deferred terms and carrying the Gloucester RCW number 51343 and the Midland Railway registration 67728.

The coal that wagon 20 brought to Nailsworth from the Forest of Dean stoked the boilers that raised steam to sterilize ( or purify ) flock made from rags which were shredded and then fluffed up for filling mattresses.  However, The Purified Flock and Bedding Company Ltd later also produced sprung mattresses and divans.
Dapol reference B594. The company that began life as George Small had a long association with the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company during which time wagon specification, colours and markings all evolved. However, none of these wagons was painted black or had end tipping doors!

SMALL & SON

17

5-18-0

10T

1904

POPE 116

 RIGHT MARKINGS, WRONG COLOUR
Dapol reference B594. The company that began life as George Small had a long association with the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company during which time wagon specification, colours and markings all evolved. However, none of these wagons was painted black or had end tipping doors!

Five plank 8 ton wagon Number 5 of the Somerset and Devon based fleet was outshopped by Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company Ltd in July 1892 with white letters on a red background reading:

GEORGE SMALL, COAL , LIME & STONE MERCHANT THORNE & TAUNTON

Also present – in italics like the 5-14-3 tare – was the legend "Empty to Cossal Colliery Ilkeston Junction EVR" As such, George Small’s No 5 would have probably passed through Gloucestershire on a regular basis and other fleet members are known to have been filled at Foxes bridge Colliery in the Forest of Dean.

But by 1897 the company had undergone a rebranding. The 6 plank 10 ton wagon that Gloucester RCW built for them in November that year was not only chocolate rather than red, but fleet number 8 – with a 6 ton tare and steel rather than wooden solebar – was lettered:

G.SMALL AND SON COAL,CORN & LIME MERCHANTS TAUNTON AND THORNE

Seven plank fleet number 13 was similarly marked when outshopped in August 1900 but was outshopped with wooden solebars again, as was the case with wagons 17 ( as represented by the Dapol model ) of October 1904 and 35 of September 1907. Both these vehicles were also painted dark lead with white lettering shaded black and neither seven plank 17 or six plank 35 had external diagonal side bracing.

Thornfalcon was on the now-abandoned Taunton – Chard line while Norton Fitzwarren marks the start of today’s West Somerset Railway, although wagon 35 bears the legend G. SMALL & SONS ( note plural ) and gives the base locations of TAUNTON, TIVERTON JUNCTION & SOMERTON.
John Stephens, Son & Co 26. Dapol reference 529308. Gloucester RCW official photograph 2403 of November 1901 shows a seven plank wagon with two side doors, no diagonal side bracing, white wall tyres and a lone solebar G-Plate inside the brake gear V hanger. Trade directories for 1905 and 1935 give the firm's business address as St Catherine's Street, Gloucester, and coal was obtained from Easten United Colliery in the Forest of Dean from 1910 onwards.
JOHN STEPHENS, SON & CO LTD

26

5-17-2

10T

1901

PL539

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE. ANTICS SE
Dapol reference 529308. Gloucester RCW official photograph 2403 of November 1901 shows a seven plank wagon with two side doors, no diagonal side bracing, white wall tyres and a lone solebar G-Plate inside the brake gear V hanger. Trade directories for 1905 and 1935 give the firm's business address as St Catherine's Street, Gloucester, and coal was obtained from Eastern United Colliery in the Forest of Dean from 1910 onwards.

Click here for details of 7mm scale model
E.T. Ward 4. Dapol / Antics reference ANT 009. Wagon 4 from the fleet of E. T. Ward & Son was outshopped by the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company in January 1905 with smartly red lined white lettering on its overall black body. As depicted in official photograph 3027, the dimensions were 14’5" x 6’11" x 4’ and the familiar Dapol moulding with two side and one end doors also replicates the 5-18-2 tare weight. Solebar G-plates should have been present under the ironmongery of the side doors and just to the left of the number 4. However, no diagonal side bracing is visible in the photograph, which also shows white wall tyres.
E.T. WARD

4

5-18-2

10T

1905

PL 617

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
Dapol / Antics reference ANT 009. Wagon 4 from the fleet of E. T. Ward & Son was outshopped by the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company in January 1905 with smartly red lined white lettering on its overall black body. As depicted in official photograph 3027, the dimensions were 14’5" x 6’11" x 4’ and the familiar Dapol moulding with two side and one end doors also replicates the 5-18-2 tare weight. Solebar G-plates should have been present under the ironmongery of the side doors and just to the left of the number 4. However, no diagonal side bracing is visible in the photograph, which also shows white wall tyres.

The family coal merchants definitely had premises in Stroud as late as 1935, and although there was a possible link to Coleford Red Ash Colliery the italics say "Return empty to Stockingford Colliery near Nuneaton". According to the Coal Mines Regulation Act List of 1896 this employed 141 miners to word the Rider seam. Probably a regular traffic flow judging by the lack of Commuted Charge and repair star markings!

In fact The Coleford Red Ash Colliery Co. Ltd was incorporated on 23 January 1905 to acquire the interests of George Morgan & Sons who were working the Foundry and New Road Levels close to Speech House Road and had previously traded as the Forest Red Ash Company. E.T. Ward was a subscriber to the new pit, but in 1909 the venture was up for sale, including a "self acting incline [which] works the tubs direct to a railway siding" at Wimberry. The Coleford Red Ash Colliery Co Ltd was wound up in 1912 but coal was extracted from the gale into the 1920s and part of the workings are today preserved as the Hopewell Colliery Museum.
Winchcombe Coal 7. The model portrays Winchcombe 7 as being all over grey with plain white lettering, a 10 ton load but no tare weight. Montague’s Plate 648 meanwhile shows The Winchcombe Coal Co.’s wagon 15, outshopped in June 1905 with black shaded white letters, black ironmongery, white lettered axleboxes and no less than 4 G Plates on the solebar.
WINCHCOMBE COAL

7

5-16-3

10T

1905

PL648

15 ON PL GLOS. W.R. SE
The model portrays Winchcombe 7 as being all over grey with plain white lettering, a 10 ton load but no tare weight. Montague’s Plate 648 meanwhile shows The Winchcombe Coal Co.’s wagon 15, outshopped in June 1905 with black shaded white letters, black ironmongery, white lettered axleboxes and no less than 4 G Plates on the solebar.

Interestingly though, both wagons 7 and 15 have the same wording of "H. Mason Manager Winchcome Glos" with the word "Manager" waving from bottom to top of the fourth plank in both cases. Could it be that Mr Mason made such a success of the business that he was able to order a second batch of wagons with a bit more style to them? Statistics for Winchcombe 15 (at any rate) are 10 tons for 5-16-3 tare, body 14’ 5" x 6’ 11" x 4’.

5 PLANK OPEN WAGONS LONG SIDE KNEES AND SIDE DOORS ONLY
H. Blandford & Sons 7. Dapol reference B575. Dursley used to be famous for the Pedersen bicycles - one of which is now displayed in Gloucester Folk Museum – and for agricultural equipment. But before R.A. Lister started making diesel engines, steam was king and coal was its consort! Like towns large and small all over Britain, Dursley relied on the supply chain that stretched along the railways from mines to merchants like H. Blandford & Sons.
H.BLANDFORD & SONS

7

6-0-0

8T

1902?

POPE 112

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
Dapol reference B575. Dursley used to be famous for the Pedersen bicycles - one of which is now displayed in Gloucester Folk Museum – and for agricultural equipment. But before R.A. Lister started making diesel engines, steam was king and coal was its consort! Like towns large and small all over Britain, Dursley relied on the supply chain that stretched along the railways from mines to merchants like H. Blandford & Sons.

Henry Blandford was born in 1841 and was in business as a coal merchant in 1876, the "& Son" having been added in 1906, a year before his death. Henry's son Ryland Harris Blandford then took over the business until he enlisted for the Great War in 1914 when his brother George took over the business for the duration. George and another brother - Charles - took over again after Ryland died in 1931. In 1926 the firm's offices were in Hill Road, Dursley but by 1933 they had moved to Silver Street in the town. Here, according to their advertisements, H. Blandford & Sons dealt in "corn, meal, sharps, bran etc."

At both dates "coal, coke, salt etc" could be obtained from the Railway Wharf of Dursley's Midland station, linked via Coaley Junction and Berkeley Road with the Severn Railway bridge to the Forest of Dean. Indeed, the firm was ordering a 10 ton wagon load a month from Lightmoor Colliery between April and June 1915 and Henry Blandford himself had hired two 10 ton wagons from Gloucester RCW for a period of three years from 1877.

His first purchases however were Numbers 4 and 7 built by the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company in June 1884. These black liveried five plankers with white lettering each had metal buffers at one end and square wooden dumb buffers at the other. Wagon 4 could carry a 6 ton load for a 4-1-3 tare while Wagon 6 offered a load of 8 tons for a tare of 4-5-3. The two wagons – each with a very early square pattern worksplate on the solebar under the centre doors – were depicted in Gloucester RCW official photograph 378 coupled with dumb buffers outermost – although how they ran in service is a matter for debate!

Further commissions for black liveried wagons followed in 1906 and 1914 although wagon 7 - as depicted in the Dapol model - was technically a February 1926 rebuild of a vehicle first registered by the Great Western Railway in 1902. It was also different in terms of its grey livery with white lettering shaded black. The Gloucester RCW photograph also shows diagonal side bracing - as replicated in the five plank model - but all other ironwork ( excluding long side knees ) was painted black and the rebuild included white wall tyres and a single solebar G-Plate.
Crook & Greenway 2. Gloucester RCW official photograph 3785 shows a five plank wagon, but with round topped ends slightly higher than the sides, white wall tyres and vertical door ironmongery painted black. The side knees also do not extend over the solebar, where two G-Plates are located just to the left of the brake gear V hanger. Length 14'6" x 6'11" x 3'2". See also Hornby page.
CROOK & GREENWAY

2

5-1-11

8T

1911

PL140

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE GLOS.W.R.SE
Gloucester RCW official photograph 3785 shows a five plank wagon, but with round topped ends slightly higher than the sides, white wall tyres and vertical door ironmongery painted black. The side knees also do not extend over the solebar, where two G-Plates are located just to the left of the brake gear V-hanger. Dimensions are14' 6" x 6' 11" x 3' 2" and the tare weight on leaving Bristol Road is recorded as only 5-8-0. See also Hornby page.

This wagon may have been a replacement for an earlier vehicle as Crook & Greenway wagon 5 - a six plank 10 ton wagon with two side doors - was the subject of a Gloucester RCW official photograph in July 1898 painted lead colour with white letters shaded black.

Five plank 8 ton fleetmate 10 meanwhile was outshopped from Bristol Road in October 1899, painted chocolate with white lettering shaded black. Wagon 12 though was another 5 plank 8 ton wagon, but this time painted a vey dark grey and, according to Mr Montague, converted from Broad Gauge in January 1910. What it had been doing since the last GWR Broad Gauge train ran in 1892 is another matter!
William Cecil Gethen of Hereford opened a Ledger Account with the Severn & Wye Railway Joint Committee on 20 July 1897, his five plank wagon 14 having been built by the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company in October 1894. Although the Gloucester RCW official photograph shows there to be no G-Plates on the steel solebar and no white wall tyres, the rest of the livery - including two very unusual G plates - is correct apart from the omission of tare and load data and black corner posts. Unfortunately though, the photograph also shows the absence of diagonal side bracing and long side knees.

W.C. GETHEN

14

5-14-0

8T

1894

POPE 133

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
William Cecil Gethen of Hereford opened a Ledger Account with the Severn & Wye Railway Joint Committee on 20 July 1897, his five plank wagon 14 having been built by the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company in October 1894. Although the Gloucester RCW official photograph shows there to be no G-Plates on the steel solebar and no white wall tyres, the rest of the livery - including two very unusual G plates - is correct apart from the omission of tare and load data and black corner posts. Unfortunately though, the photograph also shows the absence of diagonal side bracing and long side knees.
Dapol Reference B569. The corner posts are the correct black but so should the vertical ironmongery according to the official Gloucester RCW photograph of July 1893, which shows a five plank wagon with no diagonal side bracing or long side-knees, but featuring a wooden solebar with a single G-Plate located inside the brake gear v-hanger and white wall tyres.

SAMUEL JEFFRIES

7

5-12-3

8T

1893

POPE 128

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
Dapol Reference B569. The corner posts are the correct black but so should the vertical ironmongery according to the official Gloucester RCW photograph of July 1893, which shows a five plank wagon with no diagonal side bracing or long side-knees, but featuring a wooden solebar with a single G-Plate located inside the brake gear v-hanger and white wall tyres.

A 1905 trade directory lists Samuel Jeffries as "brick manufacturers, patent brick making machinery manufacturers & coal merchants at Dudbridge and at Hayward's Field: Imperial works, Stonehouse and Woodchester." The company was buying coal from Henry Crawshay & Co in 1912 while Gloucester RCW turned out fleet number 14 as a rebuilt in July 1826. This had the lettering SAMUEL JEFFRIES & SONS LTD COAL MERCHANTS & BRICK MANUFACTURERS DUDBRIDGE STROUD. The tare of this 10 ton seven planker was 6-6-2 and had the italic legend "Jeffries Sidings, Stonehouse GWR." Obviously Mr Jeffries had done well for himself in an era when standardised pattern bricks were being spread by railway to supplant more traditional regional building materials.

Gloucester RCW official photograph 2935 of June 1904 shows a five plank wagon with tare, load and other markings as on this Dapol model but with white wall tyres, a wooden solebar with thre G-plates and a GWR registration plate and side knees no deeper than the body side. The Great Western branch to Calne, Wiltshire, ran 5 1/4 miles south east from the eastern side of Chippenham station having begun life as the Broad Gauge Calne Railway authorised on 15 May 1860. It opened on 3 November 1863 with the GWR gaining powers for conversion to standard gauge on 21 July 1873 but not taking over until 1 July 1892. Sausage traffic from the famous Harris factory travelled on passenger trains along the branch which were only withdrawn on 20 September 1965, other goods trains having ceased in November 1964.
WALTER E. NEATE 2 5-10-0 8T 1904 PL420 MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
Gloucester RCW official photograph 2935 of June 1904 shows a five plank wagon with tare, load and other markings as on this Dapol model but with white wall tyres, a wooden solebar with thre G-plates and a GWR registration plate and side knees no deeper than the body side. The Great Western branch to Calne, Wiltshire, ran 5 1/4 miles south east from the eastern side of Chippenham station having begun life as the Broad Gauge Calne Railway authorised on 15 May 1860. It opened on 3 November 1863 with the GWR gaining powers for conversion to standard gauge on 21 July 1873 but not taking over until 1 July 1892.  Sausage traffic from the famous Harris factory travelled on passenger trains along the branch which were only withdrawn on 20 September 1965, other goods trains having ceased in November 1964.
Palmer & Sawdye 7. Dapol reference B595. Gloucester RCW official photograph 2536 of June 1902 shows a five plank wagon again with round topped ends slightly higher than the sides, white wall tyres and vertical door ironmongery painted black. The side knees also do not extend over the wooden solebar, where a single G-Plate is located just to the left of the brake gear V hanger. Tare weight is also given as 5-14-3 and dimensions are 14'5" x 6'11"x 3'1".

PALMER & SAWDYE

16

5-17-4

8T

1902

PL 441

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
Dapol reference B595. Gloucester RCW official photograph 2536 of June 1902 shows a five plank wagon again with round topped ends slightly higher than the sides, white wall tyres and vertical door ironmongery painted black. The side knees also do not extend over the wooden solebar, where a single G-Plate is located just to the left of the brake gear V hanger. Tare weight is also given as 5-14-3 and dimensions are 14'5" x 6'11"x 3'1".

A Ledger Account for Palmer & Sawdye of Exeter was opened by the Severn & Wye Railway Joint Committee on 19 January 1897, the year in which the company began trading. In all three five plank 8 ton wagons of very similar specification ( numbered 15, 16 and 17 ) were ordered from Gloucester RCW during 1902, the first having its solebar G-Plate set inside the brake gear V hanger while on the latter two this was offset to accomodate a sizeable door stop-spring on each side.

The maintenance contract of the three wagons purchased from Gloucester RCW was transferred in 1903 to Bradford & Sons of Yeovil. This might indicate a takeover of Palmer & Sawdye, although the firm continued to trade under its original name for many years afterwards. Bradford & Sons was one of the largest coal contractors in southern England and operated in a similar scale to Sully of Bridgwater and Read of Salisbury. Bradford & Sond bought coal from many suppliers including mines in Derbyshire. Palmer & Sawdye - which moved offices from 9 Gandy Street to 37 Yaneley Street in Exeter in 1925 - bought coal from the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, as well as coke from the ovens of Winning A Colliery near Alfreton, Derbyshire, in the 1930s.

Gloucester RCW official photograph 827 of December 1895 shows a five plank wagon with white wall tyres and white spaces for a G-plate right of the number 10 and a G-plate and owners plate on the wooden solebar. The side knees were also no deeper than the body side, which measured 14' 5" x 7' x 3' 1" and also bore the legend "Empty to Trafalgar Colliery". The Gloucester RCW order book does not mention such a wagon under the Phoenix Coal Company name but four 8-ton wagons were ordered in November 1895 by the Kerne Bridge Coal Company. It is known that the Phoenix Coal Company had depots at Kerne Bridge, Monmouth and Mitcheldean Road so the Kerne Bridge Coal Company could possibly have been another interest of the Reverend Arthur Latham, who eventually concentrated on the coal trade in 1899 after 16 years of Baptist ministry.
THE PHOENIX COAL CO 10 5-17-0 8T 1895 POPE 83 MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
Gloucester RCW official photograph 827 of December 1895 shows a five plank wagon with white wall tyres and white spaces for a G-plate right of the number 10 and a G-plate and owners plate on the wooden solebar.  The side knees were also no deeper than the body side, which measured 14' 5" x 7' x 3' 1" and also bore the legend "Empty to Trafalgar Colliery".  The Gloucester RCW order book does not mention such a wagon under the Phoenix Coal Company name but four 8-ton wagons were ordered in November 1895 by the Kerne Bridge Coal Company.  It is known that the Phoenix Coal Company had depots at Kerne Bridge, Monmouth and Mitcheldean Road so the Kerne Bridge Coal Company could possibly have been another interest of the Reverend Arthur Latham, who eventually concentrated on the coal trade in 1899 after 16 years of Baptist ministry.

Indeed, as no records exist of its foundation, it may be that Rev. Latham took over an existing coal company and renamed it Phoenix but a ledger account was opened in the name by the Severn & Wye Railway in January 1897.  In March 1900 Rev Latham also moved from his native Lydbrook to set up a head office for the Phoenix Coal Company in Ross on Wye and the firm continued trading as coal factors and merchants after his death in April 1915.  Indeed, it was still in business after World War II. 

Although fleet numbers eventually reached as high as 475, it was not unknown for such companies to number their wagons with gaps of ten rather than sequentially, such as those supplied by the North Central Wagon Company numbered 150, 160, 170, 180, 190 and 200.  Similarly, it is not known if Rev. Arthur Latham was related to either Hubert Latham the aviation pioneer or 1980s glamour model Joanne Latham.
This representation of Gloucester RCW official photograph 2399 should have wooden solebars, white wall tyres and a G-Plate inside the brake gear v-hanger whilst the purple brown body - measuring 14' 5" x 6' 11" x 3' 1" - is not depicted with diagonal side bracing or long side knees. The same is true of seven plank 10 ton Playne fleet 2, outshopped from Bristol Road in January 1902. The company manufactured superfine woollen cloth at Longfords Mill, Minchinhampton, from 1759 to 1990 and the wagons are thought likely to have collected coal for the mill boilers from Lydbrook or Arthur & Edward Colliery in the Forest of Dean.

WM. PLAYNE & CO

1

5-12-1

8T

1901

PL466

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
This representation of Gloucester RCW official photograph 2399 should have wooden solebars, white wall tyres and a G-Plate inside the brake gear v-hanger whilst the purple brown body - measuring 14' 5" x 6' 11" x 3' 1" - is not depicted with diagonal side bracing or long side knees. The same is true of seven plank 10 ton Playne fleet 2, outshopped from Bristol Road in January 1902. The company manufactured superfine woollen cloth at Longfords Mill, Minchinhampton, from 1759 to 1990 and the wagons are thought likely to have collected coal for the mill boilers from Lydbrook or Arthur & Edward Colliery in the Forest of Dean.
James Taylor & Co 24. Wagon 9 is in fact very similar in markings to the Dapol model, the only major difference being the word BECKFORD ( near to Tewkesbury ) rather than TODDINGTON. Otherwise white wall tyres were fitted as new, there were two G-Plates on the solebar ( one inside the brake gear V hanger and the other to the left of it ) and diagonal side bracing and long side knees are not featured in the official September 1900 Gloucester RCW photograph. Dimensions were 14'5" x 6' 11" x 3'1". Like H. Blandford, mentioned above, this company gained high wagon utilisation by dealing in both coal and bricks.
JAMES TAYLOR & CO

24

5-13-2

8T

1900

PL 565

9 SHOWN ON PLATE
Wagon 9 is in fact very similar in markings to the Dapol model, the only major difference being the word BECKFORD ( near to Tewkesbury ) rather than TODDINGTON. Otherwise white wall tyres were fitted as new, there were two G-Plates on the solebar ( one inside the brake gear V hanger and the other to the left of it ) and diagonal side bracing and long side knees are not featured in the official September 1900 Gloucester RCW photograph. Dimensions were 14'5" x 6' 11" x 3'1". Like H. Blandford, mentioned above, this company gained high wagon utilisation by dealing in both coal and bricks.

Dapol reference B618. Like number 156 shown in Montague's Plate 600, wagon 150 of coal factor Lewellin Twining's fleet was a 5-plank with raised ends curved down at the sides. Both were built in 1897 and had similar loads, tares and dimensions of 15' 6" x 6' 11" x 3' 8". Similarly, both lead coloured vehicles also had wooden solebars, white wall tyres and a G plate inside the brake gear v-hanger yet also lacked diagonal side bracing and long side knees. The company had offices at 91 Alma Road, Clifton and a wharf at Clifton Down station in both 1902 and 1935 and the wagons collected coal from both Eastern United and Crump Meadow Collieries in the Forest of Dean.

TWINING

150

6-2-2

10T

1897

POPE 118

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE

Dapol reference B618. Like number 156 shown in Montague's Plate 600, wagon 150 of coal factor Lewellin Twining's fleet was a 5-plank with raised ends curved down at the sides. Both were built in 1897 and had similar loads, tares and dimensions of 15' 6" x 6' 11" x 3' 8". Similarly, both lead coloured vehicles also had wooden solebars, white wall tyres and a G plate inside the brake gear v-hanger yet also lacked diagonal side bracing and long side knees. The company had offices at 91 Alma Road, Clifton and a wharf at Clifton Down station in both 1902 and 1935 and the wagons collected coal from both Eastern United and Crump Meadow Collieries in the Forest of Dean.

4 PLANK OPEN WAGONS SIDE DOORS ONLY

Dapol reference B674. In 2007 Stonehouse is best known in Gloucester for being the first stop on the Great Western route to London and for having a short platform, but until 1959 at least there was a private siding to a brickworks there. The Stonehouse Brick & Tile Works, manufacturers of facing bricks, roofing and floor tiles, pottery and terracotta items, was established on the south west side of Doverow Hill in 1891 and rail connected from inception. The first ten four plank brick wagons were ordered from Gloucester RCW in April 1892 and delivered the next month, measuring 15' 6" in length but only 2' 4" in height. These were painted red with white lettering but unlike the Dapol model had all ironwork painted black and were built with wooden solebars which featured a G-Plate inside the brake gear v-hanger. What I personally like about this model is the nearly-full brick load with some odd bricks breaking up the regimeted lines. Perhaps this could herald the start of a whole new sub-genre of pre 1939 brick wagons. Until now, only the bogie Fletton based vehicles have been modelled, and then only several decades ago.

STONEHOUSE BRICK & TILE

10

5-14-3

10T

1892

POPE G

MARKINGS AS PER PLATE
Dapol reference B674. In 2007 Stonehouse is best known in Gloucester for being the first stop on the Great Western route to London and for having a short platform, but until 1959 at least there was a private siding to a brickworks there. The Stonehouse Brick & Tile Works, manufacturers of facing bricks, roofing and floor tiles, pottery and terracotta items, was established on the south west side of Doverow Hill in 1891 and rail connected from inception.

The first ten four plank brick wagons were ordered from Gloucester RCW in April 1892 and delivered the next month, measuring 15' 6" in length but only 2' 4" in height. These were painted red with white lettering but unlike the Dapol model had all ironwork painted black and were built with wooden solebars which featured a G-Plate inside the brake gear v-hanger.  To the right of this, as seen on GRCW official photograph 643, was a circular plate carrying the Great Western Railway registration 8781.

A further eleven 8-ton second hand wagons were hired on a weekly basis by The Stonehouse Brick & Tile Works from Gloucester RCW in October 1897 and in  November 1897 11 second hand 10 ton wagons were bought from The Wagon Works.

A repair contract was taken out with Gloucester RCW for the original 10 wagons for seven years from May 1899 although contracts to repair the 11 10-ton wagons bought in November 1897 were renewed in 1905, 1911 and 1918.

Further information on The Stonehouse Brick & Tile Works can be found on the splendid Stroud History Group website at http://www.stonehousehistorygroup.org.uk/page10.html

What I personally like about this model is the nearly-full brick load with some odd bricks breaking up the regimeted lines. Perhaps this could herald the start of a whole new sub-genre of pre 1939 brick wagons. Until now, only the bogie Fletton based vehicles have been modelled, and then only several decades ago.

 

SEVEN PLANK LIME WAGON
Dapol reference B630. Gloucester Wagon Company Ltd ( not yet Gloucester RCW, note!) photograph 1288 shows Crawshay Brothers lime fleet 136 with tarpaulin covers - rather than a wooden roof - for both weather protection and to allow lime expansion. It also shows white wall tyres as new, wooden solebars and the original rectangular Gloucester plates inside the brake gear V-hanger and to its left. Other idiosyncratic features are larger than usual wooden brake blocks and double chain couplings while the body appears to have no external diagonal side bracing. The markings however seem accurate and the light yellow colour likely.
CRAWSHAY BROTHERS 138 4-12-3 8T 1880 PL 134 PLATE SHOWS 136
Dapol reference B630. Gloucester Wagon Company Ltd ( not yet Gloucester RCW, note!) photograph 1288 shows Crawshay Brothers lime fleet 136 with tarpaulin covers - rather than a wooden roof - for both weather protection and to allow lime expansion. It also shows white wall tyres as new, wooden solebars and the original rectangular Gloucester plates inside the brake gear V-hanger and to its left. Other idiosyncratic features are larger than usual wooden brake blocks and double chain couplings while the body appears to have no external diagonal side bracing. The markings however seem accurate and the light yellow colour likely.

The Crawshay family appeared in several lines of business related to coal and mineral extraction in South Wales and the Forest of Dean. Their wagons carried the produce of their mines and quarries to customers across Britain.

GRAFAR

7 PLANK OPEN WAGONS SIDE DOORS ONLY
Powell Gwinnell 111. In 2006 Graham Farish are a division of Bachmann, but before this - and even before Graham Farish began to specialise in N gauge - GRAFAR wagons were being produced with finely detailed internal planking ( but no internal side door detail ) and authentic markings such as the red PG inside a white diamond. On the minus side the tension lock couplings are larger than those offered by ready to run makers today and there were still no solebar G-Plates. For the record there should have been three: two either side of the brake gear V hanger and another under the A in CHELTENHAM. Wagon 1121 also differed from 111 by having a tare of 6-4-0 and dimensions 15'6" x 7'4" x 4'
POWELL GWINNELL

111

5-7-1

12T

1905

PL474

1121 SHOWN ON PLATE
In 2006 Graham Farish are a division of Bachmann, but before this - and even before Graham Farish began to specialise in N gauge - GRAFAR wagons were being produced with finely detailed internal planking ( but no internal side door detail ) and authentic markings such as the red PG inside a white diamond. On the minus side the tension lock couplings are larger than those offered by ready to run makers today and there were still no solebar G-Plates. For the record there should have been three: two either side of the brake gear V hanger and another under the A in CHELTENHAM. Wagon 1121 also differed from 111 by having a tare of 6-4-0 and dimensions 15'6" x 7'4" x 4'

Powell, Gwinnell & Co Ltd are known to have been supplied with coal by Crawshays although surviving paperwork also indicates that these coal orders were via a factor. The firm's 1906 address was Promenade Coal Exchange, 34 Promenade, Cheltenham and trade directories also mention a coal depot at Clevedon in Somerset. However, the company was not trading in 1935.
Princess Royal 250. Outshopped from Bristol Road in January 1897 as part of a batch of 50 wagons previously allocated to Speech House Colliery, Princess Royal 250 in Gloucester RCW official photograph 1457 deviates from this model in having six planks rather than seven, the tare positioned under the last three letters of WHITECROFT and having a bodyside G-Plate located just above the L lin LYDNEY. Another G-Plate is located on the steel solebar inside the brake gear V hanger, no diagonal side bracing is fitted and the tyres are white. Brakes are provided on only one side of the wagon, although brakes on both side for new wagons became mandatory under Board of Trade Regulations in 1911. However, older wagons were not compelled to be modified until 1938. Once again, note how the side doors only appear on the outside of the model wagon!
PRINCESS ROYAL

250

5-16-2

10T

1897

POPE 55

MARKINGS ALMOST CORRECT
Outshopped from Bristol Road in January 1897 as part of a batch of 50 wagons previously allocated to Speech House Colliery, Princess Royal 250 in Gloucester RCW official photograph 1457 deviates from this model in having six planks rather than seven, the tare positioned under the last three letters of WHITECROFT and having a bodyside G-Plate located just above the L lin LYDNEY. Another G-Plate is located on the steel solebar inside the brake gear V hanger, no diagonal side bracing is fitted and the tyres are white. Brakes are provided on only one side of the wagon, although brakes on both side for new wagons became mandatory under Board of Trade Regulations in 1911. However, older wagons were not compelled to be modified until 1938. Once again, note how the side doors only appear on the outside of the model wagon!

Gloucester RCW official photograph 736 of 1893 meanwhile shows Princess Royal 62, a six plank wagon ( albeit with a deep top plank ) without diagonal side braces and the title PRINCESS ROYAL at the top edge of the bodyside. Tare ( 6-0-1) and load ( 10T ) are at opposite ends of the side rail packings with the legend "Empty to Lydney S&W Rly" on the left of the bottom plank just below the two capital lines COLLIERY CO LIMITED WHITECROFT NEAR LYDNEY. The gap between the words ROYAL and LIMITED is filled by a bodyside G-Plate and the running number 62. One G-Plate is set inside the brake gear V hanger and the tyres are white.

Although first galed in 1842, the Princess Royal Colliery Company was not incorporated until December 1890 and finally the mine - located close to today's Dean Forest Railway - closed in March 1962. Much of its output crossed the Severn Railway Bridge to Sharpness Docks.
 
 
     
 

PART ONE : INTRODUCTION, AIRFIX AND BACHMANN MODELS

  
     
 

PART THREE : HORNBY MODELS