Carriages

For an authoritative view on WC&PR carriages see article on Colonel Stephens Museum web site.

Click on a thumbnail picture to enlarge

Nos.

Maker

Built

Bought

Origin & comments

Disposed

Photo source

1-6

Lancaster Railway Carriage & Wagon Co Ltd.

1897

1897

Originally built for the Argentine Railway but bought new by the WC&PR when the order fell through. Just like those in a Western cowboy film, they had end platforms with ornate ironwork, clerestory roofs, centre corridors, and passenger steps. Seating was mostly longitudinal. The body was made from mahogany originally painted dark crimson, later dark brown. The last three to survive, Nos 1, 2 and 4 were later painted dark green. They had two four-wheel bogies. Christopher Redwood’s book ‘The Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway’ has scale drawings of carriage No 2 for modelling.

See Books page.

1935-40

Stenlake *

7 (later 13)

Great Central Railway?

no picture available

1901

Bought from Great Central Railway.

1940

7-14

Cravens

1892

1907

Seven 4-wheeled carriages were bought from the Metropolitan Railway where they were known as the ‘Jubilee’ type. On the WC&P they were formed into close-coupled pairs. The seventh was a floater numbered 14, later 7. After closure, carriage No 7 was used on a farm at Shrivenham for some years. It is now owned by the London Transport Museum and is the only WC&P rolling stock survivor, and also the only remaining example of this carriage type. It is now undergoing restoration at Boston Lodge on the Festiniog Railway. In WC&P service these carriages had connecting doors built into the ends for use by guards. Carriages were painted Midland Red but later dark brown.

See also Colonel Stephens Museum article.

1940

W-s-M Library

15-17

??

1924

Bought from Southern Railway (originally London & SW Railway). 4-wheeled. Often operated as close-coupled trio. They were painted dark brown and lined in black with yellow lettering and were used on the last passenger train.

1940

W-s-M Library

18

??

1891

?

1928

Bought from GWR. Formerly Taff Vale Railway. 4-wheeled with two 2nd class compartments, luggage section and guard’s compartment. Was painted dark green. Shown also in old photo in Walton Park Then & Now.

1940

W-s-M Library

A carriage interior - type?

* Photo marked Stenlake reproduced with permission from Old Portishead by John Macleay published by Stenlake Publishing.