GWR 25190 5 plank Open Goods Wagon

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GWRGreat Western Railway 25190 5 plank Open Goods Wagon
GWR 25190 20160514.jpg
GWRGreat Western Railway 25190 5 plank Open Goods Wagon
Built By GWRGreat Western Railway Swindon
Status Operational
Number 25190
History
Built 1904
Diagram O4
Lot 455
Type 4-w 5-plank Open
Capacity 10 tons
Telegraphic code OPEN A
Brakes DC brakes
1937 Overhauled for use at Sharpness docks
1986 Arrived on SVRSevern Valley Railway
1987 Restored
2008 Overhauled

Goods Wagons

GWRGreat Western Railway 25190 is a 5 plank Open Goods Wagon. The earliest open wagons, originally known as 'low-sided trucks', had a single plank. The GWRGreat Western Railway progressively increased the number of planks, with 4-plank open wagons such as 41277 appearing in 1887.

5-plank wagons were first built in 1902-1904 to Diagram 04, with the fifth plank giving a 2ft 11in inside height. They were the first wagons to be fitted with Williams Patent sheet supporters; before that time tarpaulins were simply draped over the wagon. (Tarpaulins tended to form pinholes over time, even with careful use. With a ridge sheet support fitted, water would run straight off the tarpaulin; without such a support the tarpaulin tended to form hollows where water could collect and seep through the pin holes onto the goods below).[1] The wagons were not vacuum fitted, the presence of the sheet support and absence of vacuum brakes being signified by the type OPEN A

Service

25190 was built at Swindon in 1904 as part of Lot 455 to Diagram O4.[2] 25190 and 41277 were both sold out of GWRGreat Western Railway service in the mid-1930s and acquired for use at Sharpness Docks,[3] and was rebuilt in 1937 as part of Lot 1249[4].

Preservation

25190 was acquired from the then British Waterways Board's Sharpness Docks by the The GWR 813 Preservation Fund in 1986. Although in relatively poor structural condition, it was considered worthy of preservation as one of only a handful of vehicles still in existence with the original pattern of GWRGreat Western Railway "DeanWilliam Dean, Chief Locomotive Engineer of the Great Western Railway 1877-1902-ChurchwardGeorge Jackson Churchward, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1902-1922" ratchet brake.[5] It arrived on the SVRSevern Valley Railway on 16 December 1986,[6] accompanied by another similar wagon number 13260. The latter was accepted on the understanding that it was unsuitable for restoration and would be dismantled to provide spare parts.[5]

13260 was quickly dismantled, although it did not provide a spring eye bolt (two of which connect each carrying spring to the underframes). Two recent failures on other wagons through a combination of overloading and old age had exhausted the remaining stock of these, requiring new bolts to be manufactured.[5]

25190's poor condition meant its restoration would need to be funded by the owning group. By mid-1987, heavy expenditure on 143 and 943286 meant further overhauls of other existing vehicles could not proceed without a significant budget overspend. The restoration of 25190 and 2424 were therefore brought forward as both would be funded by the owning group, with work on 25190 beginning in Whitsun week. Rotten areas of the steelwork were removed, as was all the remaining original timber. One headstockThe underframe member across each end of a wagon carrying the buffers and coupling. Known as the Bufferbeam on a locomotive. was replaced using retrieved channel section from an LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway coach frame cut up on the old Stourport line some years before. Refurbished drawgear springs were fitted along with drawhooks salvaged from 13260. A complete new floor has been made out of Keruing(Trade name) A type of medium hardwood timber obtained from trees of the genus Dipterocarpus, although the majority of the side and end planks came from a supply of second-hand timber obtained from the Port of Bristol Authority. The restoration was completed at the end of 1987.[7]

It received a further overhaul in 2008. Several of the second-hand planks previously fitted required replacement, along with a couple of floor planks which had been damaged by loading, and subsequently started to rot. A bracket between one headstockThe underframe member across each end of a wagon carrying the buffers and coupling. Known as the Bufferbeam on a locomotive. and solebarThe outer member of a vehicle's underframe, running from end to end below the body, which had become severely corroded, was removed and a replacement fabricated and riveted in. A welded repair was also carried out to a localised area of corrosion on the other headstockThe underframe member across each end of a wagon carrying the buffers and coupling. Known as the Bufferbeam on a locomotive.. 25190 was then completely repainted.[8]

2519 is owned by The GWR 813 Preservation Fund. It is in serviceable condition, although is no longer fitted with a sheet rail.

See also

References

  1. Atkins, Beard & Tourret (2013) p. 2.
  2. Atkins, Beard & Tourret (2013) p. 27.
  3. National Preservation Forum 'SVR wagons 2010 thread
  4. Railway Heritage Register Wagon Survey
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 SVRSevern Valley Railway News 84
  6. SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book Ninth Edition
  7. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 86
  8. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 163

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