North Eastern Railway Coaches: The Beamish 'six'

North Eastern Railway Coaches: The Beamish ‘six’

This post has been some years in the making – very much on the to-do list, but then overtaken by other things.  So, finally, here is a post that discusses the NER coaches that have been associated with Beamish over the last five decades.  It should make ideal Christmas reading!

From time to time we receive queries regarding the NER coaches that were brought to Beamish from Ashington, via Consett, and their subsequent fate.  Whilst that of the restored example, No.818 (sometimes claimed to be No.3071) is well understood, that of the other four examples is less so, not least as there is confusion around which coach is which (due to them being incomplete, externally, and the number panels having long since been lost).

Therefore, whilst this is an attempt to use museum sources, the information gathered by Eric Maxwell when he edited the Tanfield Railway News, and some other internet-based lists, I think there has to be a strong caveat accompanying this information, to say that it is ‘believed’ to be accurate – but I am not sure I could at this stage say that it was definitive.  Some of the numbering will disagree with that published elsewhere, and the particular confusion arises around allocation of the NCB plant numbers vs the NER numbers of the coaches that were sent to Tanfield and one that was dismantled.  To try and simplify the list, a table is included further down the page.

Introduction

In this post, I’ve used the a number of sources including published lists, to try and put together a picture of what happened to this collection of coaches.  I have also been able to draw from the correspondence in the late 1960s and early 1970s, between the museum and the National Coal Board, as well as British Railways, which usefully contain lists of the vehicles selected for what was to become Beamish.  The late Eric Maxwell had sourced information regarding the NCB plant numbers (carried by the coaches) and how these corresponded to NER/LNER/BR numbers – a valuable resource to us now.

I suppose a fundamental question we can consider now, is why were the five coaches requested from (and donated by) the NCB in the first place?  Frank Atkinson was actively seeking to gather a collection, representative of life in the North East of England, for a planned (but not yet extant) open air museum.  A number of sites were in the running, including Beamish and Aykley Heads in Durham, but in the meantime, Frank’s workplace at the Bowes Museum, New Brancepeth Camp (a former military site) and numerous council depots and industrial sites, found themselves housing the larger items that would eventually be incorporated into the proposed open air museum.

For the purposes of consistency, the coaches have been listed in the NCB Plant Register numerical order – this being a usefully definitive list, and a number series that was physically applied to the coaches for the last phase of their working service.

In terms of pre-colliery service for these coaches, there is a fair amount of published information on NER coaches elsewhere; so I haven’t repeated it here as it is fairly readily accessible to those who wish to learn more about this – see references at the end of this post.

Ashington Coal Company passenger trains

The ACC was a significant part of the lives of thousands of men, their wives and children and the people who depended on the mines at Ashington, Ellington, Linton, Lynemouth and Woodhorn for their living.  Due to the diaspora of collieries within the group, the railways joining them together were used not only to transport coal, but also miners and their families.  For this purpose, a number of ex mainline railway company carriages were purchased by the ACC over the years, initially four-wheelers, but later redundant bogie coaches were obtained.  The coaches originated from a diverse array of companies, including the Midland Railway, Great Northern Railway, North Eastern Railway, North Staffordshire Railway, Great Western Railway and one example from the Furness Railway.  The first were in operation from around 1895, the last examples being purchased by the ACC’s successor, the National Coal Board.

The focal point of the operation was Hirst Platform, named after the hamlet around which Ashington grew.  The train service was very frequent, and operated for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Figures quite 100 trains per day on a weekday, 70 on Saturdays and 45 on Sundays.  Prior to the NCB taking over the operation, passengers other than miners were carried, at a very cheap rate (which presumably justified the very poor cosmetic, at least, condition of the rolling stock).  Children travelled for free if making their way to and from school.  The railway was operated as a main line, with full signalling enabling locomotives from the NER/LNER/BR to run onto the system.  North from Hirst Platform, there was a station at New Moor and then Linton, with alternative departures from Hirst Platform heading north and east to Ellington Colliery.  A further extension took trains onwards to Lynemouth Colliery.  Services were discontinued on 16th May 1966.

The coaches selected for preservation

The collection of coaches originally numbered five, with these being examples identified by museum representatives as being of interest for what was to become Beamish (then usually referred to as ‘The’ Open Air Museum) in 1967.  In correspondence dated the 27th November 1967, Mr G. P. Bonner wrote to museum director Frank Atkinson, offering, as a gift, the five coaches that had been selected.  These were listed as:

  • NCB 9300/152 (Clerestory) – LNER No.23071
  • NCB 9300/153 (Clerestory) – LNER No.21149
  • NCB 9300/154 (Round Top – Elliptical Roof) – LNER No.23702
  • NCB 9300/159 (Clerestory) – LNER No.23142
  • NCB 9300/163 (Round Top – Elliptical Roof) – LNER No.E.2118
  • NCB 9300/164 (Round Top – Elliptical Roof) – LNER No.21972

Clearly, in that list, there were six coaches earmarked for Beamish at that time.  By the time of a letter dated 6th May 1968, it was clear that the coaches were becoming something of a nuisance at Ashington (where they were still stored), and this time, five are listed – 152, 153, 159, 163 and 164.  The third Elliptical Roof example, 9300/154 (its NCB plant number) was now deleted from the list – possibly because the coach was damaged/subject to arson.  It is also interesting to note that 9300/159 is recorded as being ex LNER No.23142.

Other lists consider that 9300/159 was actually LNER 2818 (NER No.818) – which it was.  Is this simply a case of mistaken identity when the coaches were being surveyed perhaps?  Eric Maxwell produced a list (reflected in the table below) that compared NER/LNER/BR numbers with the Ashington Coal Company and later NCB numbers, and this information forms the basis of that contained in the table (and potentially more accurate, being derived from information Mr Maxwell was able to obtain from the Northumberland Records Office).  A list of stock appears on the RCTS website under the heading ‘Carriage Conundrums’ (see references).

First stop – Consett

The coaches were therefore in need of a home, which came in the form of siding space at the Consett Iron Company, where they were duly transferred, by British Railways, for the sum of £60, where friend of the embryonic museum, Mr George Cowell, had agreed to store them (two trams, a waggon and the J21 – No.65033 were also stored at this location, in and around the Templetown loco works part of the extensive system).  Interestingly, in the correspondence, it states that one of the coaches was to be loaned onwards to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

In his extensive survey of the Ashington coaching stock (Tanfield Railway News No.74 December 2006), Eric Maxwell noted that a former Furness Railway bogie carriage was earmarked for the K&WVR.  Was this the same coach, with some confusion around the number, or an additional coach, I wonder?  It’s move did not occur, as far as I have been able to determine.

The move to Beamish

In 1973, after five years in Consett (and some damage caused by arson), the museum was informed that all of its collections stored at Templetown must be removed by that Christmas.  The five coaches were relocated to a temporary siding in the vicinity of the present goods yard at Rowley Station (the J21 had already moved, to Marley Hill, before it would join the coaches at Beamish.

Below:  Several items of rolling stock were stored on tracks laid on what is now the siding that leads up to the coal drops at Rowley Station.  In the background can be seen the old entrance building, later costume department (and now site of the staff car park).  In the trees above the snowplough, the current Regional Resource Centre stands.  It is interesting to note that none of the well-established trees that encircle the present events field are present in this view!  The NCB colours of red oxide and white lettering can clearly be seen on the coaches – which by this time had been out of use for at least six years and leading their nomadic existence for the previous five.  The snowplough (NER No.20) is still at Beamish, stored in the Regional Museum Store.  Its future is subject to a medium-term proposal that will see the light of day in due course.

The data…

NB: The above image should open to a larger size if selected to open in a new window.

No.818 restored

No.818, which is the number that we are sticking with in terms of identifying it, largely as the counter-claimed number belonged the coach that was dismantled at Beamish, for components to use in No.818’s restoration, has the best-known history since arrival at Beamish.

It returned to Beamish after the third loan, but was again placed on loan to Kirby Stephen East as part of a restore and use loan, which sees it based there until 2030.  Another reason for settling on the number 818 is because it has carried that number in its present restored guise since 1981.  Unfortunately there was no blog back in the 1970s and 1980s, so putting timelines together can be quite time consuming.  There is much evidence around the restoration period, but little else on file that we can use to definitively record what too place in that period, and what components were recovered from No.3071.

In the file, there are early signs of consideration being made with regard to restoration of one of the coaches in the late 1970s.  There was no restoration building, so a large poly-tunnel (of the type used in horticulture) was erected in the area behind what is now the Bank and Masonic Hall.  Within this the J21 also received some restoration work, but the principle activity appears to have been the restoration project of No.818, the luggage composite.

Below: A view inside the poly-tent, showing No.818 firstly in January 1977 before restoration commenced.  The task ahead is clear to see.

Below: The project employed labour under the Manpower Services Commission Scheme (MSC), which was a job training programme widely used by heritage sites in the early 1980s.  Work on the restoration was well advanced by the time this view was taken in December 1980.

Below: The work approaches completion, with the livery applied by this stage.  The coach was also equipped with replica gas lighting equipment (that functioned – though not in the most recent restoration).

This selection of views shows No.818 after being rolled out of the restoration tent, in the company of LH&JC No.14, which itself had been restored for the museum and was the principle motive power on the Rowley operation in the 1980s.  Much of the location of the poly-tent is now buried in spoil, created as the Town developed eastwards and when the railway was screened from the storage area behind the Masonic Hall and Bank several years ago.

Below: The first class compartment – complete with the deep blue moquette on the seats.

Below: I wish we had more detailed plans (or an ability to backdate Google Earth!) when looking at views like this.  The current running line follows that which No.818 and No.14 sit on, with the siding in the foreground being approximately where the present loading/unloading pad is situated at what we describe as ‘Rowley East’.

Below: This view is still possible today, though the trees have grown somewhat, and I do consider that the track is somewhat better too!  The back yards of Ravensworth Terrace are beginning to emerge to the right, atop the cutting side.

No.818 was completed in 1981, and went on to win an award for the restoration.  It saw regular use on the NER branch line at the time, and was repainted in that period of operation.  Being kept outdoors was obviously detrimental to its condition, and this wasn’t really solved until 2002 when it could be housed in the newly-built Regional Museum Store.  It also spent some time in the NER goods shed, but this resulted in one end still being exposed to the elements and is no doubt when the leaks started that would subsequently entail quite extensive reconstruction of a number of compartments, work discovered and carried out at Kirby Stephen East in 2023/24.

As a result of its lack of purpose at Beamish, even with operations at Rowley reinstated, it saw three loan periods – to the Tanfield Railway (where it was operating in 2010), North Yorkshire Moors Railway and to Kirby Stephen East (in 2011 and again in 2023).  The scale of work required to bring it back into service when Rowley reopened to passengers in 2010 was beyond the museum’s means at the time, and hiring in the GER Royal Saloon from the Furness Railway Trust was a more expeditious way of providing a coach for the operation.  In 2012 the coach did see some use at Beamish, but the condition was such that it was taken out of service and put into store.

Below:  Two views of No.818 at the Tanfield Railway during its loan period there.  These were taken during the 2012 gala event.

Below: During a brief period of use in 2012, the coach was paired with NER H class (LNER Y7) 0-4-0Ts No.985 and No.1310.  I had a terrible phone camera back then, whence the very murky photo!  This was during the September Power from the Past gala.

Below: On route to Kirby Stephen East, No.818 departs Beamish for a new loan period and a re-restoration.  This was May 2021.  Another phone photo I’m afraid, but one that shows the logistics if moving such a long railway vehicle out of the museum.

Below: Following the magnificent restoration undertaken at Kirby Stephen East by volunteers and contractors, No.818 was unveiled during 2024 looking perhaps better than it has ever done.

With photographic evidence that No.3071 (identified by a process of elimination) was dismantled and the remains burned in 1980, it is probably fair to assume that this coach was used as a source of spares during the restoration of No.818.  It’s bogies were said to have survived (though no evidence for their existence remains), though a set of coach wheels are in store and are probably from this source.

Below: The first efforts to recreate the NER branchline at Rowley were confined more or less to the present station limits.  The rolling stock had been stored where the present boundary line to the events field is positioned, but once sufficient railway had been laid into what is now the cutting where the Signalbox and footbridge are located, some of the stock was relocated onto this (and presumably, as the railway was extended, it was then relocated to the site behind what is the carriage house, bank and Masonic Hall, where most of the images of the unrestored stock are taken.  This view shows what are probably No.818 and No.1149 in the cutting (as No.3071, the other Diagram 7 coach) was known to have been fire damaged prior to moving to Beamish.

Below: Taken in December 1980, these two images appears to show the end for No.3071.  It had been damaged in an arson attack whilst stored in Consett in 1973, and later used for components in the restoration of No.818.  Still, not a pretty sight for a coach built in 1903.  The GW Mink can be seen within the poly-tunnel, which appears to largely have disintegrated at this date, perhaps as a result of storm damage?  It had provided a covered restoration area for the J21, Twizell and No.818, and clearly the Mink was receiving attention too.  the severity of the curve on the running line is also clearly visible in the second view.  Oh to start again with laying out the railways here!

Below: I’m not entirely sure what is taking place here, other than this may be one of the Diagram 178 coaches being either moved, or having its bogie swapped.  Possibly to place a better bogie under No.818?

Below: A note on the slide mount of this image states ‘Not the coach restored’, leading me to surmise that it is No.1149 (as we know No.3071 was fire-damaged – and is probably the coach visible to the right of this view).

Below: This pair of slides date from December 1980.  By a process of elimination, they appear to show No.1149 and No.3071 shortly before the latter was dismantled.  The assumption around these is that the more complete coach is No.1149, as this appears to be in a similar state to the coach at Tanfield, whilst the very skeletal remains of a Diagram 7 luggage composite must be No.3071, with apparent fire damage to the left hand end of the coach.

Below: This view is dated 31/07/76 and shows a very skeletal Diagram 7 clerestory coach.  As we know that No.818 was in line for restoration by this date, and contemporary photos show a more complete No.1149, we can infer from this that the coach depicted is what remained of No.3071 (which had also suffered fire damage only three years previous to this view, whilst stored in Consett).

Below: This slide is dated April 1981, and shows No.1149 and one of the Diagram 178 coaches in the background.

Below: Another view taken of the scene above, this time from further back.  The location shows the current route of the running line at Rowley, with the temporary track being positioned for the coaches to stand on during their latter period of storage at Beamish.

Below: This view definitely shows No.118 and No.1972 – as they are both in it!  To the left is one of the Diagram 7 coaches.  At this stage, the external condition was much more promising than was to be the case in later years.  No.118’s doors were all removed (for reasons unknown), as well as the lower bodyside panelling.  No.1972 (depicted here – you can make ou the NCB Plant number 164 on the waist panel) was similarly dismantled (losing even more of its panelling in the process), and by the time it moved to Tanfield, was very much a roof, side frame, undeframe and bogies, with little else upon which to base a future restoration.

In March 1994, two of the coaches (see table above) were deemed surplus to requirements.  As they were incomplete and quite skeletal by that stage, the museum faced the decision of disposal or scrapping.  The Tanfield Railway was able to offer them a home, and so they were moved to Marley Hill, where they remain to the present.  The Tanfield also houses the eight-wheel brakevan that ran with the miner’s trains at Ashington.

Below: No.1972 stored in the sidings at Marley Hill, Tanfield Railway.  The numbering has been determined from Eric Maxwell’s records – published in the December 2006 issue of Tanfield News.

Below: No.1149, also depicted at Marley Hill.  The enormity of the restoration task for both of these coaches can readily be appreciated in these views.

This left 118 as the unrestored example at Beamish.  It was ultimately placed into the RMS store in 2002, where it remains to the present day.  There are no plans to restore it at the museum, but it is at least undercover and dry.

Below: During a shunting manoeuvre to enable the floor of the railway storage area within the Regional Museum Store (RMS) to be concreted, No.118 found itself outside once again, albeit briefly.  Vestigial remains of the red oxide paintwork applied at Ashington can clearly be discerned, but so can the incomplete nature of the coach. The doors have been removed but the compartment partitions largely remain, making this the more viable restoration of the two Diagram 178 coaches that survived.

Below: We have made little mention of the coaches in their original guise, with their original builder and operator. So here is a Diagram 178 coach as it would have appeared when in service with the North Eastern Railway.  It certainly keeps the hope alive that No.118 might one day be restored, to recreate a ‘typical’ example of suburban rolling stock as it would have operated on the NER system.

The grounded body

There was a sixth NER coach at Beamish, this being 3rd class open saloon No.2688, built in 1888 and withdrawn from service in 1938.  The body was obtained by the museum in lieu of a storage container in 1990, and for some years it was located in the Colliery, used for the storage of lamps and light fittings.  At this stage it was believed to be No.3496.  In 2013, whilst it was still intact, it was offered ‘free to a good home’ and moved to the Aln Valley Railway, who cosmetically tidied it up and placed it on the platform at Lionheart Station.  An underframe has been obtained for the saloon, which the AVR hope to restore in due course. It was previously thought that this coach was No.3496 built in 1905, but research by the Aln Valley Railway resulted in the number 2688 being found to be the more likely.

Summing up…

This is perhaps the trickiest paragraph in this post!  It is hard to be absolutely certain of anything with regard to this collection of coaches, but I think an informed conclusion can be made – but as with all such things, I am sure there is other information out there and I would be very glad to hear of new sources that would enable any of this post to be corrected.  I suppose we can also ask ourselves if any of it actually matters?!  But I think it is important to ensure the record is accurate, but open to correction.  The correct identification of rolling stock is also something that forms an important element in the national enthusiasm for railways, and I know that people do keep their own records, so feel that as a museum we do have a duty to try our best to present the most complete information we can.

Anyway, to sum up…  I think we can say with reasonable certainty, that the coaches that remain in the collection at Beamish are No.818 and No.118 .  We can also say the two coaches that were transferred to the Tanfield Railway are No.1149 and No.1972.  And by a process of elimination, the coach dismantled at Beamish to provide components for No.818’s restoration was No.3071.

References

Darsley, R.R & Jarman, P. D Beamish Great Railway Eras Volume 16 – Beamish: 40 Years on Rails (Middleton Press, 2011)

Dawson, John. B. The North Eastern Railway Carriage Stock from North Eastern Record Volume 2 (Historical Model Railway Society, 1997)

Maxwell, E Some photos and notes on carriages at Ashington Colliery (Tanfield Railway News No.75, December 2006)

Maxwell, E 1725 Onwards – A Guide to the Tanfield Railway (Tanfield Railway, 1998)

http://disused-stations.org.uk/h/hirst_platform/index.shtml for information on the ACC passenger service and stations that were operated by the ACC and NCB

Ashington Colliery Railway bogied carriages

http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=907

http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=907

http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=896

http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=893

Derelict NER Carriage body – free to a good home…

A photo of the coach, now believed to be No.2688, can be found here:

Carriages

The majority of the photos are from Beamish’s own archives, with additional views by Paul Jarman and the Stainmore Railway at Kirby Stephen East.  With thanks to Julian Harrop for scanning the original transparencies at Beamish.

If further information in relation to these coaches comes to light, I shall amend this post so that it remains a definitive reference point for the future – the blog being searchable both within itself and via Google.

As a footnote, there are a great many images in the museum’s archive that have yet to be studied, showing the early years of the museum (in all areas).  I am conscious that a definitive book on the railway history of the museum is overdue, similarly an updated version of the tramway history published in 2013, so this objective is very much on my to-do list.  First things first is a book on Dunrobin, which is progressing in conjunction with the Highland Railway Society.  Where other road transport/buses/cycles/motorcycles fits in too, I’m not sure – but clearly there is a great deal of information available on the blog, and thoughts are also turning to how this might be made available to a wider audience than currently loyally enjoy its content!