GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Henley in Arden: gwrha762

View of Tyseley shed's breakdown gang inspecting the damage caused to the first coach immediately behind the tender. The final photograph of the 1911 excursion express crash scene shows the first coach propped up using timber baulks. At this time clerestory coaches still made up the bulk of Great Western Railway carriage stock and excursion trains would normally be comprised of older stock. The first coach appears to be a 58 foot long, 'unganged' brake third with an early single arc (Cler.1) roof design. Eight wheeled bogie coaches of this type were built in the 1880’s as diagram D4, under Lot 431. In addition to the three ‘third class’ passenger compartments, they had a long luggage compartment with a guard’s compartment in the centre, but this area was later reduced in length to increase the seating capacity by providing a fourth ‘third class’ passenger compartment. The coach lighting at this time would have been by gas, so it is perhaps fortunate that the coach remained structurally intact and in the near vertical position.

Robert Ferris

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