LMS Route: Nuneaton to Leamington

Old Milverton Lineside Views: lnwr_oldmil1445b

In this close up of image of 'lnwr_oldmil1445' the photograph has been rotated 90° to show more clearly the 'Victoria Colliery' wagons. The buffers were in essence extensions of the sole plate, in this case made of timber, and because they were solid/unsprung were described as 'dumb buffers'. Robert Ferris writes, 'In 1903 it was identified that 333 accidents had been caused by dumb (or dead) buffers and at a meeting of the Railway Clearing House (RCH) on 21st November 1903, it was agreed to ban wagons with 'dead buffers' on public railways from 1st January 1910, but following protests by wagon owners who claimed it would be impossible to alter the existing 200,000 wagons by that date, the RCH granted an extension to 31st December 1913 and then again to 31st December 1914. In November 1914 the Association of Private Owners of Railway Rolling Stock requested a further twelve months extension (citing the existing trade conditions caused by the start of the first world war), but the RCH refused. The full name of 'Colliery' had been shortened to 'Colly' to fit into the available space on the wagon's side. The only other markings to be seen is a set of three numbers thought to be 4-5-2 which translated meant the empty weight 'Tare' of the Wagon carrying capacity was 4 Tons, 5 cwt (Hundred Weight) and 2 Stone. A cwt was equivalent to 112 lbs (pounds) and a stone was the equivalent to 14 lbs (pounds).

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