Trucks and Wagons
History of freight vehicles
1. The oldest vehicle on the line was a four-wheel truck for the driver to sit on behind the original tank engine. This vehicle was built at Sheffield and moved with the line to Saltwood. It was not for passenger use, so is listed here as a freight vehicle.
2. The first ‘genuine’ freight vehicle was a four-wheel open wagon. Technically a 3-plank wagon, it was in scale terms a 7-plank wagon. This vehicle was used extensively at Sheffield for freight work in connection with gardening and also railway maintenance. In those days the railway had just one 2-seater passenger coach, and there is photographic evidence that this first freight wagon was often pressed into service to carry an extra passenger! There is no known photographic evidence that this vehicle came to Saltwood - but see below.
3. Bogie Siphon Van. The only bogie freight vehicle ever to work on the line was a beautifully built scale model of a Great Western Railway ‘siphon’ van. This was an attractive addition to the rolling stock and looked good - but it was also a very practical vehicle, designed to run behind “Trojan” in order to separate the passengers from the engine, due to this locomotive’s reputation for producing a somewhat wet exhaust. Once Trojan had been relegated to ‘second engine’ the siphon van was broken up and her frame & bogies reused - as described in the passenger vehicles section (see that page for details).
[Note: the official history book by Tom Smith has an error in this regard. It states that the siphon van was scrapped in 1933 to build the first "kiddies carriage"; in fact there is plenty of clear and unambiguous photographic evidence that the siphon van was broken up in around 1938 to build the second "kiddies carriage"; thus the siphon van had an in-service life of almost 10 years, and not the short 4 year lifespan suggested in the book.]
4. Wire Brush Truck. In 1987 when the line closed, only one freight vehicle remained on the line - this was the charming and eccentric “Wire Brush Truck” (WBT). It was a four-wheel truck in plain brown livery, and it had wire brushes attached to the underside of the frame. It was used for track cleaning, and was therefore weighed down with a heavy load of rocks and rubble. Evidence from David Harris places the Wire Brush Truck at Saltwood at least as early as the late 1960s. The World News (wn.com) web archive carries a film entitled "The Saltwood Railway" which clearly shows the WBT in its siding at the depot. Sadly this film is undated, but it appears to date from the early to mid 1960s. This is the earliest currently known photographic evidence for the WBT.
5. At Sheffield there was a snow-plough, consisting of a large double blade mounted on a three-sided, four-wheeled truck. This gave the appearance of a snow plough fashioned out of a redundant locomotive tender, in line with British railway practice. Little is known of this vehicle, although there is photographic evidence that it existed, and even that it was used in those very early days.
6. There are multiple photographic sources from the late 1930s showing a four-wheel box van (scale) on the Saltwood line. It appears that during this immediately pre-war era it was common for this vehicle to be attached to the rear of passenger trains (behind the articulated carriage set). Nothing is known of the origins or fate of this vehicle. Its dimensions are clearly too small for it to be the WBT (see above), although it could conceivably be a rebuilt version of the earlier Sheffield snow-plough. Again, the details are scant, but the existence and operation of the vehicle is well documented fact.
2. The first ‘genuine’ freight vehicle was a four-wheel open wagon. Technically a 3-plank wagon, it was in scale terms a 7-plank wagon. This vehicle was used extensively at Sheffield for freight work in connection with gardening and also railway maintenance. In those days the railway had just one 2-seater passenger coach, and there is photographic evidence that this first freight wagon was often pressed into service to carry an extra passenger! There is no known photographic evidence that this vehicle came to Saltwood - but see below.
3. Bogie Siphon Van. The only bogie freight vehicle ever to work on the line was a beautifully built scale model of a Great Western Railway ‘siphon’ van. This was an attractive addition to the rolling stock and looked good - but it was also a very practical vehicle, designed to run behind “Trojan” in order to separate the passengers from the engine, due to this locomotive’s reputation for producing a somewhat wet exhaust. Once Trojan had been relegated to ‘second engine’ the siphon van was broken up and her frame & bogies reused - as described in the passenger vehicles section (see that page for details).
[Note: the official history book by Tom Smith has an error in this regard. It states that the siphon van was scrapped in 1933 to build the first "kiddies carriage"; in fact there is plenty of clear and unambiguous photographic evidence that the siphon van was broken up in around 1938 to build the second "kiddies carriage"; thus the siphon van had an in-service life of almost 10 years, and not the short 4 year lifespan suggested in the book.]
4. Wire Brush Truck. In 1987 when the line closed, only one freight vehicle remained on the line - this was the charming and eccentric “Wire Brush Truck” (WBT). It was a four-wheel truck in plain brown livery, and it had wire brushes attached to the underside of the frame. It was used for track cleaning, and was therefore weighed down with a heavy load of rocks and rubble. Evidence from David Harris places the Wire Brush Truck at Saltwood at least as early as the late 1960s. The World News (wn.com) web archive carries a film entitled "The Saltwood Railway" which clearly shows the WBT in its siding at the depot. Sadly this film is undated, but it appears to date from the early to mid 1960s. This is the earliest currently known photographic evidence for the WBT.
- The WBT mystery: Was the Wire Brush Truck the same vehicle as the original Sheffield open wagon? Some evidence says ‘yes’ - the two vehicles appear identical in photographs.
- Couldn’t Alex Schwab have solved the mystery?: Well, no actually. In about 1984, Alex Schwab was asked directly whether the WBT was the same vehicle as the Sheffield open wagon - his response was that he couldn’t remember.
- And why is it important?: Simply for this reason - if the Sheffield open wagon did come to Saltwood, and survive all those years, and find a new life as the Wire Brush Truck then it becomes the only vehicle of any sort to have operated in original condition and form throughout the entire life of the railway, from the beginnings in Sheffield, to the closure in Saltwood 67 years later. Quite a history! The best we can say is that the Sheffield truck and the WBT are almost certainly the same vehicle.
5. At Sheffield there was a snow-plough, consisting of a large double blade mounted on a three-sided, four-wheeled truck. This gave the appearance of a snow plough fashioned out of a redundant locomotive tender, in line with British railway practice. Little is known of this vehicle, although there is photographic evidence that it existed, and even that it was used in those very early days.
6. There are multiple photographic sources from the late 1930s showing a four-wheel box van (scale) on the Saltwood line. It appears that during this immediately pre-war era it was common for this vehicle to be attached to the rear of passenger trains (behind the articulated carriage set). Nothing is known of the origins or fate of this vehicle. Its dimensions are clearly too small for it to be the WBT (see above), although it could conceivably be a rebuilt version of the earlier Sheffield snow-plough. Again, the details are scant, but the existence and operation of the vehicle is well documented fact.