Grounded bodies

It seems likely that carriage bodies were grounded as makeshift dwellings almost as soon as old carriage bodies became available. From time to time, complete carriages were sold and perhaps the most famous of these is Lynton & Barnstaple Brake Composite Observation car SR No. 6992, which was installed in the garden of Clannaborough Rectory after the line closed in 1935. There it served for the occasional meeting of the Parochial Church Council until acquired by the National Railway Museum in 1992 where it remains, unrestored, to this day. However the grounding of bodies to make homes became quite widespread after the First World War and before planning and building regulations put a stop to it. It was particularly popular for the construction of holiday homes and some of those still stand today. One notable location was Selsey in Sussex where the Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway was often the last leg in moving Pullman cars to their final resting place. Not that the impecunious HMST, one of Colonel Stephens’ light railway enterprises, ever contributed its own vehicles to such a purpose. Its own stock was second or third-hand and beyond use for anything but firewood when the HMST finished with it! Because many grounded bodies date from Victorian times, whenever local reporters get hold of the story of one being saved for preservation it seems to become a carriage that Queen Victoria travelled in, rather than one that was merely around during her time!

J.S. GILKS/CJL COLLECTION Above: ‘N7’ 0-6-2T No. 69651 propels the 4.06pm Bartlow-audley End and Saffron Walden into Ashdon Halt on March 22 1958. The grounded coach body was the only waiting shelter and, I understand, its remains are still there.

Provided they were reasonably well cared for, grounded carriage bodies lasted a long time. This one used as a store on a Fenland farm was still serving its purpose in the 1990s and even still boasted a ‘Smoking’ sign on one window. CHRIS LEIGH

Above & below: Not Queen Victoria but probably gun-toting cowgirl Annie Oakley travelled in this former sleeping car from Barnum & Bailey’s ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ circus. One of eight Us-style coaches built by Renshaw in Stoke-ontrent as part of an order for over 60 vehicles, this one became a push-pull trailer on the Alexandra (Newport) Docks & Railway before the GWR disposed of it to become a private dwelling in Devon. It was recovered by a Welsh museum in 1992 but its present status is unknown.