I have finished my little set of late Victorian horseboxes with some simple work on a couple of second-hand LNWR and SECR models. It’s all quite pragmatic and the late 1890s is a bit early for my Edwardian period. But it’s been a rough year and I needed some light relief.
First up was this lovely LNWR horsebox built from a Micro Rail/David Geen kit and bought second hand several years ago. The kit nominally represents a 14’3” horsebox but I understand that the actual prototypes were 14’6”. Apparently, the shorter dimension comes from a drawing based on a surviving body that no longer exists. It is believed that the body had shrunk when it was measured!
The LNWR built 268 14’6” horseboxes from ca. 1872-1877, apparently with some variations. All were gone by the end of 1901. The above photo shows one at Crewe North Junction in 1881. There is a useful discussion and article on the horsebox in the Scalefour Forum here.
The model is very neatly made. The initials suggest it was built by Peter K. Dawson and David Studley. Thanks to Dave Searle for clarifying this.
Some of the glazing needed repair, so I ventured inside. No trouble this time, as a nut underneath held the roof in place. A simple and rather neat arrangement.
Glazing renewed, I added some missing details to the roof. Grab handles at one end, and a circular fitting over the groom’s compartment (vent?). Thanks to Penlan on RMweb for pointing out these details.
Another missing detail was the rodding at one end, which facilitated opening of the top flap. I knocked up a representation of this from bits of wire.
The rodding in place. I also fitted safety chains and hooks, made as described in an earlier post. The few known prototype photos do not show brakes on these vehicles, nor does the LNWR 1895 carriage book drawing. It is unclear if brakes were ever fitted to these vehicles before their 1901 withdrawal.
So I decided not to fit brakes until more evidence is available (if ever). But since mine will run on foreign metals, I made it through-fitted with both vacuum and Westinghouse pipes. The latter are not strictly needed on a GWR-bound vehicle, but I’m thinking that a horsebox going off the LNWR system might be drawn from a general pool of dual-fitted stock?
Ready for the layout.
Next was this ex-LCDR Class IV horsebox, rather dusty from many years of storage. The model is another second-hand purchase, presumably made from the Roxey Mouldings kit. It is in SECR Madder Lake livery, which I understand was applied to LCDR stock from 1899 onwards.
The model is numbered 184, which is no random choice. It represents the body once owned by the Bluebell Railway. SECR No. 184 was originally LCDR No. 1, built 1882. After withdrawal it was used first as a checker’s office and later a private garage. It was acquired by the Bluebell in 2007 but sadly lost in a 2010 fire. Embedded photo from Dave Clarke's Flickr collection.
Little work was needed on the model. I added a roof-fitting that seemed to be missing and toned down the very white roof. I’m ambivalent about roof colours. I know they quickly turned dark grey, but it seems such a shame on vehicles like these.
The model came with Westinghouse brake but only had vacuum pipes at the ends. If I understand correctly, No. 184 was fitted with Westinghouse brakes from the outset with through vacuum pipes added in 1901.
So I made some more Westinghouse brake pipes - very pragmatic, just bent wire and masking tape with a dab of superglue. I gather Westinghouse pipes were typically thinner than vacuum ones, and sometimes also smaller - see e.g. these dual-fitted horseboxes: GNR here, NBR here and GCR here.
Fitted with Westinghouse brakes and through-piped for vacuum brakes, No. 184 is now in the post-March 1901 condition of its prototype. That’s two months beyond the Victorian period, a compromise that allows me to also run this ‘box in my Edwardian trains.
Lastly a light dark wash. This is just water with a drop of black Vallejo (still wet). I did experiment with the ready-made Vallejo wash in the background but found it darkened things too much. Seems OK for selective pin-washing, though.
No. 184 ready for action.
While I was at it, I also fitted my GWR N1 and LBSCR D53/271 horseboxes with through-pipes. This photo reminds me that Easter Island is on my bucket list. That or Slough.
I gather that the GWR and LB&SCR painted the upstands of through-fitted pipes red, and fully-fitted pipes black. Not sure what colour LBSCR, LNWR and SECR did – so those are black until I am told otherwise. In 1952, BR introduced white for through-fitted pipes and red for fully fitted ones.
At this point it dawned upon me that I had not thought things through. For my passenger and NPCS stock I use a manual shunting pole – already a tricky affair, but with dual fitted stock it proved simply maddening!
So maybe the through pipes need to come off again. Or I will just run the horseboxes in a fixed set, like this. This train is topped and tailed by a GWR V5 and a V13, echoing photos that show PBVs at each end of horsebox trains.
Or should there also be accommodation for jockeys on the train, as suggested by Pendon. If so, here’s a quick test with a T47 Brake Third at the rear - although this diagram was built 1900-1902, late Victorian indeed.
The horsebox train on one of my short layouts. No space for a proper run yet, but when the main running lines are done, I can hopefully run a horsebox special or two. The Dean Goods did a fair amount of passenger work, so isn’t wildly out of place I think.
My little train here has prompted some broader questions about horsebox traffic. For example, was such a mix of horseboxes from different companies ever seen in reality? Earlier, Andy Hayter over on RMweb suggested that horsebox traffic to lesser race courses would have been fairly local.
But what if my train is headed for a major national event? From photos I get the impression that such events were mainly served in two ways: By direct specials from each region, and by individual/small batches of horseboxes travelling via passenger trains. If that’s correct, then a mixed special like this might not be prototypical. But others may know better!
What does seem clear is that foreign horseboxes appeared regularly on GWR lines. Photos show this, and John Lewis’ excellent horsebox articles in the Great Western Railway Journal gives examples of how they were transferred between companies.
I note also that foreign horseboxes didn’t just carry racehorses. According to John’s articles, horse sales played a fair role in horsebox traffic. Above is the Dalis Fair at Lampeter. The first two ‘boxes are GWR but the next two seem to be foreigners (LNWR roof fittings?). The rest are cattle wagons for the cheap nags.
Another issue is that of brakes. The Dean Goods on this train only provides for vacuum brakes, as that was the GWR thing. The horseboxes are all through-fitted for vacuum, but only two are fully fitted, and that is for Westinghouse brakes! Which means the horseboxes have no brake power of their own.
The PBVs are vacuum braked, but that’s hardly enough. Even if we count horseboxes as ½ vehicles as per the LB&SCR rules quoted by Eric on RMweb (below), we still end up with a ratio of 2:4 unbraked vehicles. If we count axles it’s even worse!
"Checking the Appendix to the WTT, the Brighton's provisions allowed one vehicle in four to be unbraked for trains running less than 10 miles between stops and one vehicle in six if more than 10 miles between stops. However, it looks as though horse boxes counted as half a vehicle - so the maths must have become a bit complicated!"
It’s my impression that pre-1880s it was not uncommon for horseboxes to be unbraked. Then they gradually became through-fitted and eventually fully fitted. The 1889 Regulation of Railways Act presumably sped up the process as it required continuous, automatic brakes on passenger trains. That said, some horseboxes seem to have gone without fitted brakes until early 1900s retirement, as may have been the case for the LNWR 14’6 horseboxes.
Handbrakes were sometimes fitted to horseboxes, as on my GWR N1 here - though in some cases it happened surprisingly late (1900s) and sometimes after automatic brakes were fitted.
So there is something to ponder. But if all else fails, I will simply run this as one of my “funny trains”, to quote David Jenkinson. I do also have a more regular set of GWR horseboxes underway for my Edwardian sessions, more on that later.