F.19/F.20 Replica Build
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THE FOLLOWING IS EXTRACTED FROM A MORE DETAILED DRAFT PROJECT PROPOSAL
F.19 at Ramsey Station in the pre-war purple lake colour scheme
These two vehicles represented the smallest class of carriage on the Isle of Man Railway and the first was delivered as part of a batch of six in 1894 from Brown Marshall & Co., Ltd. of Birmingham. The second arrived two years later in 1896 as part of a further batch of seven vehicles from the Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Co., Ltd., and to all intents and purposes these were identical carriages. The second of the two was in the railway’s final batch of “small” Fs, so called because when compared to later deliveries their rooflines are visibly lower. Such was the demand for carriage of passengers’ luggage that two further vans were delivered in 1897 and these became known as “Empress Vans” as they arrived in Queen Victoria’s jubilee year. These two vehicles were complete non-passenger coaches, exemplifying the popularity of the “luggage in advance” service that the enterprising railway company offered at that time.
Such was the success of F.19 and F.20 that ultimately eight further coaches of similar design were delivered to the railway, the last being F.49 in 1923 which was the last new passenger coach delivered to the line. This vehicle remains in regular service today. The eight following coaches were built on steel underframes as opposed to the original two that were constructed on all wooden frames as was commonplace at the time. Both vehicles saw regular use on the railway, mostly on the Peel and Ramsey lines where freight and goods traffic were a popular service; both coaches remained in traffic until the fateful closure in 1965 and again returned when the line re-opened in 1967. It was long after closure that they had been selected for transporting to St. John’s for winter storage in the winter of 1975 when, on the evening of 10th December a disastrous fire ripped through the carriage shed destroying the majority of the contents. F.20 was a write-off as a result and F.19 too badly damaged to consider saving, as the railway at this point had a surfeit of coaching stock; it was ultimately destroyed by fire in July of the following year.
A project such as this would require the cannibalisation of similar items of rolling stock wherever possible, fabrication of replacement parts, and total new-build of bodywork and other fittings but the ultimate reward would be the addition of another historical aspect of the railway being returned for future generations to enjoy.
Based upon contemporary records, available reference materials and extant rolling stock of a broadly similar design it is possible to piece together the dimensions of these vehicles which were of the same overall design as the railway’s first delivery of bogie coaches in 1876 from the same manufacturer with only the accommodation amended to include luggage area and lookout duckets. No works drawings have come to light during the course of our research.
Overall Length 35’ 0” Bogie Type Diamond Framed
Width (At Body) 7’ 0” Wheel Base 4’ 6”
Width (To Ducket) 8’ 2” Wheel Centre 25’ 10”
Configuration G / 3 / 3 / 3 Roof-Rail Height 9’ 4”
Year 1894 / 1896 Builders Brown Marshall
Capacity 24 Status Both Scrapped
As built, the vehicles would have carried the standard Purple Lake livery, similar to that carried by the Foxdale Coach today, with vermillion and gold beading detail and lettering, and carried the original Railway Company crest featuring a small locomotive in green. They would also have carried lamp chimneys along the length of the roof for the gas lights, later modified to electric lighting.
It is likely that the three passenger compartments, which each sat eight passengers, would have been sparsely furnished with plain bench seating and no luggage racks or cushioning. It was only much later than much of the rolling stock was fitted with padded seats, in some cases as late as the 1960s. For reference, the re-built F.9 is in traffic today and is of similar construction; the primary difference being both F.19 and F.20 had waisted sides more akin to later coaches such as F.18, also in traffic today.
Rationale
With the increasing use in prams and pushchairs on the railway in recent times, existing luggage van F.49 has proved invaluable for the carriage of larger items such as these and is the only vehicle capable of this in the service fleet. The addition of F.19/F.20 would be a positive boon to the operation of the railway and would additionally make the carriage of bicycles much simpler, this being particularly prelevant with the popularity of the ActiveTravel scheme; marketed correctly there could be a significant increase in cyclists using the train service as a result of adding a carriage of this type. From a preservation point of view, a long since lost type of historical carriage would also be returned to the active service fleet making is popular with enthusiasts and photographic charter parties.
F.19 on the rear of a train departing Douglas Station in the pre-war purple lake colour scheme
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