This is the second of two such carriages which represented the smallest series of passenger rolling stock on the railway and arrived two years after F.19 in 1896 as part of a further batch of seven vehicles from the Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Co., Ltd., of Saltley Works in Birmingham. 

To all intents and purposes this was identical to F.19, the clear difference being less vertical beading on the latter shown in images below. It was part of the final batch of “Small Fs”, so called because when compared to later deliveries their rooflines are visibly lower than later stock supplied.

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 non-passenger vehicles.  This exemplified the popularity of the “luggage in advance” service at that time.  

Such was the success of F.19 and F.20 that ultimately eight further carriages of similar design were delivered to the railway, the last being F.49 in 1923 which was the last new passenger carriage delivered to the line.  This vehicle remains in regular service today and was overhauled in 2019.

The eight following carriages were built on steel underframes as opposed to the original two that were constructed on all wooden frames as was commonplace at the time. It saw use mostly on the Peel and Ramsey lines where freight and goods traffic were popular, in common with sister F.19.

F.20 remained in traffic until the fateful closure in 1965 and again returned when the line re-opened in 1967, though F.19 saw more common use and F.20 was stored in poor condition, freight traffic having dwindled.  Limited access to records show it was very little use after 1964, the younger half-brakes being favoured.

Transported to St. John’s Station for winter storage, it was on the evening of 10th December 1975 that a disastrous fire ripped through the carriage shed destroying the majority of the contents.  F.20 was a write-off as a result as were several other carriages of historical importance.  

The Association have looked into the possibility of a replica of this unique carriage in the past, the ultimate reward being the addition of another historical aspect and valuable storage space for prams and pushbikes which is still much needed today, see here for further details.