Nostalgia on Tuesday: The full works

York is perhaps best known for its ancient history, but there are also other aspects to its past that are equally fascinating. One example is the former sprawling Carriage works that once provided work for up to 3,000.
Peter Tuffrey collection

York Carriage Works First Class  Seats being UpholsteredPeter Tuffrey collection

York Carriage Works First Class  Seats being Upholstered
Peter Tuffrey collection York Carriage Works First Class Seats being Upholstered

One example is the former sprawling Carriage works that once provided work for up to 3,000.

The York & North Midland Railway, headed by the self-styled ‘Railway King’, George Hudson, brought a railway line into the centre of York in 1841. It linked York to Leeds. The Y&NM steam engines were maintained in locomotive repair shops just outside the walls. Growing in size over the next few years, the repair facility catered not only for locomotives but also wagons.

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After the North Eastern Railway took over the Y&NMR in 1854 wagon work was removed to another site in 1867. Between 1880 and 1884, the company established carriage workshops which became its main carriage building and repairing area.

York Carriage Works Clean Room  Working on Electrical ComponentYork Carriage Works Clean Room  Working on Electrical Component
York Carriage Works Clean Room Working on Electrical Component

The type of vehicles constructed had six wheels and featured clerestory roofs but were austere, lacking both style and facilities. First Class carriages and compartments were more comfortable than Second, Third or Fourth Class, but all carriages had primitive brakes. As power brakes were not introduced until late in the century, the trains had to rely on a locomotive’s brakes or those fitted to ‘brake’ coaches.

Annually between c.1896 and 1906 York built about 100 four wheel bogie vehicles with clerestory roofs. Then elliptical roofs became the mainstay of the design for passenger vehicles. The majority of the NER coaching stock featured compartments and only a small number of corridor carriages were built for the company’s services. This was because the majority of the main line types were for the East Coast Joint Stock and these were designed and – until 1895 – built at Doncaster. The ECJS was the term used for carriages especially intended for the Anglo-Scottish (London-Edinburgh) services.

From the start of the 20th century, York took a greater hand in the ECJS construction duties, but was still limited in design work. The carriage shops had been considerably extended with the addition of new shops and installation of new equipment to cope with the increase in carriage sizes. The site now covered 45 acres and some 15 acres were under cover.

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In 1903, York Carriage Works constructed new vehicles for the electrified lines from Newcastle to Tynemouth. These had clerestory roofs, matchboard sides, gate partitions and seating for 64. Subsequent electric stock was also given steel underframes and before the First World War this became mandatory for all new carriages.

York Ambulance Train Interior  Converted at York First World WarYork Ambulance Train Interior  Converted at York First World War
York Ambulance Train Interior Converted at York First World War

In the early days of the First World War a battalion was raised from NER employees in the Hull area as well as some from York. Those left behind in the Carriage and Wagon Works were soon busy making 634 general service wagons (a further 250 would be built to the end of the conflict), over 1,000 stretchers, 3,000 picketing posts and 17,000 picketing pegs. Before the end of the hostilities a 17-carriage ambulance train was completed, in addition to a set for the Director General of Transportation on the continent.

In 1923 all the UK’s railway companies were grouped into four new companies. The NER became part of the LNER and the latter inherited a total of 21,000 carriages. 4,000 belonged to the former NER and as a result York Carriage Works was an important facility for keeping these in traffic. The capacity for new construction was not overlooked and the shops were embraced as major contributors to the requirements of the company.

During 1924 York built the new standard designs that were to be incorporated in the new Flying Scotsman set. A small batch of composite sleeping cars also emerged from York and in 1928 the works built the first third class sleeping car.

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In 1928 K.S. Robertson, Assistant Carriage Works Manager at York, stated that the workshops were capable of building 200 carriages a year.

Carriage Repair Shop LNER c  1930Carriage Repair Shop LNER c  1930
Carriage Repair Shop LNER c 1930

There were around 3,000 people employed at York Carriage and Wagon Works in the early 1930s, but 400 redundancies were imposed in 1930. By 1936 the workshops were constructing one carriage a day and repairing as many as 16.

With the introduction of the high-speed trains in 1937 a certain standard was expected for the main line services and one to receive an upgrade was the ‘East Anglian’ running between Liverpool Street station and Norwich, stopping at Ipswich. York built six carriages. Armchair-style seats were provided and Rexine and aluminium trim and fixtures were used liberally throughout. For 1938 ten carriages were ordered from York to form the ‘Hook Continental’ set.

By the end of 1939 with the outbreak of the Second World War York was building ambulance trains for use at both home and abroad. Other items built included aeroplane parts, tank components and motor launches.

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Construction of new carriages at York began again in 1946 and these were featured steel side panels.

York Carriage Works LNER East  Anglian First Class Carriage Oct 1937York Carriage Works LNER East  Anglian First Class Carriage Oct 1937
York Carriage Works LNER East Anglian First Class Carriage Oct 1937

From 1959 York concentrated on building Electric Multiple Units for BR’s growing number of electrified lines.

Following the break-up of British Rail Engineering in 1987, York Carriage shops were sold to ASEA Brown Boveri, but under this new management high-quality carriage construction and maintenance at York came to an end during the 1990s.

The US firm Thrall acquired the workshops and began construction of wagons for English, Welsh & Scottish Railways in 1997. This continued until 2002 when the site was finally shut down.

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