Lynton and Barnstable Railway Open Goods Wagons - Missing Details

Hi there,

I am building some open bogie goods wagons in 3-inch scale (7 ¼” narrow gauge) based on the 1897 Bristol Carriage and Wagon Works prototypes delivered to the Lynton and Barnstable Railway. My reference source is predominantly the period-photographs and historical information available on the internet.

Unfortunately, despite much searching and peering with a magnifying glass, I have been unable to determine the following two details. Is there someone out there who can help me fill in the gaps please?

1. How were the bottom of the doors (gates) secured in the closed position? I can see the catch which closes across the top of the doors and ties them together, but have been unable to find any information as to how the bottoms were secured from opening.
2. Were the handbrake handles of the ratchet type (whereby the handle slots into a toothed rack) or of the pin-and- holes style?

Many thanks in advance,

Steve

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Many thank Bill, I was unaware that such a book existed and have now ordered a copy as it sounds like an excellent resource. A shame I didn't know about it earlier as it would probably have saved me some research time and puzzlement.

The book will probably highlight the things I've already deduced and built wrongly as the three chassis', their running-gear and the couplings are already built and I've nearly finished the first body in addition. Fortunately I'm not building exact-scale replicas and so will simply call my errors "artistic license" and move on from there!

Best regards
Steve

Good luck with your wagons... but why is it that so many people think there's a place called "Barnstable"? It's Barnstaple! If ever I do a Google search for something associated with the L&B I generally do two searches with one mis-spelled...

Close examination of one of Peco's 009 wagons may well explain the odd mystery you may still have.

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Many thanks Bill, that's much appreciated.

Nigel - a definite mea culpa on my part. My brain knows it's Barnstaple, my mouth calls it Barnstable, and my typing finger flip-flops randomly between the two!

Best regards

Steve

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Why, please, will you not post my comment on the authorship of the book Measured and Drawn ? The contributor to the forum read the dust jacket or was misinformed. There has been a loose insert correcting the authorship in every book sold since I got it put in 2 or 3 months after publication.

These drawings were prepared by me over nearly 50 years to go in my intended 2-volume history of the line and were transcribed by Mr Phillips.

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 17/09/2021 10:33:11

Please read our T&Cs.

Mr Philips is acknowledged as a co-author by the publisher.

lightmoor.co.uk/books/the-lynton-barnstaple-railway-measured-drawn/SP0103

Dear Mr Wyatt

Thank you for posting my correction. I have only been acknowledged as an author of this 250-page book on the Lightmoor site as a result of 18 months of many communications from me to Lightmoor, latterly with Ian Pope, one of the partners in the business, who operates from the Witney address. The other partner, Neil Parkhouse, at Lydney, blocked my emails. Mr Parkhouse was originally going to publish my 2-volume history. There has been a correction to the authorship as two authors instead of one by way of a loose insert put in the book since August or September 2012, 2 or 3 months after original publication. However Lightmoor would not alter the blurb, probably written by Mr Phillips, implying that he prepared all drawings in the book from his own work. After more pestering about the inaccuracy of this blurb and asking them to correct it was removed altogether and my name was at long last corrected from Micheal to Michael. Lightmoor Press generally only advertises the books it publishes, but this was an exception, probably because Mr Phillips was employed (or worked) for them. As you can imagine, as I have had no royalties or acknowledgement of my involvement in the drawings (which had the joint copyright notices removed for publication) I am still very annoyed and upset that someone would do such a thing. I even had to buy my own copy of the book. It is for this reason that I kept on at Lightmoor and numerous other internet sites who were mislead by the dust jacket to get some recognition for 60 years research and surveying and drawing. The book is called 'The Bible' in L & B circles. These drawings (or the most important ones) were intended for a 2-volume history and Mr Phillips heard about my project and offered to transcribe my drawings and makers plans onto a computer. The aftermath made me very ill for 7 years, but now hopefully it will be published next year 10 years after it was intended to be.

Hi all,

Here are a couple of pictures of the first of the three L&B-based wagons taken last weekend. While not yet fully complete or painted, I wanted to get the loco to the track for its first run before the season ended and this wagon was sufficiently ready for the job.

The wagons are not exact replicas of any particular L&B wagon, and I'm making compromises to allow them to be practical for my purposes, but hopefully I'm capturing the spirit of the L&B at least. The couplings work as the prototypes and interchangeably connect, at least on the workbench!

The book by Messrs. Phillips and Bishop has been very helpful, and Mr. Phillips confirmed that the handbrakes were of the ratchet type. You'll see my attempt to recreate the working handbrake in the first picture.

Best regards

Steve