SMR - Passenger Stock

So during the winter of 1931 two further matching coaches were built, and all four assembled as a 4-car articulated set. All seats now faced in the same direction, and eight passengers could be carried. The former driver’s seating block was still retained, but was made into a storage area for rags, polish, oil, and other materials required ‘on the run’. In this form the 4-car articulated set ran from 1931 to closure in 1987, it’s normal storage location being inside the tunnel, padlocked to the track! After closure the set was sold to Adrian Sant, but has since been sold on again. These four coaches always formed the basis of any train formation on Saltwood Miniature Railway.

The ‘original’ passenger coach at Sheffield was an attractive two-seater affair. The seats faced each other, and the vehicle had couplings at both ends, allowing for complete flexibility of use. It was mounted on bogies. This vehicle moved to Saltwood with the relocation of 1924. For a photograph, see the first picture on the “Trojan” page of this site.

In Saltwood, two further matching vehicles were built, permanently coupled as a 2-car articulated set. One was identical to the ‘Sheffield’ design, the other had only one seat, with a driver’s seating ‘block’ at it’s other end, to replace the small 4-wheel truck on which the driver had previously sat. In 1928 the leading vehicle had a second seat added (a temporary one first, then a permanent one) giving this vehicle two seats facing in the same direction, plus the driver’s seating block - the latter now redundant, as the tank engine had been rebuilt, and the driver now sat on the locomotive’s tender. By 1929 both cars of the articulated set had been remodeled, so that all four seats faced ‘forward’ (the normal direction of travel), and only the ‘Sheffield’ coach had a seat in the ‘backwards’ direction - and this coach was withdrawn late in 1929. Then came the first public open day in 1931, when passenger accommodation was at a premium! Only four seats were available.

That original ‘Sheffield’ coach had been scrapped in 1929, and its frame and bogies used for a fine scale model GWR siphon bogie parcels van (see freight wagons page of this site for details). This van lasted four years, and in 1933 was scrapped, and the frame and bogies again reused on a new ‘kiddies carriage’ - a simple truck design with three cross-bar seats, often used by adults, but designed for use by children (there was less bottom room than on the articulated vehicles). Another good design, this was copied around 1938, giving two such kiddies carriages. (Photo left).

These vehicles, like all Saltwood coaches, ran in a GWR ‘chocolate and cream’ livery. The open-ended freight shed to the north of the turntable had a low-level corrugated-iron extension added to house these two coaches. In the photo (right) one of the vehicles sits outside it’s shed in about 1985 - the other vehicle was in use at the time on a passenger train.

In the 1970s two further coaches entered service. In 1976 the vehicle known as the “Didcot Saloon” (below right) was delivered from Lechlade, where it had previously operated as an electric railcar. Stripped of electrical components, and repainted, it became the only enclosed passenger vehicle. The main compartment even boasted a table on which a meal might be eaten in transit! Although liked by passengers, this was never a practical vehicle at Saltwood. It also added a great deal of weight o the train, but provided only three additional seats. Ultimately, it saw service only at the very busiest of times, or in the most inclement of weather.

Finally, in 1977 the highly attractive 3-seater “Centenary” coach (photo left) entered service. Designed by Alex Schwab and built by Tom Smith, it was a hit from the start. These last two vehicles were stored in the through road of the main engine shed, south of the turntable.