GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Henley in Arden - Old Station: gwrha669

GWR half-cab 0-4-4T No 3556 has become derailed at Henley in Arden Old Station. This incident was described in John Boynton's 'Shakespeare's Railways' as follows; "The locomotive hit the buffers in a shower of ballast and splintered wood. It continued across the road and finally embedded itself in the next meadow. The first coach was damaged but empty. The four badly shocked passengers were in the other carriages which remained on the rails" 4th September 1899

My thanks to David Morgan from Google's 'uk.railway forum' and Chris Hurworth from 'railway modelling web forum' amongst many for answering my appeal for information on the locomotive. For more information on the locomotive please see image 'gwrha669a'.

The following information on the coaching stock was supplied by Robin Howell from 'railway modelling web forum'. The brake third looks like the normal 4 wheel 31ft length. It is more unusual though in having what looks like just two 3rd class compartments then the guards door just before the ducket and then the two luggage doors immediately after it. Normally there is a panel or two between the ducket and the luggage doors. So its not a T20, T34, T36, T47 or T59.

The second vehicle is something like an S19 16ft wheel base and 26+ft(?) long with five third class compartments. Quite a cramped little carriage. The third I think is a 1st/2nd composite. The two 1st composites in the middle flanked by the two 2nd composites on the outside. The book I have doesn't show a diagram number for it but it was built around 1879 16ft wheel base again. The reason I think it is a composite is that the centre panel looks larger than the outside ones indicating larger compartments. If it was an all first it could be an R1.

Graeme Wall, also from Google's 'uk.railway forum' wrote 'I'd go for 4 wheeled stock purely on the basis they closely resemble the models I built of such stock some 30 years ago. The middle vehicles has 5 compartments so is probably a third class vehicle, the photos I can find of first/second compos have 4 compartments. It is possible that the right hand vehicle is one of the latter as the ventilators appear to be further apart. Pictures of early 6 wheeled coaches show stage coach style sidelights, i.e. curved outer bottom corners, though there were later 6 wheeled vehicles with straight windows but they had clerestory roofs.'.

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