The carriages of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway

North Yorkshire Moors Railway has a wonderful selection of carriages which date from 1890 through to 1962, a span of 72 years. These carriages came from the former railway companies, prominent of which were the North Eastern Railway  (1854-1922), London & North Eastern Railway (1923-1947) and British Railways (1948-1976). In addition, we have some really special historical carriages under restoration, two from the former Hull & Barnsley Railway  (absorbed by the NER in 1922), one from the North Eastern Railway in its crimson livery, and the oldest one, built in 1894, from the East Coast Joint Stock, an undertaking supplied by three famous companies to work the Anglo-Scottish trains – the Great Northern, North Eastern and North British. 

The bulk of our service trains are formed of the British Railway built Mk1 variety. When British Railways was formed on January 1, 1948, a committee took the best features of the ‘Big Four’ railway companies. Great Western, Southern LMS and LNER and produced the ubiquitous Mk1 in the thousands. We have 34 of these carriages which are historic in their own right being 60 years and older. Our Mk1s carry two distinct former British Railways liveries, Carmine & Cream (often known as 'Blood & Custard' or 'Plum & Custard') and lined Maroon. 

The railway is one of only a handful of heritage railways which can operate a genuine Pullman train bedecked in the famed Umber & Cream livery. There are four Pullman carriages, the oldest and most popular dates from 1928 and is known as Car No. 79. This used to work in the ‘Queen of Scots’ Pullman from King’s cross to Leeds, Harrogate, Newcastle and Edinburgh. Car No. 79 contains some wonderful marquetry. The other three were built in 1960/61 for East Coast Pullmans such as the ‘Yorkshire Pullman’ and the ‘Hull Pullman’. These are named after gems and birds – Garnet, Opal and Robin. Garnet is currently being rebuilt and the plan is to use it on regular services from Pickering to Whitby and, by so doing, the NYMR will be the only railway in the country with a scheduled Pullman service on the national system. 

The beautiful varnished teak carriage set, comprised of eight carriages, dates from 1930 to 1950. These carriages have regularly appeared in films and television, recent appearances include ‘Downton Abbey’ and the remake of ‘Dad’s Army’. We also have two beautifully appointed saloons, one of which has its ancestry with the Great Northern Railway, being built in 1909 and the other is more recent, built in 1948 by the newly formed British Railways, but to a Great Western Railway design.

Generally, the normal service carriages are overhauled by the Carriage & Wagon Department, whilst the vintage carriages are restored by private groups, such as the Hull & Barnsley Railway Stock Fund, the North Eastern Railway Coach Group and the LNER Coach Association.

Both the NYMR and the groups restoring the historical carriages welcome volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering please visit our Volunteering page.

 

Rolling Stock 

And finally, did you know that our Grosmont depot also plays host to the Armstrong Oiler Company Ltd, producers of steam locomotive lubrication devices for over 100 years, supplying railways around the world?