Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle Train No 2
Philip A. Millard
Ted Talbot kindly supplied this photograph 
of the above train, taken at an unknown location on the
North Eastern Railway  (probably close to Newcastle) about 1901–2.
Nearest the camera is 30ft 1in brake van No.685. The roof board
reads NEWCASTLE LEEDS MANCHESTER & LIVERPOOL – it has been
reversed to show the destinations in correct sequence ready for the
return journey. On the original print it can be seen that beneath the
six-wheeled van there is a peculiar rail joint with two standard fish
plates so close together that they almost touch, suggesting that a
separate piece of rail is only about two feet long! One of the fish
plates is also over a sleeper , from which it is packed with what
looks like a piece of wood – clearly this must be a siding! The
chairs immediately to the right of this joint are slide chairs
indicating the blades of a point . The finial in the background and
the signal bridge are both indicative of the NER.
Quite a lot of interest can be wrung out of the photograph. First
of all, the train is Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle Set No.2. There
were three similar (but not identical) non-corridor coupled train sets
which served on this route for many years (augmented by two daily
corridor trains in each direction as well).
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The three non-corridor
sets worked round on the following workings (although detailed
timings changed over the years):
| LPL >> |
NCLE >> |
NCLE >> |
LPL |
| 8.35 am |
1.45pm |
4.17pm |
10.00pm |
| 2.00pm |
7.37pm |
7.30am next day |
1.40pm |
As it would mostly be dark between 7.37pm and 7.30am the photograph
was probably taken in the layover between 1.45pm and 4.17pm.
From official records, the train formation is as follows:
| Length and type |
No. |
Diagram |
| 30ft 1in Brake Van |
685 |
(D.385) |
| 42ft Lavatory Third (TL) |
61 |
(D.277) |
| 45ft Lavatory Composite (CL) |
1414 |
(D.154) |
| 45ft Lavatory Composite (CL) |
205 |
(D.154) |
| 45ft Lavatory Composite (CL) |
249 |
(D.154) |
| 30ft 1in Brake Van |
120 |
(D.385) |
The vehicle running numbers are in the pre-1910 series but for
convenience the diagram numbers quoted are from the 1915 book, not
the then contemporary 1895 book.
The D.385 van No.685 was built in 1896 and is dual-fitted , as
witnessed by the arrow on the solebar just right of centre. At the
time of the 1915 Diagram Book only around 30 of these vans were
dual-fitted out of 354 built, so they were not very common on
Westinghouse brake lines.
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