Diagram 84 Open Goods Wagon - 36in sides, side door - 18ft - to carry 10tons

Diagram 84 was the first of the new standard 18ft. long wagon designs with a 9ft 9in wheelbase, which were introduced by Mr H D Earl in 1904 to replace the two and four plank 7ton 16ft wagons, Diagrams 2 & 4, which were becoming life expired. This type of wagon, known as Diagram 84, after its page number in the official wagon diagram book, was 18ft long by 7ft 10in wide externally. The wheelbase was increased to 9ft 9in, which it is believed was chosen so that the new wagons could still be turned on the many wagon turntables in use at goods sheds across the whole company system. The general design closely followed that of the Diagram 9 vehicles they were eventually to replace but, in Earlestown drawing No. 91 [HMRS 1073] dated 20.2.04, the door width was increased to 4ft 9½in. A subsequent drawing, ETN No 805 [HMRS 1083] dated 14.6.06, shows the doors width increased to 5ft 0in. From the beginning all had double brakes both sides and although initially some may have had 10ton grease axleboxes, these were soon succeeded by the flat-fronted oil boxes. The first 80 wagons were built experimentally in 1904/5. After a pause in production, presumably to allow for assessment of the new design and incorporation of some detailed changes, construction re-commenced in earnest in 1907 and large numbers were built every year until 1921, by which time the total stock stood at approximately 15,000 vehicles - see Table 1.

Some were built on capital a/c and would therefore have been given new numbers at the top of the then current wagon stock. For example in 1912 orders were placed for 1000 of these wagons with a variety of contractors, and all numbers from 75019 to 76018 were allotted to these wagons. Most of the 15,000 were built in renewal of condemned smaller open wagons such as Diagrams 2 and 4. These new D84s would have carried the numbers of the wagon they replaced. As a consequence, the 15,000 vehicles carried numbers spread throughout the whole numbering range. ie 1 to 79,999. This is borne out by the range of sample numbers shown in Table 2, all of which have been positively identified as belonging to D84 wagons, which survived until the 1958-60 period.

From photographs the following numbers are on record: 10170 [6.15.1], 12179 [6.15.2], 25649 [6.10.1], 29413 [6.11.0], 33550 [6.13.0], 44597 [6.16.1], 51942 [6.4.0], 60549 [6.13.0], 70138 [6.18.0], 75209 [6.8.0], 75919 [6.14.3], 78832 [6.5.1].

A Diagram 84, 18ft long, wagon in on the road condition. The livery indicates that the photograph was taken in the 1920s because the 10T is on the bottom right-hand plank and the number is on the bottom left-hand plank, with the tare weight on the curbrail instead of the solebar. The axleboxes are the third, bulbous, design and the buffers are the 4-bolt square base single rib style.

Source, H C Casserley Neg. No. 9556. Taken at Hulme End on 29th April 1933.

This general arrangement drawing of a Diagram 84 wagon dates from 1906.

Source HMRS Dwg. 1083 [Earlestown GA 805]