Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

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colin54
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Joined: 24 Sep 2013, 4:34pm

Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by colin54 »

I've often cycled past this collection of three conjoined /contiguous(?) old goods vans near Hoscar W. Lancs. I've tried to
get a picture of them before, but they have always been concealed by about ten yards of vegetation . Someone has had the strimmer out recently and revealed them. One carriage has totally collapsed leaving only the steel frame. Note how the middle unit has been filled in with brieze blocks, I wonder what they were used for, stabling possibly, there are some donkeys and ponies in the adjoining field. Click for better view.
There's another lot of three or four locally, being used as stables.
Intriguingly an old bicycle wheel & mudguard can be seen through the side of structure.
These vans used to be quite a common sight for many years, being used for livestock storage, or whatever, some even for human habitation post-war, I shouldn't be surprised. These ones are only about 20 odd yards from the railway line, I wonder if they got there 'under their own steam' so to speak.
I have a feeling these ones will disappear soon .
It seems a shame they did away with goods vans/guards vans, perfect for bike transport. We used to ship parts overnight, to be picked up at a railway station next morning by our Service Engineers, using British Rail's excellent 'Red Star' service.
Has anyone else seen any of these about, and care to post some pictures, even old lorry bodies or aeroplanes used for similar purpose ? viewtopic.php?f=7&t=103935&p=1532925#p1532925 Might make a destination for a ride out. Any from overseas, or is it just a British 'make do' thing ?
P1130946.JPG
P1130944.JPG
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I'm not interested in trains as such, it's just that these things are of their time somehow.
Can anyone exceed three in one location ?!
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ClappedOut
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by ClappedOut »

Have seen these marooned in fields and I guess they were given away at the time and last a long time- would these be doctor beeching era?
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Mick F
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by Mick F »

We have this in Lower Kelly, Calstock.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.49836 ... 312!8i6656
It was being lived in in the past.
Mick F. Cornwall
Jdsk
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by Jdsk »

I remember that in the 1950s vans were commonly used as poultry coops and garden sheds.

Jonathan
peetee
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by peetee »

I used to pass this one beside the Windover roundabout in Southampton.
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Some old carriages were (are?) used as volunteer accommodation at the Watercress Line, address: Railway Cuttings, East Ropley
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peetee
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by peetee »

Cyril Haearn wrote: 10 May 2021, 5:52pm Some old carriages were (are?) used as volunteer accommodation at the Watercress Line, address: Railway Cuttings, East Ropley
Some twenty plus years ago there were a number of vintage wooden railway carriages being used as homes in Dungeness. I’ve just used streetview where my hazy memory recalled them to be but can’t see them - although there are similar shaped and sized properties that might be re-clad/re-built carriages.
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Jdsk
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by Jdsk »

"Off the rails: railway carriages reused as holiday homes and permanent housing":
https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wi ... nt_housing

includes the Dungeness story.

Jonathan
colin54
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by colin54 »

Many thanks for all the replies.
ClappedOut wrote: 10 May 2021, 8:59am Have seen these marooned in fields and I guess they were given away at the time and last a long time- would these be doctor beeching era?
I imagine more became available after the Beeching closures, but also because of the move from rail to road freight transport post World War 2 ?
Mick F wrote: 10 May 2021, 1:51pm We have this in Lower Kelly, Calstock.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.49836 ... 312!8i6656
It was being lived in in the past.
I think you should get a couple of extra nostalgia points for having an ancient lime-kiln and a Nissen hut next door to it as well Mick, outstanding!
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.49814 ... 6656?hl=en
Nice picture peetee, they even went to the trouble of fitting guttering I see.
Jdsk, that's an interesting article thank's for the link.
Cyril Haearn wrote: 10 May 2021, 5:52pm Some old carriages were (are?) used as volunteer accommodation at the Watercress Line, address: Railway Cuttings, East Ropley
It looks like they are using a repurposed carriage of some sort for the booking office nowadays.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.08720 ... 6656?hl=en
Here's a an ex-Royal Navy lorry body that's been through a few owners, and was ending it's days as a sheep pen on the moors near Ilkley in 2015. It certainly looks like it's been by the seaside. Click for full rusty effect, steel may be real but rust never sleeps!
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Pebble
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by Pebble »

I went to school with a lad who lived in a collection of joined together goods vans, they were ex gypsies (or at least gypsies that had gone into brick, apart from these who made a house out of old railway goods vans) The place was fantastic, I just loved it there, big scrap yard as a back garden with all manner of junk and old cars to play in. And it couldn't of been closer to the east coast main railway (which was also handy as i was a train spotter). When the goods train rolled by the whole place just shook, always remember trying to play Subuteo there, when a train went past all the players would shoggle themselves off the pitch :lol: and the mother used to have to grab onto any pans on the cooker as they would otherwise fall off. They lived like that for years (at least a decade that I know of) place is all gone now, which is quite sad.
colin54
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by colin54 »

Excellent Pebble, different times...It sounds like the place The Blues Brothers tried to get to sleep in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVmK0agsUmI
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francovendee
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by francovendee »

As a youngster we'd go to West Wittering for holidays. At that time putting an old railway carriage on a plot of land to use as accommodation was popular.
I always wished we'd stay in one. I wonder if any are left?
Jdsk
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by Jdsk »

francovendee wrote: 11 May 2021, 7:36am As a youngster we'd go to West Wittering for holidays. At that time putting an old railway carriage on a plot of land to use as accommodation was popular.
I always wished we'd stay in one. I wonder if any are left?
At least one/two, and available to rent:

http://www.thedodo.co.uk
https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/renov ... y-retreat/

Jonathan
Pebble
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by Pebble »

colin54 wrote: 11 May 2021, 12:05am Excellent Pebble, different times...It sounds like the place The Blues Brothers tried to get to sleep in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVmK0agsUmI
In many ways totally different to the blues brothers clip, trains weren't constant, evry 20 mins or so, less during the night, and it was lovely and very homely inside. The lads dad must have been quite a skilled bloke as he had bolted them all together and fitted them out himself.

I think it was their first static residence, so they had probably spent all their lives in noisy places. Funny how you get used to stuff, I spent many years sleeping in wagons in laybys and trading estates - wouldn't get a wink of sleep if I had to do that now.
colin54
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Re: Old Railway Goods Vans etc.

Post by colin54 »

Funnily enough, I've been reading about the Gypsies at Kirk Yetholm recently. My family on my Father's side were from the Borders.
https://www.gypsypalace.co.uk/section468194.html
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