Locomotion.... NRM at Shildon.

I am not a great fan of steam days and open days but I recently went to the annual Steam Gala at NRM Shildon. The London and North Western Railway Society (of which I am a member) was celebrating its 40th anniversary at the museum and the staff there had brought two of their LNWR locos out into the sunshine for us. The Coal Tank, owned by the National Trust, was present as a visitor.

We had an introductory talk from Anthony Coulls, senior Curator of Vehicles at the NRM followed by a tour of the LNWR Dining Car (which is usually closed to the publisc).

The dining car is described as a semi-Royal vehicle which was built in 1900 and which served in the Royal Train from1903 until 1956. It has a clerestory roof and is on six wheel bogies.

The main dining area of the coach is seen here with its long central table. This area takes up about half of the coach length.

The rest of the dining area is made up of normal first class seating as seen here,

Then the kitchen takes up a remarkably small area at the far end of the coach. The extensive gas cooker is seen here with the oven on the left. Note the drainage grid on the floor to allow spilled fat etc. to drain away rather than make the floor slippery. All of this is set in a coach paneled in heavily varnished wood.

Washing and preparation area.

Detail of the gas range.

'Cornwall' and 'Hardwicke' seen outside for the occasion.

The recently overhauled "Coal Tank" was in steam in the yard.