Old FR four-wheel coal waggons
This page lists and illustrates those four wheel coal waggons built for the Festiniog Railway pre-1946 that have survived to the present day.
Although heavily employed for locomotive coaling in the 1950's and 1960's, these waggons were built by the Old Company to carry a wide array of goods besides coal, including covered goods when fitted with tarpaulin sheets.
The Wooden Waggon Federation (WWF) has recently been restoring these waggons, three have been completed and a fourth is currently under rebuild in Boston Lodge carriage works.
Waggon 19 (ex-162)[edit]
Coal Waggon No. 19 (1967 No. 162) Built FR Co. Boston Lodge, 1864-1882, Load 2 tons, inside bearings and single end door. Rebuilt Midland Group 1959 with new timber (FRM7). In 1967 renumbered 162; now reverted to 19. Source: FR Chronology.
Under reconstruction in 2023 by the Wooden Waggon Federation. The waggon now sports 5 planks and retains the number 19, being fitted with original oval shaped plates. A part of the spine was renewed, but the vast majority of the chassis was retained. A new drawbar and wheels were added. The floor is new.
The end door was reassembled and coupling hooks attached as at September 2023. In late October the brake gear was pinned and the brake handle packed away from the body side to prevent the handle from being too stiff against its retainer. One axlebox was packed with a new packing piece to improve stability.
The waggon was freshly sign-written in November and final jobs were attended to so that the waggon could re-enter the running fleet. The tare weight is a rather appropriate 0-19-0.
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Wagon 162 (now 19) at Minffordd - note the through vacuum pipe arrangement for running between the locomotive and passenger carriages.
*Date 1990 Photo Roger Marks
Waggon 19 in October 2024. Photo Colin Lea -
Coal Waggon 19 at Boston Lodge*Date: 15th October 2005 Photo: Kim Winter -
No. 19 on the inspection pit at Boston Lodge following its restoration, 26 November 2023 (Alasdair Williams)
Waggon 20 (ex-163)[edit]
Date: 1st May 2005 Photo: Kim Winter
FR No. 20 (1967 number 163). Built FR, Boston Lodge in period 1864-1882. Load 2 tons; outside bearings and single end door; formerly fitted with curly spoke wheel castings with spokes in opposite directions.
Rebuilt by Midland Group in the 1960s. Overhauled by Heritage Group working parties in 1990, fitted with new Jarrah headstocks, and treated softwood body & floor.
Out of use by 2002, solebars and spine failing. Dismantled March 2020 by trainee on HLF 'Skills for the Future' programme, to be subject to a comprehensive rebuild with new woodwork throughout. To be fitted with new curly spoke wheelsets and replacement brasses due to heavy wear.
The Covid-19 pandemic put a hold on work. Jevon Jones (HLF apprentice) had finished machining the new oak components for the chassis. It sat as an unfinished kit until the Wooden Waggon Federation was able to take on the remainder of the rebuild in spring 2021. The original ironwork was sandblasted and painted before being fitted to the new timber.
Completed in summer 2022 ready for inclusion as part of heritage goods train at the 'Bygones' Gala Weekend 7 - 9 October. Outshopped with tarpaulin rings for covered goods configuration, chamfered planks, and an exact tare weight of 1-1-1.
Waggon 22 (ex-165)[edit]
*Date: August 2006 Photo Colin Lea
Coal Waggon No. 22 (1967 No. 165) previously under restoration (floor and body) at Beamish (May 2017) and on loan there. Returned 2019.
In October 2023 the WWF began to overhaul the chassis. New wheelsets installed, corroded drawgear replaced and the body planks removed for chamfering.
The waggon is actually No.22, not 26 as previously numbered. The old plates were an FR metal plate (no raised numbers) and a plastic copy on the other side with a raised 26. An original 22 plate from the heritage store was earmarked as a replacement.
Rolling chassis assembled during the May Society AGM weekend. New metal tiebars fitted, and inner sole bar partially replaced where it joins the bottom end headstock. Waggon bodywork re-assembled in September, completed in time for Bygones Gala 2024. The new tare weight weighed in at 1-3-2.
Photo: John Ryan.
Waggon 126 (ex-164)[edit]
164 -1967 No. (Old FR No. 126) Served for a number of years as the modern day 'breakdown' van for storing jacks, packing, crowbars, etc. At which time it was fitted with a removable roof, since discarded. Waggon 164 was in store at Minffordd Yard in the Waggon Tracks Shed awaiting repairs to its headstocks. It was moved to Boston Lodge in Oct 2024 and has now been fully dismantled by the WWF.
Ironwork is ready to be sent off for sandblasting and new wheel sets are in hand. The floor will be completely replaced, the old tongue and groove floor having been removed and used for firewood. Some lower planks show extensive rot, but other planks are in much better shape and should be able to be reused. The headstocks need complete replacement - the old ones having been formed from sleepers were found to be in very poor condition. The 4 tiebars will be replaced with stainless steel. The outer solebars (which are softwood in comparison to the hardwood spine) will be replaced in oak.
Waggon 166[edit]
Date: 19th August 2016 Photo: Will High
166 -1967 No. (Old FR No. 23?) Built 1859,***, built FR Co. Boston Lodge, 1857/59?, Load 3 tons, iron frame and body, outside bearings and single end door, braked. Date of building may be post 1878 as central spine is double-head rail and appears to be part of the original construction. Has strange long axles to suit the wide body width and is fitted with 3½ inch iron bushes. (see Heritage Journal 30-5). Source: FR Chronology
Major rebuild in Summer 2014 by Slate Waggon team including largely new under frame produced from laser cut parts, in the process some lost original features were restored. Returned to running fleet with new wheelsets to non-standard design in 2019.
Date: 9th January 2005 Photo: Kim Winter
Tare Weights[edit]
The 1-8-0, 1-8-1, 1-5-0 etc. numbers on the sides of these wagons are the 'tare' weights, expressed in tons, hundredweights (20 hundredweights to the ton) and quarters (of a hundredweight) and represent the weight of the empty wagon. When a loaded wagon was run over a weighbridge the tare could be deducted from the recorded weight by the clerk to give the weight of the load, from which the Company would calculate its bill. (ACG)