Isle Of Man Steam Railway

Thanks, Ray - The third Cleminson I was thinking about is, I think, in Suffolk. [having delved into another place for info]

 

I suppose that you could look at it that way - especially as 'Cleminson' is a lot shorter than Swansea Wag[g]on - and the underframes keep the body together. To me, the Cleminson' bit applies more to the wheels ...

 

My understanding is that it applies specifically to how the middle axle can move, so a body is just a body. If it is ever to run again it could be on a Cleminson chassis or a conventional chassis.

 

It's not quite as simple as that. The wheelsets and suspension are attached to 'sub-frames' below the main frame, the end ones pivot whilst the centre one slides sideways and are connected together by rods. It is these 'sub-frames' which, in the video, appear to have been removed for transportation. A full description of the principle and drawing appears here: https://www.weyland.lu/192-cleminson.html
Ray.

 

MellishR - and the clever double-hinged connections between the outside pivoting sub-frames and the centre sliding sub-frames. We have built a working Cleminson wagon here in Suffolk. Actually works surprisingly well. It'd be a great pity to change the essential character of these coaches, I think, StoneRoad.
StoneRoad - yes, it's at the Southwold Railway Trust's "Steamworks" site in Southwold. (Site is open to the public most Sundays)
Not in terribly good condition, but the Cleminson underframe is all there (and most of the complex braking system), although the fixed frame and roof have pretty-much had it. It is however owned by Mr Hendry's group (Three Foot Gauge Railway Society Ltd) , rather than the SRT. However, having just looked that up in the Companies House website, it seems that there are now no directors, so I have no idea where that is.... James

 

That would be N42 (MNR 3) a brake composite. Unlike most of the other Cleminsons this was stored inside St.Johns carriage shed until purchased by the, then, IoM Railway Society, so was in much better condition. It had some cosmetic work done so that it could be displayed in Port Erin Museum from 1976 until the museum revamp in 1998. The vehicle was then stored under cover elsewhere on the railway until the owners (by now renamed the 3' Gauge Society) removed it from the Island (along with No.7's frames) in Oct.2012. N42 was loaned to the Southwold Railway where it remains - outside. In 2024 there was an attempt by the IoMSRSA to bring it back to the Island https://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/140...found-deteriorating-at-base-in-england-671015 but the stumbling block seems to be finding suitable under cover storage.
Ray.

 

Hi James,
You obviously posted your answer whilst I was composing mine! I'm glad that your new-build Cleminson works well - obviously better than the IMR's experience of them which was that they tended to run hot boxes and were prone to derailment. For a while, after a serious derailment at Union Mills in 1882, the 6 wheelers were banned from running over IMR metals east of St.Johns. Once the MNR bogie 'through carriages' F37/8 arrived in 1899 there was little need for the Cleminsons to work off their home rails. By the 1930's they spent most of their time in store only appearing on the busiest days such as Tynwald Day - the last recorded use being 5th July 1950.
Re the 3' Gauge Railway Society, are you aware that the former Director/Chairman Robert Hendry passed away on 3rd Jan. this year?
Ray.

 

The restored Cleminson, apparently runs quite well, but has the usual high "hot box" risk - personally, if I owned it and wanted it to run at line speeds, I'ld put roller bearings in it.

@marshall5 - I didn't know about Robert Hendry ...

 

I'd be tempted to do the same. As it is, despite all the efforts of the workshop staff, it can only be partially loaded to reduce the likelihood of it running 'hot'. As you say it does 'ride' nicely though.
Ray.