Parliamentary Carriages

[What About The Bee]

On a lark, I selected a combination of words to search for interesting books.  One of the books returned absolutely astounded me. 

Railway Carriages for Conveyance of Third Class Passengers at or under One Penny per Mile
27June1845

A collection of mechanical drawings of the so called Parliamentary Carriages.  The carriages mandated by Parliament for the poor.

Color me gobsmacked!  I have discussed Parliamentary Carriages before.  If you don't know what these are, you may find this interesting.  Parliamentary trains are the reason why English trains had 1st class and 3rd class, but no 2nd class coaches.  https://community.hornbyhobbies.com/topic/33593-railway-oddities/?do=findComment&comment=363132  

Parliament required that the railways provide the plans of those carriages for approval.  They were collected and published.  The list of plans follows.  In the interests of keeping this post reasonably short, I will only show the images I think relevant to my interests.  If you see one on the list but do not see the image, just ask.  Happy to add it.  [GWR anyone? GNER?]

Arbroath and Forfar Railway

Brighton, Croydon and Dover Railways

Bristol and Gloucester Railway

Eastern County Railways

Great North of England Railway

Great Western Railway

Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway

London and Birmingham & Grand Junction Railways

The London and Birmingham Railway was heavily influenced by the LMR.  The Grand Junction Railway interchanged with the LMR, maintaining offices at the LMR stations in Manchester and in Liverpool. 

This Parliamentary Carriage held 40 passengers.  The GJR provided the interior dimensions as well as the exterior.  Length (17'4" outside, 16'11" inside). Width (7'2" outside, 6'8" inside).  Height (5'8" outside, 5'3½" inside), which I presume is for the body, not inclusive of the chassis.

London and South Western Railway

Manchester and Birmingham Railway

Manchester, Bolton and Bury Railway

Manchester and Leeds Railway

The Manchester and Leeds had a common station with the LMR in Manchester.  44 persons sat in a carriage 17 feet long × 7 feet wide.  That's just a bit cramped for my comfort.

Midland Railway

Newcastle and Darlington Railway

Newcastle-upon-Tyne and North Shields Railway

North Union Railway

The North Union literally converted the ubiquitous blue carriages found everywhere to Parliamentary Carriages.  Seating 24, just as the LMR seated 2nd class passengers, without change.

Sheffield and Manchester Railway

Yarmouth and Norwich Railway

York and North Midland Railway