Records of Wolverton Carriage and Wagon Works
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Records of Wolverton Carriage and Wagon Works A cataloguing project made possible by the Friends of the National Railway Museum Trustees of the National Museum of Science & Industry Contents 1. Description of Entire Archive: WOLV (fonds level description) Administrative/Biographical History Archival history Scope & content System of arrangement Related units of description at the National Railway Museum Related units of description held elsewhere Useful Publications relating to this archive 2. Description of Management Records: WOLV/1 (sub fonds level description) Includes links to content 3. Description of Correspondence Records: WOLV/2 (sub fonds level description) Includes links to content 4. Description of Design Records: WOLV/3 (sub fonds level description) Includes links to content 5. Description of Production Records: WOLV/4 (sub fonds level description) Includes links to content 6. Description of Workshop Records: WOLV/5 (sub fonds level description) Includes links to content 1. Description of entire archive (fonds level description) Title Records of Wolverton Carriage and Wagon Works Fonds reference code GB 0756 WOLV Dates 1831-1993 Extent & Medium of the unit of the 87 drawing rolls, fourteen large archive boxes, two large bundles, one wooden box containing glass slides, 309 unit of description standard archive boxes Name of creators Wolverton Carriage and Wagon Works Administrative/Biographical History Origin, progress, development Wolverton Carriage and Wagon Works is located on the northern boundary of Milton Keynes. It was established in 1838 for the construction and repair of locomotives for the London and Birmingham Railway. In 1846 The London and Birmingham Railway joined with the Grand Junction Railway to become the London North Western Railway (LNWR). The works became the LNWR Engine Works and continued construction and repair of locomotives until 1865. In 1877 locomotive work ceased and was transferred to the LNWR Crewe works. Wolverton became the LNWR Carriage Works, taking over the role from Saltley Carriage Works, Birmingham. By 1907 Wolverton was the largest building and repair works in Britain; between 1900 and 1924 4500 staff worked there. In 1923 railway companies in Britain were amalgamated into four main railway companies. The LNWR was amalgamated into the London Midland and Scottish (LMS) railway company and the works became the LMS Carriage and Wagon Works, Wolverton. Works activities were extended to include new wagon construction. During World War One and World War Two British railway companies were temporarily taken under control by the Government. Companies were given a dispensation to undertake work on behalf of overseas railways or other organisations at home or abroad. During World War Two Wolverton repaired Whitley bombers, produced sections of Horsa gliders, and converted nearly 700 commercial motor vans into armoured vehicles. In 1948 the railways were nationalised and Wolverton continued to operate as a major works under British Railways (BR). In 1962 all main BR works (at this point known as British Rail) were rationalised and Wolverton became a carriage repair works only, the site was reduced in size by 30 per cent. From 1970 onwards the works was operated by British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL). From 1986 BREL was altered to form two separate divisions with Wolverton becoming under the jurisdiction of British Rail Maintenance Ltd (BRML). British Rail was privatised in 1993, the site was owned by Alstom until the mid 2000’s, the site is now operated by Railcare. Administrative structure There is no documentation in this archive to show how the works was run in its very early days, however we know that the works was managed by a Superintent and it is likely that foremen or workshop supervisors controlled work on the shop floor. During the LNWR period (1846-1923) the works was organised into departments under the Superintendent, namely; Accountant, Correspondence Clerk, Chief Draftsman, Works Manager, Storekeeper and Outdoor Assistant Departments. These were then subdivided into teams of clerks, assistants etc. Under these departments were workshops and their staff, this would have been where the majority of staff members worked. For more detail see London and North Western Railway Society Organisational Chart, Carriage Department (WOLV 1/3/3). When the LNWR was amalgamated into the LMS the works was controlled by the LMS Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME). The LMS introduced a functional type of works organisation – all planning for new manufacture was undertaken in the Production Planning Office, which meant that little office work was carried out in the workshops. This is reflected in the small amount of documentation in originating directly from workshops in this archive. Under Nationalisation some staff at Wolverton were under the jurisdiction of the Chief Mechanical and Electrical Engineer (CM&EE). These staff were responsible for examining rolling stock and had input into the design process. All other members of staff worked for the Workshops Division. Control functions in BREL workshops were similar to that of LNWR and LMS structure with departments for production, accounts, and personnel. Other information Wolverton was one of the first ‘Railway towns.’ Initially gas and water was supplied by company as well as the works fire brigade. In 1901 a central power station was designed by Works Superintendent C.A. Park and Wolverton became the first railway works to adopt electric lighting and machinery driving throughout. From 1919-1926 the works ran the Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tram, which was the last steam tramway to operate in Britain. Wolverton developed a single battery system that was designed to replace gas lighting in carriages. This became the standard for the LNWR and the LMS and was known as the ‘Wolverton System’ of train lighting. From 1950 BR carriages were fitted with more modem batteries and by 1964 the Wolverton system began to be replaced with other designs. Archival history Transfer of material The bulk of the archive was transferred to the National Railway Museum in 1986 directly from Wolverton Carriage and Wagon Works. However some records originating from Wolverton reached the National Railway Museum through different routes and have been reunited with Wolverton material to form this archive. Some publications (WOLV 1/6/1/4-13) were transferred from Wolverton Carriage and Wagon Works to the British Railways Board Record Centre in London. These were subsequently transferred to the National Railway Museum, dates unknown. Early locomotive drawings (WOLV 3/1) were transferred to the National Railway Museum from the former Museum of British Transport, Clapham, in 1975, along with drawings of other provenance (NRM inventory number 1996- 7911). It is likely that they were transferred to Clapham from Crewe or directly from Wolverton, date unknown. A proportion of the main series drawings (WOLV 3/2) were transferred to the National Railway Museum from the former Museum of British Transport, Clapham; there they were grouped into an ‘LMS series’. All drawings from the ‘LMS series’ that originated from Wolverton have now been added to the archive. These drawings form part of the main series drawings but have been distinguished with ‘LMS’ in the reference code. Some photograph albums (WOLV 3/5) were removed from a ‘Misc’ photograph album series held at the National Railway Museum. It is likely that some of these albums may have originated from Derby, however for ease of reference these have been added to the Wolverton archive. Absent material This archive does not contain all records from Wolverton Carriage and Wagon Works, many would have been transferred to other owners or destroyed According to a letter in the Stephenson Locomotive Society Magazine 1955 and 1956 (see Useful Publications relating to this archive) there was a fire in J.E. McConnel’s Offices (Locomotive Superintendent of the Southern Division at Wolverton 1847-1862) at Wolverton in1855 which may have destroyed records. During World War Two Wolverton destroyed paper records as part of a national paper salvage drive. Material originating from other corporate bodies Some records from other corporate bodies have become part of the archive. This is because they were transferred to Wolverton for operational use during the works existence. The drawing collection contains records from private companies and other railway works (WOLV 3/1, WOLV 3/2). The collection includes stock books from Saltley (WOLV 1/1/1), which were presumably transferred to Wolverton for administrative purposes when Saltley ceased carriage production. There are also records from Newton Heath and Earlestown such as diagram books (WOLV 3/3), and correspondence regarding staff from the British Railways Chief Accountant’s Office Manchester (1960’s-1970’s) (WOLV 4/8/12). Scope & content Organisational subdivisions The archive is split up into organisational subdivisions as follows, follow links for more detailed descriptions WOLV/1 Management records WOLV/2 Correspondence records WOLV/3 Design records WOLV/4 Production records WOLV/5 Workshop records The following themes are represented throughout the archive Manufacture The archive contains records covering all main functions of the works from the 1830s to the 1990s. It contains some record of nearly all vehicles produced at Wolverton. Detailed information on vehicles can be found in drawings (WOLV 3/1, WOLV 3/2), these drawings often show vehicles and material that was designed but never actually manufactured. The archive also contains an almost full set of drawing registers from 1886 that run until the 1980s. (WOLV 3/4). These record all drawings produced at Wolverton, even if the drawings themselves have not been preserved. More information can be found from other sources including correspondence (WOLV/2), reports (WOLV 1/5, WOLV 1/14), order for new stock/specification files (WOLV 3/9) and photograph albums (WOLV 3/7) as well in files concerning building programmes (WOLV 4/4), condemnation (WOLV 4/10), and accounting and financial records (WOLV 4/8). Where possible lot numbers, drawing numbers and correspondence reference numbers have been referenced.