Another new addition to the collection,
Coat of Arms of the
Maryport & Carlisle Railway
Chasewater Railway has a 6-wheeled coach which belonged to the Maryport and Carlisle Railway, before being used as part of the Paddy Train at Cannock and Rugeley Colliery Pit at Cannock Wood. The Coat of Arms is a long sought-after object for the Museum.
There were 27 subsidiary companies in the group of railways which made up the LMS, but only a handful of them owned locomotives and rolling stock.
The oldest was the Maryport & Carlisle, which was incorporated as long ago as 1837. It was opened in instalments and completed throughout on 10th February 1845, eventually owning nearly 43 route miles of line. It enjoyed an enviable dividend record, which rose to a peak of 13% in 1873, and it was one of the most prosperous of all British railways over a long period of years. It contributed 33 locomotives, 71 coaching vehicles and 1,404 freight vehicles to the LMS.
Two early types of transfer for the decoration of the coaching stock, which was given a varnished teak external finish at the time, have been traced. One was a conventional script monogram. The other consisted of the initials ‘MCR’ on a red field surrounded by an Oxford blue garter with the usual gilt edging, ornamentation and legend bearing the full title. It measures 9¼ in wide X 11¼ in high over black shading.
A livery of green with white upper panels was adopted in 1905 for the passenger train vehicles, which blended pleasantly with the green of the locomotives. Five years later Tearnes produced for display on both an armorial device which shared with that of the Central London the distinction of embodying neither name nor motto.
The transfer measures 10¼in wide X 16¾in high and is simple and appropriate. On an ornamental shield Maryport (top left) and Carlisle (bottom right) are quartered with the arms of J.P. Senhouse of Netherall (top right), represented by the popinjay, and those of Sir Wilfred Lawson (bottom left). Senhouse and Lawson were the first and fourth chairmen the company had during its eighty-five years of life.
Uniform buttons carried the same device.
