Pigeon traffic
Revised and expanded.
Pigeon traffic and its vehicles is destined for publication using paper, ink and stuff, meanwhile here are some illustrations that touch on what actually happened and the myth that LNER bogie and 4w "pigeon vans" were built in large numbers for East Anglia.
It is convenient to begin with precursors on the NE Area (NEA) where the traffic was heaviest.
This still from a Pathe-News film shows a Homing Pigeon Race Special from the NE at Selby in 1934. Note the carriage on the rear for Federation officials, called convoyers, and the ex-NER 6w passenger brake vans, many of which were fitted with shelves for the pigeon traffic. Just visible is a corner of a 45' multipurpose bogie CCT which was equipped the same way (see lower down under bogie vans).
This pair of Ogdens cigarette cards links to the Pathe-News clips above and below. Viewers will note that all the vans in view are the standard ex-NER 6w passenger brake van and that shelves have been fitted. These cards were based on Pathe-News footage of another pigeon special. Ex-NER 6w vans fitted with shelves for homing race specials continued to be used after WW2.
The working detail can be seen in these rosters from the weekly Excursion & Special Train Arrangements in 1939 for two homing pigeon race specials that ran from the NE Area onto the GN Section (the pages of the original have yellowed):
The first ran to Retford, the second to Grantham, both popular release points for large races. Note how both trains were rostered exclusively for ex-NER 6w passenger brake vans fitted with shelves, and the sheer numbers of them! Despite allocation by now to the NE Area of three lots of bogie vans with drop-down shelves, 34 altogether (the BGs of 1938 wrongly described by Harris as "principally" for racing pigeon traffic), 6w vans continued to dominate the traffic, even in the 1940s. The 3rd lavatory Brake on the rear was for the convoyers.
An external view of ex-NER 6w passenger brake van No 2355 at an unknown location. From the outside there was no telling if one of these vans was fitted with shelves for the pigeon traffic and I have never established how they were identified. I believe that they lasted into BR days. Photo: Authors collection.
- click on the picture for an enlargement
A similar van in BR days numbered E2243E which I think is by the carriage shed at Copley Hill. Some of the panelling has been repaired and the long horizontal handrails between the doors removed. Photo: Roger Carpenter.
- click on the picture for an enlargement
Here are two through workings from 1939, actually, a week before the one above with several similarities. Note how in both cases the Telegraphic Code "XP" was used, indicating a 6-wheel vehicle to carry pigeons:
The first working shown was from Harrogate and rostered for two pigeon vans - one on bogies (type unknown: it could have been either of the types described below) and the 6w version, of which the NE Area, uniquely, had many 6-wheel passenger brake vans fitted with shelves for the traffic, as already described above. This pair of vans began their journey in unknown manner from Harrogate to Leeds Central, where they were attached to a heavy overnight pigeon race special for the south, and dropped off at Newark. A little later, an early morning passenger train from Newark to Grantham delivered the two vans to their final destination for release of the birds. A good example, this, for modellers of a minor line.
The second working was from Norwich and almost identical to the one shown below but here, like the working from Harrogate, the requirement was coded "XP", probably by the same clerk. On the GE Section the meaning would have been perfectly clear: a requirement for a 6w van to carry pigeons and it would have been met by a conventional ex-GER 6w passenger brake van with the baskets on the floor. These two listings for Norwich are instructive for in neither case was an LNER-built 4w passenger brake van - the D.120 type which some people wrongly call a "pigeon van" - specified.
Moreover, the use of "XV" and "XP" reflects a point I have made before, that human bureaucracy can be imperfect or flexible and confusing to the outsider, yet it succeeded perfectly well in conveying its meaning to people on the ground.
An ex-GER 6w passenger brake as used for pigeon traffic in East Anglia. Photo: Photomatic.
This extract from the 1939 Excursion and Special Train Arrangements notice for another through working shows a van carrying pigeons overnight from Norwich to the Northeast. The Telegraphic Code quoted was for a conventional, ex-GER 6-wheel passenger brake van. At Peterborough, it was attached to a Down train for the north. The destination was Aycliffe and was for a single van. The two workings from Norwich for just one 6w van show how low the traffic was from East Anglia.
Bogie vehicles built for the NEA and rest of the LNER
1927-28: 45' bogie CCT - D.3
Although built by the LNER this design had NER roots and it was intended as a multi-purpose vehicle - note the list of eight different traffics on the Diagram. The Diagram number was in the NPCS series and its telegraphic code was BCK (not to be confused with the BCKL code for passenger carriages, latter reduced to BCK):
16 were built and as can be seen, when deployed for Racing Pigeon Specials the capacity of this bogie van was considerable. Author's collection.
Pictures of these bogie vans are rare and one can be seen in the first Pathe-News still above at Selby and in this much repaired view of D20 4-4-0 No 1209 at an unknown location and date in general service with a gangwayed 3-set, possibly an express portion, with a D.3 CCT behind the tender. Author's collection.
1928: 51'1 1/2" BV - D.129
The next part is complicated. This bogie van was built at pretty well the same time as the bogie CTT above and shows the LNER's continuing move towards higher capacity vans for the homing pigeon race traffic in the late 1920s (not as some people seem to think, towards 4w vans). Only four of these were built and allocated Diagram No129. However, the same Diagram No. was used three years later for GE Section fruit and veg traffic with improved ventilation which was shown in a new Diagram which thus became a blend of the two designs (this practice was not unknown)! For the sake of clarity I am going to add a suffix to distinguish between the two variants:
1928 D.129A - for NE pigeon traffic - Nos. 2178/99, 2246/306 (4) 1931 D.129B - for GE fruit and veg traffic - Nos. 6764-81 (16)
No Diagram has survived for the first one, only D.129B which is shown below under "Not Pigeon Traffic":
This still of a Homing Pigeon Race special from the North Eastern Area was captured at Selby in 1936. All the vehicles in the stills from this event are ex-NER designs, bogie and 6w - except for the one next to the loco, No 2199, which was one of the LNER quartet of 51'1 1/2" bogie vans supplied in 1928 to D.129A with drop-down shelves which could be used for this traffic. Note the normal arrangement of toplights, almost entirely sealed, unlike the opening ones in the vans supplied to East Anglia with fruit & veg traffic in mind (see also interior views below).
This is an LNER Official photograph (courtesy the NRM) of the interior of one of the four vans to D.129A, No 2178. The drop-down shelves are evident, and the almost entirely sealed toplights.
It is perhaps no surprise that a mixture of ex-NER 6w vans and the two bogie van designs of 1927-28 continued to be used despite what the rosters called out.
1938: 61'6" BG - D.245
No more vans with drop-down shelves were built by the LNER for the pigeon traffic until 1938 when construction began of the general purpose 61'6" BG D.245 with the shelves, for long distance homing race pigeon traffic and allocated to the NEA, GN and GC where the heaviest traffic was to be found. Indeed, these BGs were specifically rostered for a northbound Homing Pigeon Race special one Friday night from King's Cross.
This is the "standard" 61"6" BG and variant with drop-down shelves that could be used for the Homing Pigeon Race Traffic if required. Note the title Luggage Brake Van, not "Pigeon Van" which modern writers have bestowed on these vehicles. A key feature which shows well is that all the toplights were sealed. Michael Harris described them as "principally for the race traffic", something of an exaggeration for, like previous bogie vans, they were multi-purpose. He went on to categorise them as if they were designed expressly for the pigeon traffic and modern authors have taken the same approach and routinely called them "Pigeon Vans" when they were simply a mixed traffic design. It helped operation-wise when BR began stating "Pigeon" on the body side and the telegraphic code was changed to BGP but both have been misinterpreted as their main purpose and not a function that was available if required. Bureaucratic over-reach led to the D.120 fruit & veg vans of 1931 being similarly labelled and individual vehicle record cards being annotated similarly. Author's collection.
BG to D.245 built 1940 for the GN Section as No.4244 showing the sealed toplights and some of the racks in the raised position. Those built during WW2 (construction continued into 1943) were probably fitted with shelves because a larger number of small items could be carried than on the floor, usefully increasing their capacity. Nevertheless, BR eventually branded them "Pigeon" as seen here at Derby on 11-6-65. H.C.Casserley.
Back to the pigeon traffic
Continuing directly from the above, in 1929 the GN Section was - quite unlike the NEA - known to be using vans without shelves but exclusively on bogies, of three types:
- ex-GNR Howlden 45' - ex-GNR Gresley 56'6" - LNER 61'6"
Arrival in 1938 and '39 of D.245 with shelves enabled modernisation with a more effective type. Here is the roster from 11th August 1939 for a pigeon special from the West Riding to Banbury GWR showing all five pick-up points, many of them quite lengthy time-wise for all the baskets to be loaded on board, and the subsequent destinations via Doncaster, Retford, Nottingham and the GCLE. It is not possible to identify precisely which types were employed but a high proportion of D.245 would have been likely:
The working was shown as "Leeds Central to Banbury" because those were the LNER metals along the route. As can be seen, this working started with 2 vans and built up to 10 plus two 3rd brakes for the convoyers and not only were LNER vehicles added during the stops en route, so were vans from 6 local workings, some of which would have been LMS vehicles:
- (bogie van,bogie van,BTK) from Castleford to Ardsley - (bogie van) from Hemsworth to Wakefield Westgate - (bogie van) from Featherstone to Wakefield Kirkgate - (bogie van) from Huddersfield to Wakefield Kirkgate - (bogie van) from Leeds City to Doncaster - (bogie van) from Scunthorpe to Doncaster
Shunting en route was done by the train engine but at Doncaster the station pilot may have been employed to finalise the right sequence of the two portions on the GC Section and the final one for the GWR. The principal destinations were Leicester Central and Rugby Central, each of which had a BTK for the convoyers to assist with unloading and release of the birds. Beyond them, two vans were sent on alone to Banbury for Didcot.
Click on the picture for an enlargement
This is an undated LMS scene at an unidentified station. Release is taking place for a Homing Pigeon Race from a passenger platform where there were no overhead obstructions, such as electric or lighting wires. The stock in view was the standard LMS 50ft BG, along with similar pre-Grouping vans, ex-LNWR, for example. The baskets would have been stacked on the floor. As far as I know, only the NER and LNER built vans with shelves for this traffic.
This is not quite a new picture for it already appears in the topic about Bradford-King's Cross portions in West Riding Expresses - and shows N1 69474 at Wakefield on 16th August 1957. However this was a Friday afternoon at the height of the season and a homing pigeon special was due to run that night, probably starting from Leeds Central for destinations to the south. An enormous number of baskets had already been delivered by the owners and placed on the Up platform under an awning, out of the rain. Photo: P.H. Groom
- click on the picture for an enlargement of the pigeon hampers.
A marvellous view at East Croydon on 4th June 1965 of a Homing Pigeon Race special from Newcastle-Hove, which had had a loco change en-route with 8F No 48544 from Willesden.
The roster called for 15 BGP, BG, SK. The BGP code could be met by several Diagrams with drop-down shelves as described above but inspection of the picture shows inclusion of other varieties of LNER BG in which the pigeon baskets would have been placed on the floor - a fine example of a vehicle being provided that could do the job required. The (BG,SK) pair on the rear cannot be seen and comes across as carrying a substantial team of convoyers and their luggage.
There's another story behind this working for by 1965 steam haulage on the Brighton line had all but disappeared: something like a Class 73 would have taken the train. A ruse of loco-shortage was played by an individual in Control, enabling this superb picture to be taken. (Photo: Charlie Verrall).
A chapter titled "The pigeon traffic" will appear in the second volume of "LNER Passenger Trains and Formations" Steve Banks & Clive Carter with a greater variety of the traffic than I can cover here.
Not pigeon traffic
A revised version of D.129 (and the 4w vans to D.120) were subsequently built for East Anglia with similar shelves - but with different ventilation because they were neither designed, built, nor used for homing pigeon traffic but for fruit and veg for which there had been a long-standing need and use since GER days. The new construction was modernisation in the usual like-for-like manner which allowed the predecessors to be scrapped. The "pigeon van" myth is caused by misunderstanding of the wording on the Diagrams and disregard for the design parameters and the actual use of these vehicles in traffic.
This interior view from a GE Section bogie van intended for fruit and veg traffic shows the drop-down shelves and improved ventilation via the triple opening toplights at each end: the clasp/hinge arrangement is clearly visible. They could be faced towards the direction of travel to force air into the interior, or the other way to use the Venturi effect to extract air, together generating a considerable draught through the van which was useful for cooling "the heat of the day" in freshly picked fruit & veg and reduce spoiling en route to market. It was unique to the vans - 51'1/2" bogie and 4w D.120 - supplied to the GE Section.
Incidentally, the triple toplights carried a steel deflector above them to deflect rainwater and usually cast a dark shadow - it's a useful way of identifying between the various types of van.
The models and in service
Unfortunately, none of the D.120 kits includes these opening toplights nor the rain deflectors above them - they all have entirely simple sealed toplights - which means that the sides actually portray the later Doncaster-built general purpose version for the GN and GC Sections, the D.170 et al series built on recovered ex-GNR wooden underframes (the interior incidentally had a single short shelf). Amid so much confusion about the design and deployment of these vans all the kit makers and reviewers simply missed this: there's two big write-ups from yours truly to follow which includes the modelling possibilities.
There are many photographs of both the D.120 and the subsequent D.170 series 4w brake vans in general service unrelated to the homing pigeon traffic that I shall be dealing with separately, here are two of them:
J36 No 65294 stands at Kintore with a train for the Alford branch and a D.120 van never intended to carry pigeon traffic but to modernise older stock by replacement. Five were built for the Great North of Scotland Section to replace elderly pre-Grouping vans in general traffic, soon raised to ten by cascading from East Anglia.
Another example of modernisation of old stock vans was in the "Banbury Motor", the nickname for the local service between Woodford & Hinton (later Woodford Halse) and Banbury General. It became the practice to roster a van as a permanent part of the formation and when the D.170 series became available, the pre-Grouping ex-GCR van was replaced. Next to it is an ex-GCR clerestory carriage. Alas, no more of the train is visible. Seen at Banbury in 1939 behind N1 No 4588.
This document of 1940 is titled "Alterations to Diagram Book of Standard Carriages" and as can be seen the withdrawn 4w van to D.120 was not called a "pigeon van" but a Luggage Brake.
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