In the 1930s, rambling was popular – anything to get away from the city smoke and into the clean air of the countryside.
The LNER (London and North Eastern Railway) served most of the eastern side of the country. In 1933, it hit on the idea of converting ten elderly railway coaches, due for retirement, into holiday homes and siting them in quiet, country stations.
The scheme took off and was quickly followed in 1934 by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and Great Western Railway (GWR). In 1935, the Southern Railway (SR) followed suit. By the end of the year, there were 215 railway camping coaches, as they became known, in 162 stations up and down the country, providing reasonably priced self-catering accommodation in rural locations.
Internally, three of the coach compartments became bedrooms with double bunks, while a living/dining area, kitchen and bathroom occupied the remainder of the space. Their being sited at remote railway stations also meant that owning a car was not necessary at a time when few families had one. By 1939, the number of camping coaches had grown to 439.
With the outbreak of war, the railway camping coaches were the least of the railway companies’ worries. With peace in 1945, the SR led a revival of the scheme and they began a new lease of life.
When, in 1952, nationalisation of the railways took place, many feared camping coaches would be literally shunted off into a siding and forgotten. Not so. In fact, better-quality coaches – ex-Pullman stock – were made available and the scheme prospered.
Then came the Beeching Report. Most camping coaches had been located at peaceful backwater stations on little-used lines. Gradually, as these lines disappeared during ‘reorganisation’, so did the camping coaches.
Before Beeching, in the summer of 1952 my nature-loving parents took me and my siblings to stay at the camping coach at Bolton Abbey Station in Yorkshire.
What a marvellous holiday! The scenery was impressive and the weather perfect. We walked over the moors to Beamsley Beacon, followed the River Wharfe up to and beyond the Strid, and explored the Valley of Desolation before returning to our lovely holiday home.
The following year, we took our camping-coach summer holiday in North Wales. Abergwyngregyn was a small station on the main line to Bangor and Holyhead (no trains on Sundays). Now only the signal box remains. It rained every day. And I do mean rained. So we sat in the camping coach and read, played cards and looked out through rain-streaked windows.
Today, camping coaches are being revived on several of the enthusiast-run railways, such as the North Somerset line at Blue Anchor; at Ravenglass on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway on the edge of the Lake District; at Loch Awe in Scotland; and on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Many offer Pullman luxury and do not reflect the more basic style I recall from the 1950s, when the location was of more importance.
Still, for a nostalgic and atmospheric break, I thoroughly recommend a railway camping-coach holiday.
Bill Riley
