Cravens
Encyclopedia
Cravens Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Limited was a railway rolling stock builder in the Darnall district of Sheffield, England. Cravens built many diagrams of coaching stock for the Pre-grouping Railway companies of Great Britain, the Grouped companies and for British Railways itself. They also constructed coaches for many railway companies around the world. As well as surface running stock they also built vehicles for underground railways and especially noted are the London Underground A60 Stock
London Underground A60 Stock
The A Stock is the type of train used on the Metropolitan Line of the London Underground. It was built in two batches by Cravens of Sheffield in the early 1960s. The trains replaced all the previous stock then used on the Metropolitan Line...
. With modernisation the company adapted to build diesel multiple units and electric multiple units for British Railways. In 1966 Metropolitan-Cammell
Metro Cammell
The Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company was a Birmingham, England based manufacturer of railway carriages and wagons, based in Saltley and subsequently Washwood Heath....
absorbed the railway rolling stock business of Cravens.
One of its last orders, in 1963, was of 55 mainline carriages, broadly similar to the British Railways Mark 1 design, for the Irish railway company Córas Iompair Éireann
Córas Iompair Éireann
Córas Iompair Éireann , or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of the Irish state, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport in the Republic of Ireland and, jointly with its Northern Ireland counterpart, the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, between the...
.
Another of the orders received and completed before the absorption by Metro Cammell was a royal train for Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
.
Ireland
In Spring 1961 CIÉ (National Railway Company of Ireland) sought tenders for the supply of 40 new Standard Class coaches, 10 to be delivered complete, the rest "part-finished" for assembly in Inchicore, Dublin, with technical assistance from the suppliers. The £500,000 contract was awarded to Cravens of Sheffield. It was reported that these new vehicles "would set a pattern for future construction of CIE carriage stock." The first of the Sheffield-built coaches was unloaded at the North Wall, Dublin on 3 May 1963 and taken to Inchicore for acceptance. These saw long service, the last not being withdrawn from main line service until 2006 and some are preserved by the Railway Preservation Society of IrelandRailway Preservation Society of Ireland
The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland is an Irish railway preservation group operating in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1964. The Society has its headquarters at Whitehead, County Antrim, Northern Ireland and a base at Mullingar, County Westmeath...
.
Preserved Cravens rolling stock
Cravens trains are preserved by the Craven Heritage Train group.One carriage built by Cravens for the Metropolitan Railway
Metropolitan railway
Metropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...
in 1892 (No353) is preserved by the London Transport Museum. Another built in 1900 is preserved on the Bluebell Railway
Bluebell Railway
The Bluebell Railway is a heritage line running for nine miles along the border between East and West Sussex, England. Steam trains are operated between and , with an intermediate station at .The railway is managed and run largely by volunteers...
in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
.
Ex-Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann is the national railway system operator of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann . It operates all internal intercity, commuter and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the...
(which operated Ireland's railways after CIÉ was split up in 1987) Craven Carriage Numbers 1505, 1506, 1508, 1514, 1522, 1523, 1529, 1532, 1539 and 1541 have been preserved in regular use by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland
Railway Preservation Society of Ireland
The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland is an Irish railway preservation group operating in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1964. The Society has its headquarters at Whitehead, County Antrim, Northern Ireland and a base at Mullingar, County Westmeath...
(RPSI).
They are used on their Dublin area excursions. The body of No.1558 is preserved at a pub in Naas County Kildare.
Health and safety aspects
Many employees in the railway industry in general developed diseases related to asbestosAsbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
, used during the locomotive and carriage building process. These diseases include peritoneal mesothelioma
Peritoneal mesothelioma
Peritoneal mesothelioma is the name given to the cancer that attacks the lining of the abdomen. This type of cancer affects the lining that protects the contents of the abdomen and which also provides a lubricating fluid to enable the organs to move and work properly.The peritoneum is made of two...
, lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
, asbestosis
Asbestosis
Asbestosis is a chronic inflammatory and fibrotic medical condition affecting the parenchymal tissue of the lungs caused by the inhalation and retention of asbestos fibers...
, diffuse pleural thickening and other pleural abnormalities. Some ex Cravens employees have been awarded significant compensation in such cases but some families received relatively small amounts of compensation.
One of the methods of working employed at Cravens' was shooting a wet slurry of asbestos from a pressure gun. The operators would stand under a railway car supported on large trestles and spray the asbestos slurry in a 2 inches (50.8 mm) layer onto the underside of the railway car. This was done to provide sound insulation to the floor of the railway car prior to final assembly.
Problems with asbestos in Cravens' stock continued for many years. Cravens standard stock cars 4906 to 4909 were withdrawn from service in 1975 and 1976, and the schedule for their replacement suffered severe delays due to the discovery of asbestos in some of the Driving Motor cars. Because of this, it was 1983 before all the standard stock cars were replaced.
See also
- British Rail Class 105British Rail Class 105The British Rail Class 105 diesel multiple units were built by Cravens Ltd. of Sheffield from 1956 to 1959. The class were built with a side profile identical to British Railways Mark 1 carriage stock, using the same doors and windows. None were selected for refurbishment...
- British Rail Class 112British Rail Class 112The Class 112 and Class 113 DMUs utilised the standard Cravens body used on Class 105s but had a single Rolls-Royce engine rated at per car, all of which formed into 'power twins'- two car sets with both vehicles powered....
- British Rail Class 311British Rail Class 311The British Rail Class 311 alternating current electric multiple units were built by Cravens at Sheffield in 1967. They were intended for use on the line from to and , which was electrified in 1967.-Appearance:...
- Coaching Stock of IrelandCoaching Stock of IrelandA wide variety of hauled coaches have been used on the railways of Ireland. This page lists all those since 1945.-Republic of Ireland:When formed in 1945, Córas Iompair Éireann inherited from its constituents a motley collection of coaching stock from various manufacturers, in equally variegated...