Camping coaches were holiday accommodation offered by many railway companies in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland from the 1930s. The coaches were old passenger vehicles no longer suitable for use in trains, which were converted to provide sleeping and living space at static locations.
The charges for the use of these coaches were designed to encourage groups of people to travel by train to the stations where they were situated; they were also encouraged to make use of the railway to travel around the area during their holiday.
History Camping coaches were first introduced by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1933, when they positioned ten coaches in picturesque places around their network.
The following year, two other railway companies followed suit: the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, with what it originally called "caravans", and the Great Western Railway which called them "camp coaches". In 1935 they were introduced on the Southern Railway.
At the outset of the 1935 season there were 215 coaches at 162 sites through Great Britain. They proved popular and their numbers were steadily increased so that 1939 there were 439 coaches in use, more than half of which were situated on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.
During World War II the coaches were generally unavailable to the public after 1940 as they were used by various authorities as emergency accommodation. By the end of the war most of the coaches needed refurbishment before they could be put back into public use; only the Southern Railway made this effort.
After the railways were nationalised a second generation of camping coaches was introduced from 1952 by British Railways, these vehicles were generally more up-to-date, spacious and better equipped. In the early 1960s the stock was enhanced by the conversion of some redundant Pullman coaches, and the service peaked at 223 vehicles in 1962.
The Beeching cuts brought an end to the service with a lot of smaller lines, where the coaches were often located, closing and coaches being scrapped. The last coaches available for public use were withdrawn at the end of the 1971 season.
Some camping coaches were conversions of vehicles that were no longer fit for operation and these remained static, in some instances "grounded" with running gear removed or on sections of track that were not connected to an operational line. Others retained the ability to be relocated to address operational requirements, which was possible because of the simplicity of the camping-style accommodation and because the running gear could be adequately maintained. Rail vehicles used for accommodation purposes today are generally not maintained in this way and are no longer compliant with current rail technical and safety standards. They may be adapted to a stationary configuration with e.g. mains water, electricity and sewage connections to meet modern comfort expectations and such modification renders them unfit for movement by rail.
London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) first introduced camping coaches in 1933 and they converted 119 vehicles between then and 1938.
LNER construction and layout The vehicles selected for conversion were varied but there were several common characteristics. They were mostly five-compartment, six-wheel coaches of 1880s and 1890s vintage. Most of the fittings were stripped out of three of the compartments including the partitions between them to make a living room and kitchen area. The remaining two compartments remained for use as bedrooms, these had the seat backs removed, providing four berths, and were fitted with two upper berths in one of the compartments, providing an additional two berths for a total of six berths.
The first batch of 35 conversions for use in 1933 and 1934 lacked any means of interior access from the living room to the bedrooms, subsequent conversions were provided with an inside corridor and the early vehicles retrospectively modified in 1936. Space was found for the corridor by constructing the ends of the beds with a hinge, which could be turned back to permit passage through the doorway. Four other conversions were made, all to bogie equipped stock, 3 were converted into 8 berth camping coaches for use along the Norfolk coast and one became the Touring Camping Coach.
There were no mains services provided and campers were expected to use the station facilities for toilets and water. Paraffin was initially used for both cooking and lighting. Campers were expected to be self-sufficient during their stay.
The coaches proved immediately popular, 1,773 enquiries within a month and all ten coaches continuously occupied through July, August and September.
LNER locations In both of the 1933 and 1934 seasons it was possible to book a camping coach and have it positioned at a station of your choice (within certain criteria) along a branch line, in some circumstances it was possible to have your coach moved during the course of your stay from one station to another. This practice was discontinued from 1935 when the advertised locations of the coaches were considered to be fixed for the season.
In 1933 coaches were located at , , , and .
The remaining five coaches could be positioned at any of: , or on the Hawes branch of the former North Eastern Railway (NER). , or on the Eden Valley branch of the former NER. or on the former Whitby and Pickering Railway part of the former NER. or on the former Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway part of the former NER. on the Cornhill Branch of the former NER.
It was more complicated in 1934, a further 25 coaches were available bringing the total to 35. The LNER decided to allow its customers to decide where they wanted their coach to be positioned, from a range of 82 stations on 29 different branch lines throughout its operational areas in England and Scotland.
From 1935 the coaches were all advertised as being at fixed sites, there was usually only one coach per site, occasionally two and three at three sites, , and East Row. In addition to the sites listed above the following stations had one or more camping coaches for at least one season between 1935 and 1939, a full listing with numbers is available at McRae (1997): England: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , St John's Chapel, , , , , , , , Twizell, , Wearhead and . The 8 berth bogie stock camping coaches on the Norfolk coast were located at , and . Scotland:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Glenfarg, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Sprouston, , , , , and .
Some of the stations hosting camping coaches had been closed to passenger traffic before the coaches were located there and the railways made alternative arrangements to get campers to the coaches, sometimes this was by bus from a nearby staffed station, occasionally an unscheduled stop was made by a local train.
Touring camping coach The LNER introduced a Touring Camping Coach in 1935, this service enabled campers to undertake a week-long tour of the Yorkshire Dales from York. The coach was moved from place to place in the evenings by attaching it to scheduled passenger services, initially the coach visited , , , and , the route was later simplified and only went to Pateley Bridge, Aysgarth and Glaisdale.
The vehicle was a conversion of a bogie carriage from 1905 and had a living/dining room with kitchenette and six one-person sleeping compartments, a toilet and a seventh compartment could be used as a bathroom, store or an extra sleeping compartment utilising a collapsible camp bed. As with the static camping coaches campers were expected to provide their own provisions. The whole coach had to be booked for the week with a minimum of 6 campers, the cost was £2 per person out-of-season and £2.10s during July, August and September.
Out of season it was possible to hire the touring coach with different itineraries.
Camping apartments The LNER converted some station buildings for use as Camping Apartments, they were similar in idea to the camping coaches and were a way of utilising the buildings at stations were passenger services had been withdrawn. Initially, in 1935, nine apartments were made available at , (unusually this station still had a passenger service), , , , , , and . The apartments were mainly for six people but some were able to offer accommodation to smaller parties.
Coronation week 1937 on the LNER Camping coaches were used during coronation week in 1937 when fifty two vehicles were moved to the London area to provide accommodation for parties wishing to witness the coronation. The coaches were located at , , , , , , , , Epping, , and . The rental conditions were very similar, six return tickets (on the LNER of course) from home to London, and an increased rental charge of £10 for the coach.
London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) introduced camping caravans in 1934 after they had seen the success of the LNER scheme. They converted 42 vehicles for use in 1934 and more each year reaching a total of 232 vehicles by the outbreak of World War II.
LMSR construction and layout The accommodation provided by the LMS was similar to that of the LNER, except that the LMS used redundant bogie coaches with corridors from the start. The LMS laid their conversions out a little differently in that they maintained three compartments as bedrooms each with two beds that were positioned along the length of the coach, they were able to do this and still provide a reasonable sized living/dining room because of the longer coaches they used.
Some smaller 6-wheeled coaches were converted to 4-berth caravans for use on the Northern Counties Committee system in Northern Ireland, an initial batch of 8 was converted for the 1935 season and 25 altogether before the war.
LMSR locations The LMS positioned its caravans in different ways, some were sited as individuals, quite a few as a pair or three together but they also established colonies of them with the coaches sited in large concentrations, this sometimes meant they needed to construct facilities for the campers as the vehicles had no toilets or other mains facilities.
All of the initial locations (number of caravans in brackets) used during 1934 were in England: (1), (1), (1), (6), (1), (3), (1), (2), (3), (3), (4), (1), (1) and (1).
Over the years 1935-1939 the following locations were used for at least one season, a full listing with numbers is available at McRae (1997): England: (1), (1), (1), (12-17), (1), (1), (6-8), (4), (1), (3), (1), (2), (2), (1), (2), (3-36), (2-4), (4-5), (5-13), (2), (6), (1), (1) and (1). Scotland: (1), (1), (1), (2), (2), (1), (1-2), (1), (1), (2), (1-2), (1-2), (1), (1), (1-2), (2), (1), (2-3), (1), (1-3), (1-2), (1), (1), (1-2), (1-2), (1-2), (1), Lyne(1), (1-3), (1), (1-2), St Fillans(2), Strathaven(1), (1-2) and (1). Wales: (1-4), (2-3), (3-4), (1), (18-30), (2), Gronant, near (12), (1), (1), (1), (1-2), (1), (2), (2-9) and (2). Northern Ireland: (1), (1), (1-4), (1), (1-5), (1-2), (1), (1-5), (1) and (1-8).
Coronation week 1937 on the LMS Caravans were relocated during coronation week in 1937 when around fifty vehicles were moved to the London area to provide accommodation for parties wishing to witness the coronation. In the usual LMS way they were sited in colonies, the final disposition of the coaches is uncertain but they were planned to be at Goods Yard, , and possibly . The LMS had also proposed providing additional porters to assist the campers.
Great Western Railway
In a similar way to the LMS the Great Western Railway (GWR) introduced their camp coach holidays scheme in 1934 after they had seen the initial success of the LNER scheme. They converted 19 vehicles for use in 1934 and more each year reaching a total of 65 vehicles by the outbreak of World War II.
GWR construction and layout