Cramlington Colliery chaldron wagon, c 1826

Chaldron wagon, Cramlington Colliery, believed to have been built c1826, slatted wooden sides, floor and ends missing, painted black. Height: 6' 3"; width: 5'; length: 10'.

A ‘chaldron’ is an archaic term for a measure of coal; this measure varied regionally, but in the North East was 53cwt. ‘Chaldron Waggon’ as a name therefore has its origins in the North East coal industry. They were the first form of rail vehicle on the above ground coal railways and developed from the pre-railway coal wain.

Well into the 20th Century, waggon / wagon remained a regional spelling difference, with two ‘g’s in Scotland and the North, one ‘g’ in the Midlands and below.