Earlestown Collection

Photographs, a collection of approximately 130 silver gelatin glass negatives, 8½ x 6½ and 5 x 4 ins from Earlestown Carriage and Wagon works, featuring photographs of London & North Western Railway wagons and road vehicles, c 1900-1910.

This collection of silver gelatin glass negatives covers the activity of Earlestown Carriage & Wagon Works in the early years of the twentieth century, when the works built vehicles for the London & North Western Railway. It features photographs of London & North Western Railway wagons and road vehicles.

The London & North Western Railway took over Earlestown Carriage & Wagon Works in 1853, and by the beginning of the twentieth centiry the works was producing some 4000 wagons a year. Road vehicles were also built there. The works came under the control of the London Midland & Scottish Railway on Grouping in 1923, and new mass production techniques were introduced the following year. This collection, however, covers only the early years of the twentieth century, when the works built vehicles for the London & North Western Railway.