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Railway carriages for Egypt

My late grandfather left some notes in which he stated that his maternal grandfather, one James Watson (1816-1892), was ‘a builder of railway coaches, some in particular extravagantly costly and ornate, for the ruler of Egypt’. This intrigued me for several years and it was not until after my uncle died in 2008 that some further detail and photos came to light.

The carriages do seem very ornate. This is confirmed by two pieces of tapestry. Both pieces are 31⁄2in wide; the shorter one (above) is 5in long and the more ornate, longer one is 161⁄2in. The half moon and star in the latter appear to have been sewn using a metallic gold thread. Presumably these are samples of curtains and/or wall decorations for the carriages.

Researching my family history recently I discovered, perhaps not surprisingly, that James Watson’s position in life was not quite as high as my grandfather believed.

For James worked as a foreman for John & Henry Burnup, coachmakers of Northumberland Street, Newcastle upon Tyne. He was certainly working there by February 1845 because I have his signature as witness on an Indenture of Apprenticeship. He was still employed there at the time of the 1871 census, although by 1881 his employmnent had changed. From a search of trade directories I believe trading by the firm may have ceased by 1881. Does anyone know more about the Burnups and the business?

Although Burnups may have built the carriage bodywork, who built the locomotive?
Ismael Pasha was ruler of Egypt from 1863 to 1879 and ran his country into debt with his lavish expenditure on large projects, one of which was the construction of Egypt’s railway network. He visted England in both 1867 and 1869 so is it possible that it was he who ordered these items of rolling stock from John & Henry Burnup during one of his visits?

Peter Arnold,
Milton Keynes