Hotshot Jimmy, regarding post #4433, I have taken a look at the July 1926 NE Area Carriage Roster, the October 1912 NER Timetable and the NER 1908 Passenger engine Roster. Not ideal but one takes information from where it is available and unfortunately there has to be some interpretation and interpolation.
October 1912 - March 1913
Harrogate departures: 9.15am 12.12pm 3.05pm 4.53pm 7.10 pm (SO from Nov 1) 7.40pm SX (commencing Nov 1) 9.13pm (SO from Nov 1) Journey time 35 minutes with five intermediate stops.
Pately Bridge departures: 7.38 am. 10.12am 1.15pm 3.53pm 5.40pm 8.00 pm (SO from Nov 1) Journey time 35 - 37 minutes with five intermediate stops.
July 1908 Passenger Engine Roster
Pately Bridge Engine:
1st crew sign on 5.00am.
Engine's first run 7.40am (obviously 7.38 am in 1912) with service to Harrogate. It would also wander out to Wetherby, Boroughbridge and Pilmoor during the day.
PB 7.48am H 8.15am
H 8.28am W 8.43am
W 8.50am H 9.09am
H 9.15am PB 9.50am
PB 10.12am H 10.47am
H 12.10pm PB 12.45pm
2nd crew sign on 1.00pm.
1st crew sign off 2.00pm.
PB 1.15pm H 1.50pm
H 2.50pm B 3.15pm
B 3.23pm H 3.55pm
H 4.45pm P 5.26pm
P 5.50pm H 6.44pm
H 7.10pm PB 7.45pm (The 1908 Passenger engine roster was July - Sept so before the winter timetable changes which in 1912 took place at the end of October)
PB 8.00pm H 8.35pm
H 9.10pm PB 9.45pm
2nd crew sign off 11.00pm.
So, which engine worked the 3.05pm and 4.53 pm from Harrogate as well as the 3.50pm and 5.40pm returns from Pateley Bridge while the Branch engine wandered off to Boroughbridge and Pilmoor?
Starbeck shed turn 4 reveals that it was rostered to work the 3.05pm from Harrogate and 3.40 pm return while the Bradford shed engine was rostered to work the 4.53pm Harrogate departure and 5.43pm return!
Starbeck turn 4 includes a goods turn at Selby, so was this turn a tender engine duty?
The Bradford shed engine was a tender engine, as I have seen a shot of a N.E.R. G Class 4-4-0 (D23) at Bradford. Yeadon's has No. 328 at Bradford (Manningham) shed at the grouping.
There was a turntable at Pateley Bridge engine shed, but according to the NERA book on N.E.R. engine sheds Pateley Bridge had only a 42ft 1in diameter turntable. This would fit a C/C1 (J21) with an approximate 38ft wheelbase but not a G Class (D23) with a wheelbase of approximately 43ft. Tender first running for the G Class then on the return. The G Class had a westinghouse connection at the front bufferbeam, at its lower edge but lacked a steam heating connection at the front bufferbeam. A cold, cold journey back to Harrogate in winter then!
The Pateley Bridge branch engine was an O Class (G5) at the grouping. No. 1839.
The six C Class (J21) at Starbeck shed at the grouping were Nos. 22, 470, 510, 556, 579 and 1549. All saturated but No. 579 was a piston valve engine with the piano cover beneath the smokebox while the others had slide valves with rectangular plates below the smokebox.
July 1926 Carriage Roster. All times refer to 1926 and can differ from 1912.
Set No. 329 - Harrogate and Pateley Bridge set. - 52ft Van Compo (2-3) (2 x 1st 3 x 3rd LNER code XBC(2-3)), 52ft Third (LNER code XT) and 52ft Van Third (3) (3 x 3rd LNER code XB(3)).
Set No. 333 - Leeds Harrogate and Pateley Bridge set. - 2 x 32ft vans (LNER code V), but only shown as working Leeds - Harrogate at 4.am.
During the day set 329 has various additions.
The 7.28am ex-Pateley Bridge runs with a van and extra Third Class carriage attached - removed at Harrogate.
The 12.25pm ex-Harrogate runs with an extra Third Class carriage attached SO. It also has two vans attached (likely to be set 333) with a third van for Birstwith. The extra Third Class SO returns to Harrogate on the 1.27pm.
The 4.0pm ex-Harrogate runs with the SO extra Third Class carriage (like the 12.25pm can be either 49ft or 52ft, LNER code WT). It returns to Harrogate attached to the 4.50pm. One van is attached at Pately Bridge and another at Birstwith for Harrogate.
The 6.23pm ex-Harrogate runs with an extra Third Class carriage attached SX and a van attached SO.
The 9.23pm ex-Harrogate runs with an extra Third Class carriage attached SO.
To me, it seems that set 333 uses two of three vans, with two running between Leeds and Pateley Bridge or Birstwith and the third one spending the night at Pately Bridge. So long as two were back at Harrogate for the evening they would be tripped to Leeds (attached to an evening passenger train?) and return to Harrogate on the 4.0am from Leeds.
So, there is the material to work with for the NER era branch. It seems that six-wheel stock had disappeared quite early. In the NERA archive, there is a pre-WWI shot of a tank engine (possibly a BTP 0-4-4T) with at least three clerestory roof bogie carriages in the platform at Pateley Bridge. The presence of some vans obscures if a fourth carriage is present. It could be an O Class just prior to WWI. The arrival of N.E.R. corridor carriages from 1908 displaced a number of 52ft clerestory roof carriages and there would have been a cascade down to lesser services. There was considerable new building of bogie carriages between 1895 and 1922, with elliptical roof carriages appearing from 1905 and by the 1926 roster the 6-w carriage had almost disappeared from scheduled passenger trains. Bear in mind though that even in 1922 there could have been a few 6-w carriages running in excursion trains. I have seen a video of troops departing from Blackhill station in 1914/15 and the train is all mad eup of 6-w carriages.
This is the configuration in 1926, the earliest date for which the NERA has documented evidence.