GWR 3930 Full Third
| GWR 3930 Full Third | |
|---|---|
 GWR 3930 Full Third (2015) | |
| Built By | GWR Swindon |
| Status | In service |
| Number | 3930 |
| Other numbers | DW 150011 |
| History | |
| Built | 1915 |
| Designed By | Churchward |
| Diagram | C32 |
| Lot | 1246 |
| Type | TK |
| Length | 56ft 11¼in |
| Weight | 28t 4cwt |
| Seats | 64 third |
| 1967 | Entered preservation on SVR |
| 1996 | Restoration completed |
GWR Corridor Third (TK) 3930 is a Churchward design incorporating the later developments of the 'Toplights' era. Unusually, 3930 made extensive use of sheet steel rather than traditional timber for interior and exterior panelling.[note 1] It was also fitted with "Fishbelly" 9 ft bogies, which were lighter than the traditional "American" type.[1] It provided third class seating for 64 in 8 compartments, with a lavatory at each end of the coach.
The 56/57ft stock such as 3930 was used on 'second string' passenger expresses and cross country services for which the contemporaneous 70ft toplights (mainly used on services out of Paddington) were not suitable.[2]
Service[edit | edit source]
3930 was one of a batch of 35 built as lot number 1246 to diagram C32, and completed at Swindon in May 1915[3] (apart from 6 others, they were the only passenger coaches constructed over the four year period of the Great War).[4]
Post-nationalisation, 3930 was renumbered W3930W. After passenger service ended in November 1954, it was transferred into Departmental stock for use as a mess / sleeping van number DW 150011.[5] For this purpose, three of the eight compartments and a toilet were removed to create the mess area, with the other five compartments retained as dormitories. Its final use in this role was at Barry.[6]
Preservation[edit | edit source]
3930 was identified at Barry by a group of four SVR members[note 2] and acquired from there, arriving at Bridgnorth on 19 November 1967.[7][note 3]
Some limited restoration work was carried out at Bewdley in the late 1960s, including replacing the missing compartments and repairing the frame work and end panelling. A temporary coat of paint and lettering was applied so that 3930 could be used in filming The Signalman in 1976.[6] However, its full restoration was abandoned while priority was given to other coaches arriving and needing less work to enter service.[4]
3930 was stored in the headshunt at Highley for some years before being moved to Bewdley in early 1986 for major repairs.[8] This became a major restoration to a high standard which included finishing in a GWR 1922-27 livery featuring the 'garter crest' logo.[9] In 1994 an SVRA raffle helped fund the costs of the re-upholstery which was approximately £5,000.[10] 3930 entered traffic in June 1997.[11] The restoration team was led by John Tarrant.
3930 received an external repaint in 2007,[12] and another 'quick repaint' in August 2014, the latter being the first vehicle to use the new works platform in Kidderminster Carriage Shed.[13] In late 2023 it moved to Kidderminster paint shop for window, door, roof and other works take place. It is normally used in the 'Toplights' set.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
GWR 3930 Full Third at Kidderminster in 2013 (Wikimedia Commons)
See also[edit | edit source]
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Articles in SVR News variously suggested that steel may have been used due to wartime shortages of timber, or as a fireproofing measure following several severe fires in other railway companies' carriages.
- ↑ SVR Stock Book 2 (1970) and Stock Book 7 (1980) referred to the four as the "3930 Group". By 1990 (Stock Book 8) ownership had become the GW(SVR)A.
- ↑ At the time of its arrival, SVR News suggested it was the only corridor Toplight to be preserved, although in fact a number of other Diagram C32 examples have survived.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ SVR Stock Book Ninth Edition
- ↑ Harris (1966) p.72.
- ↑ Longworth (2013) p.41.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 SVR News 83, pp 30-31, GWR Toplight Corridor third No. 3930, John Tarrant
- ↑ Longworth (2013) p.169.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 GW(SVR)A retrieved 21 June 2017
- ↑ SVR News 13, p. 15.
- ↑ SVR News 76, 77
- ↑ SVR News 120, 121
- ↑ SVR News 115
- ↑ SVR News 133, p. 58.
- ↑ SVR News 163
- ↑ SVR News 187, p. 24. and 188 p. 43.
Links[edit | edit source]
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