GWR 2426 Toplight Full Third
GWRGreat Western Railway 2426 Toplight Full Third | |
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GWRGreat Western Railway Toplight Full Third 2426 at Hampton Loade in 2015 | |
Built By | GWRGreat Western Railway Swindon |
Status | Stored awaiting overhaul |
Number | 2426 |
Other numbers | W9918W |
History | |
Built | 1910 |
Designed By | ChurchwardGeorge Jackson Churchward, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1902-1922 |
Diagram | C30 |
Lot | 1167 |
Type | TK |
Length | 56ft 0in |
Weight | 27t 5cwt |
Seats | 64 third |
1952 | Withdrawn from passenger service |
1972 | Entered preservation on SVRSevern Valley Railway |
2426 in service
2426 was built at Swindon in 1910 as part of Lot 1167 to Diagram C30. Originally the coach seated 64 passengers in eight compartments and included a toilet at each end. Eight doors per side were included, located in and opposite each compartment.[1] It was used on passenger services until May 1952.[2]
In 1952 it was converted to a camping coach and renumbered W9918W.[3] Four of the compartments became sleeping accommodation, while other compartments were removed to create kitchen and living areas. Many of these camping coaches were removed in the 1960s, and 2426 was then used by the BRBritish Rail or British Railways(W) Signal and Telegraph department, before being withdrawn in the early 1970s and placed in store at Swindon.
2426 in preservation
2426 was purchased by SVRSevern Valley Railway(H) in 1972 for use as volunteer dormitory accommodation. It was initially used for that purpose at Bridgnorth before moving to Hampton Loade in 1988, where it continued in that role until mid-2016. It was then moved into storage at Kidderminster pending overhaul, with its place at Hampton Loade being taken temporarily by GWR Riding Van 55 until fitting out of volunteer accommodation in the station building was completed.
Ownership of 2426 has been transferred to The Great Western (SVR) Association. For a few years it will become the LNER Carriage Group's workshop, replacing GWR 9581 Wheelchair accessible Buffet Car (formerly 5043 Full Third) while the Association restores GWR 4786 Full Third.
The Association's long-term aim is to restore it to its original condition and to this end parts are being made and drawings are slowly being found to aid restoration. In March 2017 2426 spent a few weeks in the siding on Sandbourne Viaduct at Bewdley before moving into Bewdley Down Yard for conservation work including frame, body panel and window repairs for which occasional updates are issued on the GW(SVR)A Facebook page. Work carried out in early 2019 included making new coving for the corridor and both the new distant switch and regulator cupboard.[4] Summer 2021 saw only one upper panel remaining to be bedded in mastic[5].
See also
References
- ↑ Longworth (2013) p.40.
- ↑ GW(SVR)A stock list (Retrieved 1 June 2021)
- ↑ Longworth and GW(SVR)AGreat Western (SVR) Association state it was renumbered in May 1952; SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book Ninth Edition quotes 1957
- ↑ GW(SVR)AGreat Western (SVR) Association Newsletter, Summer 2019
- ↑ Price, G. J., GW(SVR)A Facebook post, 17 June 2021 (Retrieved 10 August 2021)
- Railway Heritage Register Carriage Survey
- SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book Ninth Edition
- Great Western (SVRSevern Valley Railway) Association web site
- Great Western (SVRSevern Valley Railway) Association information notice on 2426 while at Hampton Loade
Links
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