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→Barry Railway Carriage 163 in preservation: relocated to siding
{{Infobox carriage
|image = Preserved coach at Hampton Loade - geograph.org.uk - 1709969Barry_163_20180325.jpg
|caption = Barry Railway Carriage 163
|construc = Ashbury’s of Manchester
|years6 =
|events6 =
}}This carriage '''Barry Railway Carriage 163''' was built in 1895 by Ashbury’s of Manchester for the Barry Railway in South Wales, where it was originally numbered 15 and later 163. It is a composite carriage having two first class and three second class compartments and when built it was mounted on a 6-wheeled underframe.<ref>[http://www.barryrailwaycarriagetrust.org.uk/163.html BRCT web site 163 page]</ref>
== Barry Railway Carriage 163 in service ==
== Barry Railway Carriage 163 in preservation ==
Following withdrawal, the coach body and that of sister coach 164 were used as a holiday home in the Clent Hills until 1992. 163 was then rescued for restoration, arriving at [[Hampton Loade]] on 25 April 1992<ref>SVR News 118</ref> along with parts from 164 which had already been broken up. The carriage was sited in the goods yard on an isolated section of track. A partial tent was later erected.
The carriage body is now mounted on the 4-wheeled underframe of an ex-SR Guards and Luggage van (type BY), built at Eastleigh in 1937 and originally numbered C 436, later numbered ADB975140 for departmental use by BR. This was initially preserved in 1994 at the Gwili Railway, but the body was later scrapped and the underframe acquired and moved to Hampton Loade on 24 February 2001 as a donor for 163. After the underframe was shortened, the body of 163 was mounted on it on 16 August 2003 with the aid of the Bridgnorth steam crane.
The [[Barry Railway Carriage Trust]] was formed in 2009 to complete the restoration. In addition to being mounted on the donor underframe, the carriage's internal partitions have been reinstated and much of the bodywork repaired. The [[Barry Railway Carriage Trust]] 's aim was formed in 2009 to complete the restoration, which continues at Hampton Loade station. The Trust have stated that they are aiming to get Barry Railway carriage 163 into traffic in time for its 125th birthday in 2020, but this was missed.<ref>[http://www.barryrailwaycarriagetrust.org.uk/our_project.html BRCT website 'our project' page](Retrieved 21 October 2022)</ref>
The carriage is was one of the items to look out for in the childrens ‘Ichildren's 'I-spy’ spy' supplement to the SVR’s SVR's [[From The Window]] booklet. In April 2022 the owning Trust announced that they and the Railway had agreed that 163 would leave the SVR.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/BarryRailwayCarriageTrust/photos/a.510853185709465/4949080231886716 Barry Railway Carriage Trust on Facebook, 30 April 2022]</ref> In October 2022 the Trust further announced it was to move to a new home at the Gwili Railway in South Wales.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=479165234239537&set=a.461023969386997 Barry Railway Carriage Trust on Facebook, 20 October 2022]</ref> On 29 April 2024 the carriage was lifted from the isolated section of track by Allelys' specialist lifting team and moved to the adjacent siding in preparation for a move by rail to Kidderminster and onward road transportation to a new home at the Gwili Railway<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/BarryRailwayCarriageTrust Barry Railway Carriage Trust on Facebook, 1 May 2024]</ref>.
==See also==
==Links==
[http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=2352 163 (body) on Railway Heritage Register Carriage SurveyOn-Line]<br>[http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=2623 436 (underframe) on Railway Heritage Register Carriage SurveyOn-Line]<br>
[http://www.barryrailwaycarriagetrust.org.uk/ Barry Railway Carriage Trust web site home page]