LNER 24105 Open Third
LNER Gresley Tourist Open Third (TTO) No 24105 was built 1936 by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (BRCW). It seated 64 passengers in one large saloon, with an entrance vestibule at each end and two toilets at one end. In the early 1960s the carriage was modified to act as the control and apparatus car in a mobile control train for use in the event of war and was based at York with 43600. The modification included the blanking out of many windows and the fitting of double doors to one side.
24105 arrived on the SVR in 1980. It spent many years at Bewdley serving as The Erlestoke Manor Fund's sales shop, before ownership transferred to the LNER(SVR) Coach Fund, for restoration and traffic. The restoration was made possible by much commercial and private sponsorship, a large public contribution raised via sales and sponsored walks, and substantial donations from Bewdley Round Table, The SVR Company and the SVR Association.
Modifications to its original Diagram 186 gave access for up to four wheelchairs, (with 46 ordinary seats) by retaining the control train double door modification and the fitting of an extra half-door on the opposite side to facilitate access. A single toilet, described by a wheelchair user as "tight but manageable" completed the interior. The missing windows were reinstated and much new teak paneling fitted to the exterior. The entirely new but authentic looking interior included a new floor, ceiling and green and grey Rexine wall cladding. It was completed with oval mirrors, coathooks, BR pattern wall lamps and luggage racks. It was also equipped with fairly accurate reproductions of the Gresley "High Backed" seats. It entered traffic in 1997.
A major overhaul is due in 2017 when some panel replacement will be necessary as well as re-varnishing the exterior, lighting improvements (including reproduction LNER wall lamps) and refurbishing of the now rather tired seating. Some new seat components will be needed to bring it up to standard, and construction of these began in August 2016.
24105 was owned for many years by The LNER (SVR) Coach Fund who donated it, in March 2016 to the SVR Charitable Trust for future safekeeping as part of the SVR's operating carriage fleet.
Sources
Railway Heritage Register Carriage Survey
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LNER (SVR) Coach Fund
Links
24105 on vintagecarriagestrust.org
24105 on lnersvrcoachfund.org.uk
