Barry Railway Carriage 163

From SVR Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. Railway Carriage 163
Barry 163 20180325.jpg
BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. Railway Carriage 163
Built By Ashbury’s of Manchester
Status Under restoration
Number 163
Other numbers 15, 6058
History
Built 1895
Type CZ (as built)
1928 Withdrawn
1992 Entered preservation

Carriages

BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. Railway Carriage 163 was built in 1895 by Ashbury’s of Manchester for the BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. 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.[1]

BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. Railway Carriage 163 in service

The BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. Railway became part of the GWRGreat Western Railway in April 1922, which saw 163 re-numbered as GWRGreat Western Railway 6058. The coach continued in use for a further 6 years before being withdrawn from service by the GWRGreat Western Railway in 1928 as more modern carriages came into use.

BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. 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[2] 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-SRSouthern Railway Guards and Luggage van (type BY), built at Eastleigh in 1937 and originally numbered C 436, later numbered ADB975140 for departmental use by BRBritish Rail or British Railways. 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 Trust's aim was to get 163 into traffic in time for its 125th birthday in 2020, but this was missed.[3]

The carriage is one of the items to look out for in the childrens ‘I-spy’ supplement to the SVRSevern Valley Railway’s From The Window booklet.

In April 2022 the owning Trust announced that they and the Railway had agreed that 163 will leave the SVRSevern Valley Railway.[4] In October the Trust announced it will move to the Gwili Railway: transport from Hampton Loade by rail and then road to Wales and the Trust are waiting for a date from the SVRSevern Valley Railway for when this will happen.[5]

See also

List of carriages
Rolling stock currently under restoration

References

Railway Heritage Register Carriage Survey
BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. Railway Carriage Trust

  1. BRCT web site 163 page
  2. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 118
  3. BRCT website 'our project' page (Retrieved 21 October 2022)
  4. Barry Railway Carriage Trust on Facebook, 30 April 2022
  5. Barry Railway Carriage Trust on Facebook, 20 October 2022

Links

163 (body) on Railway Heritage Register On-Line
436 (underframe) on Railway Heritage Register On-Line
Barry Railway Carriage Trust web site home page