GWR 1116 Full Third

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GWRGreat Western Railway 1116 Full Third
GWR 1116 20150411.jpg
GWRGreat Western Railway 1116 Full Third
Built By GWRGreat Western Railway Swindon
Status In service
Number 1116
Other numbers W1116W, 079157, 99231
History
Built 1938
Designed By CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941
Diagram C77
Lot 1593
Type TK
Length 60ft 11¼in
Weight 31t 9cwt
Seats 64 third
1969 Entered preservation on SVRSevern Valley Railway

Carriages

GWRGreat Western Railway Corridor Third (TK) 1116 is one of four such coaches on the SVRSevern Valley Railway, together with 1086, 1087 and 1146. By the time they were built in 1938, CMEChief Mechanical Engineer Charles CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941 had introduced more modern designs to succeed the 'bow-ended' stock. These included large picture windows to replace the external door to every compartment, with access to the coach being via vestibules at each end. Following a GWRGreat Western Railway policy decision in late 1937, the 1938 design was built to a more restricted loading gauge as used by the LNERLondon & North Eastern Railway and LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway, such vehicles being identified by a yellow disc on the body ends. The 1938 design also reintroduced two extra entry doors on the corridor side.[1] These particular coaches have 8 compartments each seating 8 passengers, plus a toilet at each end of the coach.

Service

All four were built at Swindon as part of Lot number 1593 to Diagram C77, with 1116 entering service in June 1938.[2] Post-nationalisation, passenger service continued with BRBritish Rail or British Railways(W) with the carriage initially being re-numbered W1116 at nationalisation and then W1116W following the introduction of BRBritish Rail or British Railways Mk 1 coaches in accordance with normal practice.

1116 continued in passenger service in the BRBritish Rail or British Railways Western Region until April 1965, when it withdrawn and transferred into Internal User stock as number 079157. It then formed part of GWRGreat Western Railway's 9-coach Swindon test train which was used for load testing of diesel locomotives, the full list of coaches being[3]:

IU Number BRBritish Rail or British Railways(W) Number Coach type Current status
079151 W7362W Brake Corridor CompositeCarriage having more than one class of seating, ie First and Third or latterly First and Standard., Diagram E159 Preserved DeanWilliam Dean, Chief Locomotive Engineer of the Great Western Railway 1877-1902 Forest Railway[4]
079152 W536W Corridor Third, Diagram C77 Preserved at Didcot [5]
079153 W1146W Corridor Third, Diagram C77 Preserved SVRSevern Valley Railway
079154 W1086W Corridor Third, Diagram C77 Preserved SVRSevern Valley Railway
079155 W7313W Corridor CompositeCarriage having more than one class of seating, ie First and Third or latterly First and Standard., Diagram E158 Preserved at Didcot [6]
079156 W7284W Corridor CompositeCarriage having more than one class of seating, ie First and Third or latterly First and Standard., Diagram E162 Preserved SVRSevern Valley Railway
079157 W1116W Corridor Third, Diagram C77 Preserved SVRSevern Valley Railway
079158 W1087W Corridor Third, Diagram C77 Preserved SVRSevern Valley Railway
079159 W1111W Corridor Third, Diagram C77 Preserved at Didcot[7]

Preservation

Early in 1969, BRBritish Rail or British Railways decided to dispose of the Swindon Test Train. SVRSevern Valley Railway member David Rouse negotiated the purchase of the complete train for preservation, with four of the coaches being acquired by the GWSGreat Western Society at Didcot.[8] Four TKs and Corridor Composite 7284 were bought for the SVRSevern Valley Railway by various groups and individuals including Great Western (SVR) Association member AJ Turley[note 1] who secured 1116. All five SVRSevern Valley Railway coaches arrived on 19 December 1969, in or near running order.[9]

1116 was one of the coaches used in the SVRSevern Valley Railway's first public train hauled by 3205 on opening day, 23 May 1970.[10] By winter 1971/2 only 1116 and 1146 remained to be fully restored,[11] with 1116 having received only a 'quick repaint' and 1146 stored awaiting missing fittings.[12] In the event 1116 was the last of the five Test Train carriages to be fully restored. Completion of its restoration in autumn 1976 was given impetus by the creation of the SVRSevern Valley Railway's [The Severn Valley Railway on the main line#SVRSevern Valley Railway Carriages used on the main line in preservation|GWRGreat Western Railway main line set[13] which was first used on a diesel hauled trip from Bewdley to Paddington on 15 November 1976. 1116 received the TOPSTotal Operations Processing System, an American computer system adopted by BR from the late 1960s to number and manage rolling stock. number 99231. The main line use ended in 1978, with 1116 and the other GWRGreat Western Railway carriages continuing in regular use on the SVRSevern Valley Railway.

In 1984 proposals were made for the SVRSevern Valley Railway to make around 8 items of coaching stock available for the following year's GWRGreat Western Railway 150 celebrations, with 1116 or 1087 being considered as a representative example of a CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941 corridor third.[14]

During 1986 1116 entered Bewdley paint shop for its 10-year overhaul. Repairs involved stringers, re-panelling and new door skins. New batteries were installed and both toilets were re-commissioned. The seats were re-upholstered in a specially made green rep material, and the coach was repainted in the later type HawksworthFrederick Hawksworth, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1941-1948 livery (thought at the time to be a first in preservation). 1116 re-entered service in the GWRGreat Western Railway 'mixed' set in 1987.[15]

1116 received a full repaint both inside and out, panel repairs and new upholstery in 2003 and a mechanical inspection and overhaul in 2006.[16] It was repainted again between May and July 2019, on this occasion in Bridgnorth paint shop, with the locks receiving attention at Kidderminster.[17][18] It is finished in GWRGreat Western Railway 1934-42 livery featuring the 'shirt-button' roundel.

In September 2023 it entered Bridgnorth Loco Works paintshop for a paintwork/varnish refresh, one of several carriages that received attention there.

The Great Western (SVR) Association stock list includes 1116 but notes that it is still owned by one of their members.[19] 1116 is normally used in set GW2.

See also

List of carriages

Notes

  1. Presumably the same AJ Turley who published The Railway at Kidderminster in the 1940s in 2005

References

  1. Harris (1966) p. 104.
  2. Longworth (2018) p.55.
  3. Longworth (2013) p.172.
  4. RHR Online, 7362
  5. RHR Online, 536
  6. RHR Online, 7313
  7. RHR Online, 1111
  8. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 157
  9. SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book Third Edition, August 1971
  10. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 168, 40th Anniversary
  11. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 22
  12. SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book Fifth Edition, September 1974
  13. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 41
  14. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 73
  15. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 81,85
  16. The Great Western (SVR) Association, 1116 overhaul (Retrieved 10 October 2019)
  17. GW(SVR)AGreat Western (SVR) Association Newsletter, Summer 2019
  18. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 207
  19. The Great Western (SVR) Association stock list (Retrieved 10 October 2019)

Links