LMS 7511 Restaurant First Open
| LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway 7511 Restaurant First Open | |
|---|---|
 LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway 7511 Restaurant First Open | |
| Built By | LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway Wolverton |
| Status | In service |
| Number | 7511 |
| Other numbers | M7511M, M38740M, CTL1N |
| History | |
| Built | 1934 |
| Designed By | StanierWilliam Stanier, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1932-1944 |
| Diagram | 1902 |
| Lot | 734 |
| Type | QL (DINING), RFO |
| Length | 65ft |
| Weight | 35t |
| Seats | 42 |
| 1999 | Arrived on SVRSevern Valley Railway |
| 2009 | Restoration completed |
| 2010 | Winner of HRAHeritage Railway Association award |
Construction and service
7511 was built at Wolverton in 1934 as lot number 734 to Diagram 1902. The 65ft 'Vestibule Open Dining First' would seat 42 First Class passengers in near-Pullman luxury on principal express services, and could also be laid up for use as a dining car. They shared the distinction of being the longest locomotive-hauled 8 wheeled coaches.[1]
In accordance with normal practice, BRBritish Rail or British Railways renumbered the coach M7511M, which it carried until August 1964.[2] It was then stripped internally and refurbished for use as an exhibition coach, receiving the number M38740M which it carried until 1969.[3] During this time it was acquired by Gilt Edge Carpets (formerly Carpet Trades Limited) of Kidderminster for use as a mobile carpet showroom in the same exhibition train as 149, the train being hauled by former SVRSevern Valley Railway resident 61994 The Great Marquess.[4] The two carriages carried the numbers CTL1N and CTL2S respectively[5].
Preservation
Gilt Edge donated 7511 to the SVRSevern Valley Railway in July 1969, where it was initially used as a club room[6] and then as additional dormitory accommodation at Bridgnorth[7] until 1988, after which it was stored out of use for some time.
In 1999 a then-active SVRSevern Valley Railway preservation group, the ‘LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway & BRBritish Rail or British Railways Coach Fund’, purchased 7511 for a nominal sum and began raising funds to restore it. In 2004 the SVRA raffle 'Bums on Seats' raised around £8,000 in aid of 7511 and GNR 2701 Composite Corridor.[8] The LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway & BRBritish Rail or British Railways Coach Fund donated all its vehicles to The SVR Charitable Trust in 2007. A near 10-year £75,000 restoration at Bridgnorth was completed in 2009, incorporating many parts retrieved from the grounded body of 7571 at Butterley. 7511 became the first LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway vehicle on the SVRSevern Valley Railway to feature the LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway 1933-34 full livery including gold-leaf and vermillion lining. The high standard of accuracy and finish won the Heritage Railway Association's Carriage & Wagon Competition in 2010.[9]
Since then 7511 has seen use in the Severn Valley Venturer dining set paired with 1682, substituting for BR 3103 First Open while the latter was allocated to other duties. It is otherwise not normally used in service trains, but is available for special dining trains etc.
See also
List of carriages
Severn Valley Venturer
References
- ↑ Jenkinson & Essery (1977) pp. 125,129.
- ↑ Longworth (2019) pp.250-251.
- ↑ Longworth (2019) p.318.
- ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book Ninth Edition
- ↑ LMS Carriage Association
- ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book Summer 1970 Edition, p.16.
- ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book 1972-3 Edition, p.42.
- ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 149
- ↑ SVR Charitable Trust web site
- SVRSevern Valley Railway Charitable Trust
Links
- 7511 on Railway Heritage Register On-Line
- 7511 on svrtrust.org.uk
- Images of the Gilt Edge Carpets train at Kidderminster station in 1965, 'Nostalgia: How the train helped to sell Kidderminster carpet', Kidderminster Shuttle, 19 September 2021
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