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|image = GWR650GWR_650_20160305a.jpg|caption = 650 at Arley in 2015Kidderminster (2016)

}}[[File: GWR_650_20160305b.jpg|thumb|300px|right|650 at Kidderminster (2016)]]'''GWR 650 Brake Third Open ''' (BTO) No 650 was designed by CB Collett and built in April 1940 as lot number 1644 to diagram D130. The is the only surviving example of a brake coach from GWR generally favoured corridor carriages with compartments, using open carriages only for dining cars'excursion stock'. However 650 is It arrived on the SVR as a rare survivor from around 6 short open sets built between 1936 grounded body in 1990 and 1940finally entered service in 2015 after a lengthy restoration.

==650 in preservationExcursion stock==650 was purchased as a grounded body The GWR generally favoured corridor carriages with compartments, using open carriages only for dining cars. However in 1989 from Kerne Bridge where it was in use as a dormitory for 1935, some years after the other 'big 4' companies had done so, CB Collett introduced the Gloucester Boys ClubGWR's '''excursion stock'''. It was These were arguably the first 'modern' GWR carriages, although the GWR initially moved emphasised that they were only for excursion or party-hire traffic with catering capable of being provided to every seat. They had a length of 60ft and featured spacious windows, while the [[Foley Park sidings|British Sugar Corporation's sidings beside the SVR at Foley Park]] art deco' style interior was panelled in March 1990light birchwood with mahogany trim and inlays, the other woodwork being polished mahogany. The light fittings were opaque glass cubes and moved to the SVR in March 2000 for eventual restorationupholstery was a new 'standard' type.<ref>http:[[Bibliography#Other References|Harris (1966)]] p. 100.<//wwwref><ref group="note">1935 was the centenary of the founding of the GWR. It was marked by the introduction from 8 July 1935 of new 61ft 'Centenary stock' on the prestige 'Cornish Riviera Express' service, restyled as the 'Cornish Riviera Limited'.gw-svr-The Centenary stock adopted asimilarly modern appearance.org.uk/650.html</ref>

Restoration By 1938 the excursion stock numbered some 55 third opens and 10 brake third opens together with eight kitchen cars, although in practice the excursion stock often ran as short sets of 650 was completed eight or less without the kitchen cars. The third opens all seated 64 passengers at tables in October 2015conventional style. The first four BTOs had an unusually large luggage compartment which took up half the length of the coach, after painting resulting in [[Bewdley]] paint shop into GWR 1934-42 livery featuring the ‘shirt-button’ roundel before there being moved to [[Carriage Repair Works|Kidderminster]] seating for final mechanical work to only 16 passengers, while the dynamo and vacuum braking system.<ref>http://www.gw-svr-others had asmaller luggage compartment allowing for seating for 32.org.uk/650_restoration.html</ref>

12 more third opens were built in 1969 and a final six third opens and two brake third opens, including No. 650, were completed in 1940. The last 2 BTOs had even smaller luggage compartments, allowing for seating for 40 passengers. These 1939-40 sets are not thought to have run as formations and a number of them were quickly marshalled in casualty evacuation trains.  Post-War the excursion stock remained in use by BR with little modification, although they were frequently seen in 'normal' service. The last of the stock had been withdrawn by 1966; only three examples of the third opens have been preserved, while 650 is the only surviving example of an excursion stock brake third open<ref>[[Bibliography#Other References|Longworth (2018)]] , Various pages</ref><ref>[[Bibliography#Other References|Harris (1966)]] p. 101., Appendix "Lot List"</ref>.  ==650 in service and preservation==GWR Brake Third Open (BTO) No 650 was built at Swindon in April 1940 as lot number 1644 to diagram D130. It was later numbered W650W by BR(W) in accordance with the normal [[Carriage and Wagon numbering|post-nationalisation numbering practice]] and was eventually withdrawn from service in October 1964.<ref>[[Bibliography#Other References|Longworth (2018)]] p.77.</ref> The following year the body of the coach was grounded at Kerne Bridge in the Wye Valley where it was used as a dormitory for the Gloucester Boys Club.<ref>SVR Stock Book Ninth Edition</ref>  650 was purchased from Kerne Bridge in 1989 by the [[Great Western (SVR) Assoc.|GW(SVR)A]] as a long-term restoration project. It was initially moved to the [[Foley Park sidings|British Sugar Corporation's sidings beside the SVR at Foley Park]] in March 1990. While there, some frame repairs and external repanelling were carried out.<ref>SVR News 128, Autumn 1998</ref>  On 31 March 2000, 650 was moved by road from Foley Park to Kidderminster and placed on accommodation bogies in preparation for a move to Bewdley.<ref>SVR News 133</ref> However other GW(SVR)A vehicles still required restoration, in particular [[GWR 9103 Nondescript Saloon]], so 650 was then stored in [[Kidderminster Carriage Shed]] while parts for the restoration were sourced and a set of bogies was overhauled. A number of new brass fittings were cast, as pictured on the GW(SVR)A web site [http://www.gw-svr-a.org.uk/650_restoration2.html 650 Brass Fittings] page.  By July 2007 650 had been moved into Kidderminster Carriage Works to have the underframe riveted up and other work caried out by the SVR's C&W staff as a contract job. After that time the GWR(SVR)A kept a photographic record of the restoration which may still be found on the GW(SVR)A web site [http://www.gw-svr-a.org.uk/650_restoration.html 650 Restoration] page. On 29 September 2010 650 was moved to Bewdley to be assessed for further contract work to make it watertight. By that time the GW(SVR)A had launched an appeal to raise funds for its restoration. Restoration work then continued in Bewdley paint shop with the help of full-time staff and support assistance from the [[Guarantee Company]] Board in early 2011. By the end of 2011 the exterior was complete and had received a protective coat of brown paint, allowing it to be moved out into the yard where work on the internal fit out could continue for the next three years. 650 returned to the paint shop in April 2015 for final painting into GWR 1934-42 livery featuring the ‘shirt-button’ roundel. It then moved to [[Carriage Repair Works|Kidderminster]] for final mechanical work to the dynamo and vacuum braking system and mounting on its own bogies. The restoration of 650 was completed on 8 October 2015. Three days later 650 returned to service as part of a special train on 11 October 2015. In November 2015 it was allocated to [[Carriages#Set S | Set S]], the Severn Valley Limited dining set.

<gallerymode=packed heights=200px style="text-align:left">File: GWR_650_20150307.jpg| 650 during restoration in early 2015GWR650.jpg | 650 at Arley on its first day in service in 2015GWR_650_Interior_20151122.jpg|Interior view of 650

*[[Carriages| List of carriages]] ==Notes==<brreferences group="note"/>