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Use as Santa’s Grotto continued for some years. In 1985 it was proposed for 1257 to go on show at Swindon in August as part of a demonstration goods train in the GWR 150 event,<ref>SVR News 75</ref> later cancelled after the closure of the Swindon works was announced just before the event was scheduled to take place.<ref>SVR News 77</ref> The coach received major body repairs at [[Carriage Repair Works|Kidderminster Carriage Works]] in late 1991 before returning to Santa duties.<ref>SVR News 101/102</ref>
Further repair work was carried out in 1997.<ref>SVR News 124</ref> On 24th October 1998 owning group the [[Great Western (SVR) Assoc. | Great Western (SVR) Association]] celebrated 25 years with a special train from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth which used their locomotive [[GWR Mogul 7325 | Collett Mogul 9303]] and vintage GW set [[GWR 3930 Full Third|3930]], [[GWR 9055 Nondescript Saloon|9055]], [[GWR 9369 Nondescript Saloon|9369]] and 1257.<ref>SVR News 128</ref>
In spring 2000 the SVR acquired several [[BR 80328 Post Office Sorting Van|Post Office Sorting Vans]] for use on Santa duties.<ref>SVR News 132</ref> From around that time 1257 was used as a mobile store rather than a grotto. It underwent a major overhaul between 2004 and 2007.<ref>[http://www.gw-svr-a.org.uk/1257_overhaul.html Great Western (SVR) Assoc. Association overhaul pages]</ref> Another Association celebration train with the toplights and 1257 ran on 27 September 2008.<ref>SVR News 163</ref> The interior was restored and repainted in 2014.
In 2019, 1257 formed part of the 'German troop train' in the battle staged at that year's 'Step Back to the 1940s' event.
