Difference between revisions of "BR 4550 Tourist Standard Open"

Service

4550 was built at York in 1957 to diagram number 93 (AC204), lot number 30243. It went into service on the North Eastern Region in March 1957. Carriages in that region initially shared the Eastern Region E prefix, receiving their own "NE" prefix during the 1960s, before reverting to the "E" prefix when the North Eastern and Eastern Regions were amalgamated in 1968. E4550 became NE4550 between September 1967 and January 1968.^[1] It was eventually withdrawn from service in 1982 at Heaton, Newcastle^[2].

Preservation

During 1982-83 the SVRSevern Valley Railway acquired six TSOs in anticipation of the extra traffic which would be generated by the Kidderminster extension.^{[3][note 2]}. E4550 was the third of the six, arriving on the SVRSevern Valley Railway from Heaton on 6 December 1982. It was a replacement for another TSO, E4305, which had been acquired from Yarmouth but then damaged at Toton while en route to the SVRSevern Valley Railway. All six TSOs were in working order and needed only minimal attention before entering service, still carrying their BRBritish Rail or British Railways blue and grey livery.^[4]

Three of the TSOs including E4550 were all repainted into BR maroon livery during September 1985. All were finished in the late 1960s version of that livery with red ends and gutters and cream end doors, although they did not immediately receive the BRBritish Rail or British Railways 'cycling lion' badge, the C&WCarriage & Wagon Department having run out of the transfers at the time.^[5]

In autumn 1986 E4550, 3103 and 4584 all underwent minor repairs after they "…decided to lay a track of their own during shunting at Bridgnorth".^[6]. By autumn 1988 E4550 had a number of holes in its wooden doors, gaining it the nickname "the Nottingham Lace TSO". It was also in need of re-upholstering and required a set of tables, its own tables having been re-distributed among the other five TSO's to replace their missing originals.^[7]

Heavy overhaul 1991-93

By the early 1990s all the TSOs had seen regular heavy use and were in similar need of attention. After 4509 and 4399 underwent their own repairs, E4550 was eventually withdrawn from traffic in late 1991 for a heavy overhaul at Bridgnorth.^[8]

All windows were re-bedded and the panels below replaced where necessary. Internally, all 64 seats were reupholstered and the frames re-varnished. The ceiling was re-painted in gloss white, while the luggage racks were stripped and cleaned. A replacement set of tables was assembled from a collection rounded up from various scrapyards over the years. As these did not have legs, new legs were made using mahogany off-cuts donated by a local double-glazing works and finished with new leather-cloth covers in blue to match the upholstery.^[9]

Tell-tale rust holes in identical positions to those on 4399 suggested that structural work would be required at both ends of the carriage. The south end required 'extensive amputation' followed by major repairs to the main pillars and sheeting, a substantial patch on the roof and replacement of the entire vestibule floor, including new 6x2" timber framework. The north end also required some large new sections. The damaged wooden external doors were replaced using aluminium doors recovered from various scrapyards including CF Booths at Rotherham.^[10]

By Christmas 1992, all the welding on the west side was complete, including the end sheeting and replacement door edges. During 1993 work continued on the east side. The overhaul was completed in September 1993, including repainting in late 1960s maroon livery. After a visit to Kidderminster mechanical workshops for a check-up and new batteries, E4550 was temporarily marshalled into the crimson and cream set in time for that year's Christmas duties, before returning to the maroon set in the following spring.^{[11][note 3]}

During 1997 SVRSevern Valley Railway news reported that "Other public entertainments recently have been re-glazing broken windows during run-rounds, due to the high number of breakages at Foley Park this year. The record stands at 55 minutes to change a droplight on 4550; it should have taken an hour, but the train was 5 minutes late arriving!"^[12]

In autumn 2000 E4550 was stabled at Highley while the seats were re-covered by two of the volunteers. The new seat covers used a moquette pattern originally produced for the standard Network South East interior. The work being completed in time for a return to service at Easter 2001.^[13]

2003 medium repair

Although still in reasonable mechanical condition following the 1990s heavy overhaul, E4550 entered Kidderminster paint shop for a 'medium repair' in 2003. Three windows were removed to allow welding to areas affected by rust, while four days of cutting, welding and bending on one of the roof eaves was required to cure a 'miniscule leak on a lavatory cistern vent'. A broken communication cord had been caused by water becoming trapped in a channel above one door, needing another three days of fabrication work. All the doors were thoroughly overhauled.

The carriage's paintwork had never been stripped until that time, with successive layers applied over the original 1956 primer which had become very brittle. The repair therefore included a complete strip of the sides and ends to bare metal before repainting. The chassis floor support rails, which had also not been repainted since 1956, were wire brushed before repainting. The total time taken was thirteen weeks.^[14]

After returning to service, E4550 was lightly used as much of the rest of Set M was in need of attention. However during 2004 it was used on a diesel driving course, where it unfortunately suffered flats due to wheel skidding. The entire coach was sent by road to Toton for tyre turning on their ground-level lathe, this option being considered cheaper than lifting the coach off its bogies and removing the wheelsets.^[15]

2016-17 repair

The photograph above shows E4550 in service in March 2015 as part of the BRBritish Rail or British Railways Maroon set. E4550 was moved into the Kidderminster Carriage Works for attention in September 2016, including repairs to the door locks and a repaint, before a planned return to service for that year's Santa trains. However it turned into a more major repair after a cleaner's broom went through a toilet wall. Investigation revealed that the bottom foot of the wall, the vestibule floor, toilet floor and most of the six-inch by two-inch joists were all scrap. The repair work, including a complete repaint, was eventually completed in February 2017.^[16]

E4550 is owned by The 75069 Fund.

See also

• List of preservation groups
• The 75069 Fund
• List of carriages

Notes

1. ↑ The TSO designation remained in use for Mark 3A and Mark 4 Open Standard carriages, although no 'ordinary' SO coaches were constructed after the Mark 2a in the mid 1960s.
2. ↑ The other TSOs were 4509 and 4690 in 1982, and 4545, 4584 (no longer resident) and 4399 in 1983.
3. ↑ A notice in the carriage giving its history states that it "…had a 2 year long heavy rebuild at Bridgnorth by volunteers in 1995". The dates given in this article from contemporary SVRSevern Valley Railway News reports suggests that notice is incorrect.

References

1. ↑ Longworth (2013) pp.9,57.
2. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book 9th edition
3. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 66
4. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 102
5. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 78
6. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 81
7. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 89
8. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 101
9. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 103
10. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 103
11. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 109, 110
12. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 125
13. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 136
14. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 144, 147
15. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 149
16. ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 197, 199

Links

• 4550 on Railway Heritage Register On-Line