Barry Railway Carriage 163
This carriage was built in 1895 by Ashbury’s of Manchester for the Barry Railway in South Wales, where it was originally numbered 15. It is a composite carriage having two first class and three second class compartments. Following withdrawal by the GWR as number 6058 in 1928, the coach was used as a holiday home in the Clent Hills until 1992. It was then rescued for restoration at Hampton Loade.
The carriage body is now mounted on the underframe of an ex-SR Guards and Luggage van (type BY), built at Eastleigh in 1937 and originally numbered C 436, later numbered ADB975140 for departmental use by BR. This was initially preserved in 1994 at the Gwili Railway, but the body was scrapped in 2003 when the underframe was moved to Hampton Loade as a donor for 163.
In addition to being mounted on the donor underframe, the carriage's internal partitions have been reinstated and much of the bodywork repaired. Restoration continues at Hampton Loade station.
Sources
Railway Heritage Register Carriage Survey
Barry Railway Carriage Trust
Links
163 (body) on vintagecarriagestrust.org
436 (underframe) on vintagecarriagestrust.org
Barry Railway Carriage Trust web site