GWR 3467 Fruit D Van
| GWR 3467 Fruit D Van | |
|---|---|
 GWR Fruit Van 3467 (2015) | |
| Built By | BR Swindon |
| Status | Static use |
| Number | 3467 |
| History | |
| Built | 1955 |
| Diagram | Y14 |
| Lot | 1780 |
| Type | 4-w ventilated van |
| Telegraphic code | FRUIT D |
| 1973 | Arrived on SVR |
GWR/BR 3467 'Fruit D' is a long wheelbase fruit van, one of around 13 survivors of the type of which four are preserved on the SVR, the others being W3429, W92080 and W92090. A description of the type can be found on the W3429 page. 3467 was built by BR at Swindon in 1955, some 8 years after nationalisation, as part of Lot 1780 to Diagram Y14, a GWR design. In service it was piped for steam heat, although not heated itself, and was gas-lit[1].
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Preservation
Four 'Fruit D's were acquired by the SVR during the 1970s for the storage of loco spares.[1] 3467 was acquired in 1973 from BR stock at Kidderminster goods yard where it had been condemned, moving 'over the border' to the SVR on 24 November of that year. The late Bill Bennett was responsible for acquiring the vehicle from BR, using his connections as an employee in the permanent way department. 3467 has been at Hampton Loade ever since. It was initially used by the Hampton Loade Locomotive Fund (of which he was Treasurer) who supported the restoration of GWR Large Prairie 4141. When the partially restored locomotive left the SVR in 1988, it was taken over and converted into the Hampton Loade Station Fund Shop.[2]
When delivered to Hampton Loade, 3467 was in BR Blue livery. In preservation it has carried GWR passenger brown and GWR freight grey. Both these liveries are inaccurate for a vehicle built in 1955, but this has been done to blend in with Hampton Loade station which is painted in 1930s GWR colours. After a repaint in 2015 3467 is once again in GWR brown.