GWR 9055 Nondescript Saloon

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GWRGreat Western Railway 9055 Nondescript Saloon

9055 was designed by GJ ChurchwardGeorge Jackson Churchward, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1902-1922 and built by the GWRGreat Western Railway at Swindon in 1912. It was an unclassified or 'nondescript' saloon (ie not allocated to any specific class such as first or third), and was used for private hire. As originally built it seated 44 passengers in two saloons with a side-corridor connection. It also featured 'toplights', small 'lights' or windows above the main windows, which were a feature of many GWRGreat Western Railway carriages of the period.

9055 was a ‘one-off’ prototype, although it formed the basis of a later CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941 design of which 9103 and 9369 are also at the SVRSevern Valley Railway.

9055 later saw service as a departmental vehicle, being allocated coach code BTO (Brake Third Open) by BRBritish Rail or British Railways and carrying departmental number DW 150127. It was used as a mobile MPDMotive Power Depot office at Shrewsbury and Newport, from where it was purchased by The Great Western (SVR) Association in 1972.

After a lengthy restoration it entered service on the SVRSevern Valley Railway as a party vehicle with one saloon and an open wheelchair area. Following withdrawal in 1996 it underwent an overhaul which included a repaint into chocolate and cream livery and the re-instatement of the second saloon and side compartment.

As of December 2015, 9055 is in service, normally appearing in the Toplights set. It is finished in GWRGreat Western Railway 1922-27 livery featuring the ‘garter crest’ logo.

References

SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book, Ninth Edition
Railway Heritage Register Carriage Survey

Links

9055 on www.gw-svr-a.org.uk
9055 on www.vintagecarriagestrust.org

See also

List of carriages

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