GWR 9653 Restaurant Third

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GWR 9653 Restaurant Third
GWR Hxx restaurant 9653 at Kidderminster.jpg
GWR 9653 Restaurant Third
Built By GWR Swindon
Status In service
Number 9653
Other numbers DW150032
History
Built 1932 (rebuilt 1937)
Designed By Collett
Diagram H32 / H52
Lot 1359
Type RTO
Length 58ft 0¼in
Weight 31t 12cwt (as rebuilt)
Seats 56 third
1980 Preserved (NRM)
1981 Loan to SVR

Carriages

GWR 9653 is a Collett bow-ended Restaurant Third Open (RTO) carriage.

Contents

GWR 9653 in service

It was built in October 1925 as lot number 1359 to Diagram H32,[1] and initially formed one end of three-car articulated (“Tri-art”) dining set H32. The articulated sets were an attempt to reduce train weights by means of two carriages sharing a single bogie. However the relative lack of flexibility of this arrangement, and the introduction of more powerful locomotives, led to the sets being rebuilt to Diagram H52[2] as three single units in 1937. 9653 later saw Departmental use as No DW 150032 in the second WR Control Train.[3]

GWR 9653 in preservation

It was preserved in 1980 and is part of the National Railway Museum’s National Collection. It first arrived on the SVR from York in 1981 along with sister coach 9654.[3] It remains on loan to the SVR,[4] and was regularly used as part of the Severn Valley Limited dining set, finished in GWR 1934-42 livery featuring the ‘shirt-button’ roundel.

In 2017 it was retired from service with poor wiring, thought to date from 1923, and underwent repairs.[5] 2019 saw a bogie overhaul and curing leaks on the roof vents[6].

See also

References

  1. Harris (1966) p. 150.
  2. Longworth (2018) p.110.
  3. 3.0 3.1 SVR Stock Book Ninth Edition
  4. NRM 'Our Collection' entry for GWR 9653
  5. SVR News 200
  6. SVR News 206, 208

Links