GWR 9653 Restaurant Third
GWR 9653 is a Collett bow-ended Restaurant Third Open (RTO) carriage. It was built in October 1925 as lot number 1359 to Diagram H32, 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 as three single units in 1937.
9653 later saw Departmental use as No DW 150032 in the second WR Control Train. It was preserved in 1980 and is part of the NRM’s National Collection. It first arrived on the SVR from York in 1981 along with sister coach 9654. As of July 2015 it remains on loan to the SVR, and is regularly used as part of the Severn Valley Limited dining set. It is finished in GWR 1934-42 livery featuring the ‘shirt-button’ roundel.
Sources
Railway Heritage Register Carriage Survey
SVR Stock Book Ninth Edition