LNER 43600 Open Third
LNERLondon & North Eastern Railway GresleySir Nigel Gresley, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London & North Eastern Railway 1923-1941 Open Third (TO) No 43600 was built at York in 1934. It was the first LNERLondon & North Eastern Railway vehicle built with a welded chassis, reducing the weight by around a ton[1].
43600 arrived on the SVRSevern Valley Railway in 1980. Restoration into 1935 livery but with a very basic interior, was completed in the mid-1980s, after which it was used for a number of years. After an overhaul, which included a comprehensive upgrade to the interior, 43600 re-entered service in November 2014. During this overhaul, LNERLondon & North Eastern Railway pattern luggage racks, coathooks, wall lamps, tables and mirrors were added, whilst the angular Mk1 seat ends were replaced with new ones to a much more sympathetic design.
During January to May 2016 further work was carried out on the roof as a joint volunteer/full time staff project and included stripping off the old roof covering (dating from c1987,) securely re-fastening the T&G roof boards to the transverse steel hoops with countersunk set screws and applying a new canvass,rainstrips and tacking rails. The opportunity was taken to apply a further 2 coats of varnish to the exterior, thus prolonging its life before the next major overhaul. This work was completed on 6th May 2016 and its return to traffic is expected shortly.
Early in 2016, a principal supplier of 24 Volt LED lamp bulbs introduced a 40 Watt equivalent "golf ball" style bulb, the installation of which would improve lighting levels and reduce power consumption. A public appeal raised sufficient money to replace all of the lamp bulbs in the LNERLondon & North Eastern Railway carriages of set N. The electrician reports that since the replacement, Set N has required very little top up charging from battery chargers as the dynamos are now able to supply sufficient current to charge the batteries (as they should).
43600 was one of three coaches which in 2010 were gifted by the LNERLondon & North Eastern Railway (SVRSevern Valley Railway) Coach Fund to the SVRSevern Valley Railway Rolling Stock Trust (now the Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust Ltd), along with 24068 and 70759.
Sources
Railway Heritage Register Carriage Survey
LNERLondon & North Eastern Railway (SVRSevern Valley Railway) Coach Fund
- ↑ vintagecarriagestrust.org
Links
43600 on vintagecarriagestrust.org
43600 on lnersvrcoachfund.org.uk
43600 on svrtrust.org.uk
