The SVR Permanent Way Fund
In the mid-1990s, then-Permanent Way Manager Gerry Carter began investigating the possibility of acquiring a tool/mess coach to improve the working conditions for his staff. BR Mark 1 Brake Corridor Second 34754 had been converted for use as a breakdown mess & tool van by BR in the 1970, and later acquired by the North Norfolk Railway who only wanted its bogies.
The coach was inspected at Peterborough where it was in store, after which a deal was struck whereby the SVR's P-Way volunteers would purchase the coach body for £500. The entire coach including the bogies would then be transported to the SVR, with the NNR sharing the transport costs including the return of the bogies back to Norfolk.[1]
The purchase was duly completed with the coach arriving on the SVR in late 1997. The following year, the SVR Stock book recorded its ownership as being by the "SVR P.Way Fund".[2] No other reports on the structure or activities of the Fund have been noted in SVR News.