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London, Brighton & South Coast Railway Coach No. 949
Stroudley 4w Brake Third (built in 1881)

Richard Salmon

Type: 4-wheeled Brake Third
Built: (Midland Carriage & Wagon Co.) Sept.1881
Number: 949
Seating: 30 3rd class
Length: 26'
Withdrawn: 30/6/1911
Preserved: 1998
To Bluebell: 17/5/1998

This coach body, together with that of its companion No.676, is owned by the Bluebell Railway Trust. Together with our Stroudley First, No.661 and Third No.328, they will form a complete LBSCR train dating from the same period as our two Terriers, also designed by William Stroudley.

It was rescued from a farm near Cranleigh where it had been used as a storage shed since soon after the World War I. Originally oil lit, one lamp illuminated all three passenger compartments, which didn't have partitions above the tops of the seat backs.

A suitable Southern Railway van underframe has been obtained, and will be shortened to carry this body. Restoration work on the body could commence after completion of No.661 but it could be at least a decade before we see a complete Stroudley train with a Stroudley engine, which will then form the oldest standard-gauge train in the country.

The coach is stored on a temporary underframe under an overall tarpaulin.
 

July 2004 Update:

Richard Salmon

A suitable Southern Railway van underframe has now been shortenned to carry this body. The underframe, formerly belonging to SR CCT No.2411 (later DS 70249), has had 6 feet removed from its length. Restoration work commenced in July 2004 after completion of No.661, but it could be at least a decade before we see a complete Stroudley train with a Stroudley engine, which will then form the oldest standard-gauge train in the country.

The above information on this page came from the Bluebell Railway website.
The page for carriage 949 can be found here, and you can follow up to date progress with the carriage's restoration here