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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Withdrawn: 30/6/1911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 at:
http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pics/coach949.html
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