Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

GWRrailcarW20Wtakingshapeagain at itsKent&East

Theinteriorofunder-restorationW20W.PHIL BARNES SussexRailwayhome of45 years.PHIL BARNES

Helpget KESR’s ‘first’tractionrunning again

ByPhilBarnes

FUNDINGisneededto co mpletethe
four-decade-long restor ationofone of
the threesurviving GWRrailcars.
One ofafleet of 38, W20Wwasbuilt
at Swindon in 1940 and when new it
wasalloc atedtoNewport(Ebbw).
Itsfinal dutieswerefrom
Worcester shedworking on the
Tenburybranch, including the
last services fromWooffer tonto
Kidderminster on July 29, 1961, and
on the Bromyard branch in 1962,
as th etype wasdisplacedby BR
firs t-generation DMUs.
Afte rfour years of storage,itw as
purchasedby the Kent&EastSussex
Railway andarrived by rail as an‘out
of gauge load’inApril 1966.
Severalyears ofrestor ation
followed,withitbeing serviceable
by Christmas 1972 and subsequently
it had the dutyofhauling the
KESR’s first reve nue-earning train in

February1974. It thenranregularly

forsix years butwaswithdrawn

in 1980 dueto severebody panel

corrosion and generalrot.

Duringthe 1980s and 90s some

restor ation work took placebut

realistically W20W needed major

surgery, so a‘wheels up’restoration

has been slowly taking place

sincethen.

Restoration progress

Just about all the metalbody panels

have beenreplaced,except forboth cab

roof dome sections.Also,due to water

ingress,afair bit of the timber body/

framework has beenrenewed.

Thewindowtop-lightventilators

which areset in thewooden

structureare original,but will have

modernsafetyglass fitted.

Theseatframes arestoredbut

will needrecovering.W20W will

have an all-new wiring loom,

but most of the instruments and

controlsyste mcomponents just

neededrefurbishing.Talking of

which, both engines have been

fully reconditioned and run, the

gearboxesrefurbished,and the

propshafts and differential units

checked and deemed okay;the brake

systemto stop therailcar has also

beenoverhauled.

Theinterior side panelling has been

renewed and undercoated,while

the majorityoft he outside is nowin

primer with the finalcolour scheme

to be decided.

However, fundingforthe seats and

interior bodywork is stillrequired.

➜Fundingof thisrare machine has

alwaysbeen tight but donations

to complete the job can be made

to:GWR Railcar Appeal,c/o Kent

&East SussexRailway Co.Ltd,

TenterdenTown station,Tenterden,

Kent,TN306HE,ordonate online

at cafdonate.cafonline.org/10378#/

DonationDetails

Severn Va lley’s LMSbrake restored

readytohostFalling Sandsexhibition

THEoverhaul andrepainting of the
SevernValley Railway’ssix-wheel LMS
‘StoveR’passenger brake No.2886/32919
hasbeencompletedat Kidderminster.
Last November,the SevernValley
Railway CharitableTrust announced
thatitwill use thevehicleto host
amobileexhibition as partoft he
interpretation elementofits funding
bid to the NationalLotter yHerit age
Fund forrepairsto FallingSands
Viaduct–for which it successfully
secured £853,800towardsthe
estimatedtotalcost of morethan
£1 mllion inMarchthis year.
Therailwayhad earlier announced
thatits appealto ra ise £397,000
towards thecosts had been an
outstanding success.
It is plannedto star tworkonthe
viaductduring winter2019/20
afterthe railway’s festiveseason
prog ramme of trains and will mean

the railway will operateonly between

Bridgnorth andBewdley untilwork

is completeoncethe 2020 season

gets underway.

‘StoveR’ No.2886in itsnewly appliedlined-LMSlivery in thecarriageworksyard

at Kidderminster.PAULAPPLETON

Essentialrepairsto the 142-year-old

viaducthave becomenecessaryin

orderto keep trains running through

to Kidderminster.

Writetous:Heritage Railway,MortonsMediaLtd,POBox43,Horncastle, LincsLN 96 LZ. eritagerailway.co.uk 39

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