Heritage Carriages Project News from 2009
Saturday 28 November 2009
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News about No 6705
Claire Sheppy writes:
The job, as is the way with these things, is getting bigger in that the main timbers above the solebars are in worse condition than was thought and one will have to be replaced completely, and the other for most of its length. Walt Denning reports that the metal brackets that hold the solebar to the uprights are currently being cut away.
The two photographs (taken by Walt Denning) show the coach end with corridor connection removed (same at both ends) and the corridor side with main solebar removed."
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© Walt Denning
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© Walt Denning
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Latest News
Thursday 12 November 2009
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Heritage Carriages Project update
Claire Sheppy writes:
More than most people will realise, has happened at the Williton former concrete works site, since we first took delivery of the drawing board, donated courtesy of IBM at Hursley, Hants, Steve Richardson, who co-ordinated things, and the Hawkins family who arranged to transport the board, last March.
For a start, all of the three manholes, (two for foul sewers and one for a water main, ) have been raised to allow for the raising of the dip in the ground to the North West of the Swindon shed, right where it is hoped to bring in the two new sidings.
Secondly, the far (North Western ) corner of the site has been cleared of grass, scrub and topsoil and the area topped off with scalpings, which tidied up that corner considerably and presented a more suitable base for the arrival of another coach.
Thirdly, all of the Statutory Bodies (ie gas, electricity, telephones, water mains and sewers) have been approached and have supplied records of their various services either across or on the edge of the site, this information has been transferred to one drawing , which also contained all of the spot levels around the site. (I say contained because some of these levels are already out of date due the raising of the level in the North East corner of the site.)
The relevance of all of this was that it was all necessary preparation work for the fact that for the time being (other than the work being caried out at Crewe), the Williton concrete works site will be the centre for such renovation work as can be carried out at present, further work depends very much on more volunteers coming forward, to assist in the work.
Fourthly, a further coach has now arrived at Williton. This coach has come from Tintern, in the Wye Valley. It is a Collett era Gangwayed flat ended Third, built to diagram C67, lot 1509, completed on 28-2-35, and numbered 5856. This coach is by all early inspections, in a considerably better condition than some of the coaches already at Williton.
And finally….. Wanted: One or more Joiners who are interested in Railway restoration and would like to become an essential part of this fascinating project. Bear in mind that these coaches are either already or are approaching 100 years old, and that if they are left to disintegrate, a very essential part of our railway heritage will have gone for ever. "
Latest News
Thursday 17 September 2009
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The Heritage Carriages Project moving forward
Collett coach no 6705 has been enclosed within a plastic cocoon at Crewe. The shelter allows volunteers from the Heritage Carriages Project of the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust to restore the Collett bow-ended brake corridor composite regardless of the weather.
No 6705 was built in 1938 and later exported to a musuem in USA, before being repatriated in 2007. Recent work has seen the steel body sheets removed. The good news is that the woodwork is in generally good condition. The major wood replacement will be sections about 10ft long above the solebar on both sides and at both ends.
In total, fourteen ex-Great Western carriages have been secured for the Project with work underway on several vehicles.
Latest News
Monday 22 May 2009
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The Heritage Carriages Project moving forward
The Heritage Carriages Project is firmly moving forward. We have accepted the initial quote of Colin Worrall at Crewe to begin work on 6705. This first phase will consist of erecting a weatherproof structure around the coach and beginning to remove exterior panels to see how much work will be required.
We are very pleased that Walt Denning has agreed to act as the Trust’s project manager at Crewe.
We now have four coaches stood in the yard at Williton and one in the Swindon shed. A further vehicle stands at Williton and two more in Minehead yard. We have offers of further coaches, but storage space is short and we may need to rationalise the vehicles we have. This will be determined by the coach catalogue and survey mentioned below.
The search has now started to fill other project roles:
- fundraiser to help us with the lottery bid and to help us apply for other grants and corporate sponsorship to help the project progress.
- general project manager to scope and prepare project plans, costs and schedules to support the bids for funding
- work coordinator and caretaker for the five coaches at Williton.
Help required: In order to speed the work at Crewe, we are looking for a small team of volunteers who will be able to undertake unskilled or semi-skilled work on 6705 under the supervision of Walt and Colin. If you are able to get to Crewe regularly and would like to help, please email us on info@wssrt.co.uk in the first instance.
It is now important that we raise the profile of the project to build maximum support. One important event is the WSRA Transport Rally held at Norton Fitzwarren on 1 and 2 August 2009. We have been offered a small publicity stand at the rally. The Trust now needs to borrow some display boards, have them erected on the site and then further help to man the stand during the two days of the show. We can supply graphics and if you can help, please email us on info@wssrt.co.uk
Once work has started on 6705, the next biggest job will be to catalogue and survey the coaches we have in order to see which ones we take forward next.
This project is key for the West Somerset Railway and we have the full support of the company and the Association with which we are working very closely.
The West Somerset Steam Railway Trust Team
Latest News
Saturday 30 May 2009
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News about the Project
The West Somerset Steam Railway Trust is pleased to announce that the first phase of its flagship Heritage Carriages Project is complete. The Trust has now acquired sufficient ex-GWR coaches to enable restoration to begin.
The first phase of the project was master-minded by Robin White and the Trust directors are very grateful for Robin’s enthusiastic help in achieving this task.
The second phase of the project will see The Trust, in cooperation with the West Somerset Railway PLC and the West Somerset Railway Association begin restoration of the coaches.
The heritage coaches project will be managed by a tri-partite committee with two representatives each from the Trust, WSRA and the WSR PLC. The committee members are:
- Ian Coleby (WSSRT Director) Chairman of the committee
- Chris Dowrick (Chairman of WSSRT)
- Mark Smith (chairman of WSR PLC)
- Roger Lizars (WSR PLC)
- David Holmes (Chairman of WSRA)
- Don Bishop (WSRA)
The Committee is now urgently searching for volunteers to fill the following crucial roles:
- Project Manager
- Fund Raiser
- Project Manager – Crewe
- Project Manager – Williton
It is anticipated that the people in these roles will join the project committee as well as representatives from the volunteers involved in restoration.
The Coaches
The project has a number of coaches either already in Trust ownership or which have been offered to us. These include a number of ex-GWR toplight and Collet coaches. The main aim of the project is to restore a set of 7 coaches (plus a brake vehicle). Inevitably, this rake of coaches will be a mix of both toplights and Collets. Over time, it may be possible to expand the number of coaches, though this is dependent on the fund raising that must take place. The flagship coach of the project is Collet 6705 that was repatriated from the US last year and is now standing at Crewe. This coach is almost complete, even still including the original framed pictures in the compartments. The project is now intent on restoring this coach to traffic as soon as possible, and initial investigations indicate that the work could be completed in a year.
Next Steps
- The first task of the committee is to appoint the volunteers needed to take the work forward.
- Secondly, it is important to complete a survey of all the coaches in the project to determine the best restoration route for each one.
- Thirdly, we want to begin the work on 6705 as quickly as possible.
- Finally, we must begin to raise the considerable sums needed to return the coaches to traffic.
This is a very important project for the railway. For more than 30 years the railway has carried train loads of visitors over the picturesque Quantock hills and alongside the beautiful West Somerset coast line on its workhorse fleet of British Rail Mk 1 coaches. During that time, a fleet of steam locomotives has been restored to working order and the time is now right to create the fleet of ex-GWR coaches to run behind them.
Latest News
Tuesday 19 May 2009
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News about the Project
The WSSRT AGM was held last Sunday in the Gauge Museum at Bishop's Lydeard. There was a record turn-out of members at the meeting, which reflects the current interest in the Trust's high-profile Heritage Carriages Project.
Chairman of the Trust, Chris Dowrick, outlined where the project had now reached. Chris explained that the resignation of Robin White earlier in the year as project manager had left the Trust with a big hole to fill. Robin has energetically pursued the project, he had tirelessley travelled the country viewing and acquiring coaches and achieved the repatriation of 6705 from USA. This first phase of the project is now over and the second phase, the actual restoration, could begin. In order to manage this, the Trust has formed a sub-committee which has representatives from the WSR PLC, WSRA as well as the WSSRT. The committee met for the first time on Friday and is now actively seeking other members. Chris was pleased to announce at the AGM that Ian Coleby had been appointed chairman of the sub committee. The first priority of the project is to return 6705 to traffic and steps will be taken as quickly as possible to start this work with the hope that 6705 could be back running as early as next year. The sub-committee is now working on a full press release which should be issued in the near future.
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Following a presentation to the WSSRT AGM to mark the launch of the next phase of the Heritage Carriage Project, harnessing the combined resources of the WSSRT, the WSR Plc and the WSRA, several trust members adjourned to Williton to view the carriages assembled there and the start of work already made to toplight 3639. Picture by Mike Dunse.
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Latest News
Tuesday 7 April 2009
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The Sponsored Railway Walk
The Ten Mile Walk along the West Somerset Railway which took place in November was proved a fine fundraiser. The Walk, in aid of the "Heritage Carriages Project" and the "St Margarets Hospice, Somerset", raised a total of £5,500. After looking at each sponsor form and the wishes of those sponsoring the walkers, a total of £1,700 was raised for the St. Margarets Hospice, and £3,800 for the Heritage Carriages Project. Organiser Mike Webber and Ian Coleby from the West Somerset Steam Trust, organised a small gathering in which the 1st prize of the Hornby locomotive, was given to the person who raised the most sponsorship money, with the runners up receiving some bottles of wine at Bishops Lydeard Station on Saturday 21 March. A cheque was presented to Diana Davies, Fundraising Manager from the St Margarets Hospice. Once again, organiser Mike Webber wishes to thank all those who sponsored a walker or who took part in the event, for making it such a runaway success.
Latest News
Friday 6 March 2009
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An Update from Claire Sheppy
There will only be one working party date on 3639, for the Heritage carriages project in April, which will be on April 25th from 10-30 am to 4-30 pm at Williton.
Many thanks to those who made contact concerning a drawing board, this has all been brought to a very satisfactory conclusion now, including having a really good drawing board to be able to use at Williton for anyone who needs to use it. Thanks are especially due to the people who arranged to have this transported from Hursley to Williton.
Work on 3639 continues steadily, there are now two doors which have been completely refurbished (there are 16 in total), also Dick Whittington, who spends quite a lot of his time working on the new Bulleid tender, has removed the buffers from the underframe at the Bishop's Lydeard end of the coach, as one of the steps towards preparing the underframe for further treatment
Latest News
Friday 6 March 2009
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Drawing Board
Claire Sheppy writes "We have been offered a professional drawing board and stand which in conjunction with Gareth Winter of the West Somerset Restoration team I have arranaged to be able to have for both the WSSRT team members and members of the West Somerset Restoration Team to be able to use in the Office in the former concrete works site at Williton. It is currently at Hursley (five miles south west of Winchester) but is too big to be brought to Williton by car. Is there anyone with a lorry or van (or motor caravan) who is planning on coming down to the WSR in the fairly near future who would be prepared to call to collect it and then bring it to Williton please? If so could you please reply with contact info to the WSSRT email address at info@wssrt.co.uk "
Film Night
Due to circumstances beyond the control of the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust the film show that was to be held at Crowcombe on 28 March has been cancelled. Refunds will be made as soon as possible to ticket holders. The Steam Trust apologise for the cancellation and hope to be able to arrange film events in the future. The film night was to be held on the second Saturday of the Spring Steam Gala.
Latest News
Monday 23 February 2009
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Claire Sheppy writes...
Heritage Carriages Project March working parties on Toplight coach 3639 at Williton will be on the following dates:
March 7th 10:30am until 4:30pm
21st March 10:30am until 4:30pm
Many thanks to those of you who contacted me via the W S S R T concerning a drawing board, I had several offers, and have contacted each of you individually. As a result we now have a suitable drawing board for me to use at home, and also one which will end up being available to use at Williton, both by the West Somerset Restoration team and myself as necessary. We now just await delivery, but these boards are fairly big and not that easy to transport, so we understand that people will need to bring them as and when they can.
During the Spring Steam Gala, the Swindon shed at Williton will be open on both Saturdays, 21st and 28th March, and Sundays 22nd and 29th March. Because Saturday the 21st is a Scheduled working party, visitors will be able to visit 3639 to see the progress there and ask questions, but also on Saturday the 28th of March, David Stockwell will be on hand to show people the work carried out to date, and on Sunday 29th March I will be on hand, however if anyone would like to volunteer to steward on Sunday 22nd March, (which incidentally happens to be Mothering Sunday), I will be pleased to hear from you.
Latest News
Friday 13 February 2009
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The West Somerset Railway Walk which took place last November has raised over £5000 in sponsor money, collected by the Walkers that took part. From receiving all the Sponsor forms, those that were giving money and sponsoring a walker had the choice of giving all their money donated to the Heritage Carriages Project,or divided equally between the project and the St Margarets Hospice Trust. From looking at the wishes of each sponsor the money raised for the Heritage Carriages Project on the 30th January was slightly over £3,300, and for the St Margarets Hospice, just over £1,700. There has been a number of cheques received since that time and this will be added to the totals. The three prize winners for raising the most sponsorship money have been identified and will be contacted shortly with a presentation to follow. Organiser Mike Webber wants to thank again all those Walkers who took part and collected the money but also the Sponsors who contributed generously to two worthy causes.
Latest News
Tuesday 27 January 2009
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Ian Coleby advises that the meeting at Ruishton Inn on 31 January has been postponed. Watch this space for a new date...
Latest News
Saturday 24 January 2009
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Claire Sheppy writes
"Heritage Carriage No 3639 working parties for February are scheduled for Saturday February 14th from 10:30am until 4:30pm at Williton and Saturday February 21st from 10:30am until 4:30pm at Williton."
"Also, here is another reminder that there will be a presentation by Robin White assisted by other members of the team, on 31st January, details of which can be found elsewhere on this website."
"This is an opportunity for anyone who has any thoughts or suggestions to
make them. This project as a whole is as ambitious as many that the West
Somerset Railway has tackled, I myself think back to 1976 when the West
Somerset Railway first started running services on the Minehead branch, and
remembering people saying that to re-open the whole of a 20 mile long branch
line was as good as impossible. Fortunately they were not right. I also
understand that some people have voiced their thoughts that this project was
likely to divert funds from other, in their opinion, more worthwhile
projects. I also know that there are people who can see just how worthwhile
a project this particular one actually is, and who are prepared to
contribute to the Heritage coaches project, whereas they would not be
prepared to contribute to other projects on the railway."
"I would therefore urge anyone with any thoughts and suggestions to come to
this particular meeting, or failing that to put any thoughts in writing to
Robin White and the team via the W S S R T website, prior to the meeting so
that they may be raised at it."
"I am also searching for a larger drawing board than the A3 one that I have
at present. Ideally I need an A0 size drawing board preferably complete with
stand. If anyone has one of these which they would be prepared to either
donate or to sell to me at a reasonable cost, or knows someone who might
have one, could you please get in touch with me via the WSSRT e-mail address
info@wssrt.co.uk"
"We already have an A0 plan chest available at Williton, which I shall be
repairing and reassembling over the next month or so. I hope to be able to
give an update on the drawing situation for the coaches at the meeting on
31st January."
And Ian Coleby adds:
"Can I also remind you of the Trusts Film evening.
On Saturday 28 March 2009 (the second Saturday of the Spring Gala) the West
Somerset Steam Trust will be holding a film night at Crowcombe village hall
in aid of the Heritage Carriages Project. The Bar will be open from 6.30 and
at 7.30 we will be showing the classic film: 'The Train' with Burt
Lancaster. Made in 1964 with full co-operation of French Railways, the film
shows the theft of France's art treasures being foiled by French Railwaymen,
led by Burt Lancaster. It includes unforgettable sequences including a
train being driven through an air raid and a real train crash including
several SNCF locomotives. It does also include Burt Lancaster, Jeanne
Moreau, Paul Scofield and Wolfgang Preiss Tickets will be available from
Blue Anchor Station House, Blue Anchor, Somerset TA24 6LB from 1st January
2009 at £7.50 for adults and £5 for children (aged 14 and under). Cheques
payable to 'WSSRT'. Please include an SAE for return of your tickets.
Please note, there are ONLY 120 tickets available, so book early to avoid
disappointment. It should be a great evening. Remember, all proceeds will
go to the Heritage Carriages Project!"
Heritage Carriages Project News
Monday 5 January 2009
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Heritage Carriages Project News
Monday 5 January 2009
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© West Somerset Steam Railway Trust
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• No 6705
• Previous News
From 2008
From 2006 and 2007
• Pictures
Proposed Museum/Carriage Shed
Artists impression of the future...
No 6705 moves from USA to UK...
GWR Toplight CK No 7740...
• The Project Team
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Ian Coleby
Chairman and Project Leader |
Chris Dowrick
Trust rep |
David Holmes
WSRA rep |
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Don Bishop
WSRA rep |
Mark Smith
WSR Plc rep |
Roger Lizars
WSR Plc rep |
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