Archive pictures

The sleeping car is manoevered through the streets of Bridgwater towards its final home in 1933. The steam lorry itself is worthy of close study!

9038 appears to be here jacked up on timbers, presumably after having been taken off of the carriage it was brought on. It appears to have attracted a lot of attention.

Here we see workmen shuttering the sleeping car and constructing the bungalow around it. If it had not been for this protective cladding around it, the coach would have rotted away many years ago. The finished house was appropriately named Journey's End

Official GWR picture of the sleeping car at Swindon Works.

1986 and the bungalow is gently pulled apart to release 9038 from its slumbers and to enable it to begin its long journey back to traffic.

The heart-stopping moment when the frail structure of the coach is lifted by crane back onto a supporting lorry. The carriage did not have a supporting underframe at this point and, unsupported, was very fragile indeed.

A more recent picture showing the coach regaining its former glory in the Swindon shed at Williton station. It is, perhaps, very appropriate that both the coach and the shed in which it was restored both began their lives at Swindon and are seen together again at Williton.

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"Welcome ye friends of progress"

The West Somerset Steam Railway Trust is concerned with the historical and educational aspects of railway preservation in West Somerset. Since 1984 the Trust has made financial contributions to the restoration of GWR steam locomotives 4561 and 4160, rescued a unique GWR sleeping car, established a GWR Museum, registering system and archive, published information leaflets and advised on historical matters. The newsletter, Trust News, is sent to members and associate members occasionally and contains news, information, comment and historical articles.

The Trust is administered by six voluntary directors and cannot dispose of items it owns, so gifts and bequests remain safe for the future. In the unlikely event of the Trust being wound up, its property could only be passed to another similar trust. Because of this, people who have collected railway items, rolling stock or shares etc which they wish to remain safe for the future may feel that a charitable body such as the Trust is the best organisation to which to bequeath them. The Trust may also be willing to accept certain items on loan for exhibition purposes and these would normally be registered and covered by existing insurance arrangements. Please contact the Curator for details.

West Somerset Steam Railway Trust
Registered Charity No 265564

Registered Office
Williton Railway Station,
Williton, Somerset TA4 4RQ
Email info@wssrt.co.uk