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4449 the story

Discussion in 'Heritage Rolling Stock' started by Reading General, Jan 23, 2015.

  1. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Same thing at the SVR, passengers were missing trains because they didn't want to travel in 'the modern BR train' so quite a few were quickly painted maroon. Even a certain Griddle car that was only ever Blue/Grey.
     
  2. PolSteam

    PolSteam Member

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    Was this the stock list you have?

    img362.jpg
     
  3. flaman

    flaman Well-Known Member

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    I'd missed this post (only by about 5 weeks:rolleyes:!) I can answer the question, and what happened also illustrates some of the classic problems associated with coach restoration (or non-restoration.)

    The underframe is at Mangapps, carrying the body of a GER luggage/composite. It is permanently housed indoors, as the coach contains part of the museum collection.

    We had acquired the coach body in about 1990, ex a farm in Norfolk. It was in very good condition, one side even had almost perfect LNER livery. It was seen by a visiting MHR volunteer, who reported that there was a 6-wheel van at Arlesford, which the railway wanted gone, but whose underframe might be suitable for our coach. I followed this up, was told that the van was in poor condition, the owner had died and repeated requests to his family to do something with it had no effect. I inspected it, parked on the Arlesford headshunt in front of the wreckage resulting from the infamous coach runaway.

    Externally it didn't look too bad- the "tinwork" looked almost perfect, as in the photo- but inside was a different story. Much of the metal sheeting was not attached to anything- the wood framing hadn't just rotted, it had vanished! I suspect that the timber used in these early post-war vehicles was sub-standard, but it probably explains why only one of these Thompson 6-wheelers survives intact. Anyway, the underframe was in fine condition and, being 32' long, perfect for our coach. (Incidentally, both vehicles had been built at Stratford, in 1888 and 1950 respectively.)

    Moving it was not easy. The body was so insecure that it rocked from side to side and there was a serious danger that it might collapse altogether. Some lengths of 4x4 were used to prop-up the roof and Rod Done, the haulier, bought a dozen ratchet straps to wrap right around it to prevent individual sheets falling off on the motorway. It didn't take much to remove the body. Having removed all useful fittings, 15 minutes work with the JCB's backacter reduced it to a bare chassis! A sad, but inevitable, end to a very rare vehicle, but at least something useful survives.
     
  4. PolSteam

    PolSteam Member

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    Now there is a name I'd forgotten, Rod Done! He was a great guy, and did loads of railway haulage for the MHR, in the old days.

    I've got pictures of it arriving at Alresford, but even then it was a rot box, and I don't remember anyone working on it. Was it owned by a guy from Fleet? A Printer, I think.

    Did you ever follow up my Scottish Coach body info? The last time we met was about 30 years ago!
     
  5. flaman

    flaman Well-Known Member

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    Indeed, Rod's a great character! He retired from the haulage business some years ago (sold it to Reid's) and is greatly missed, being very conveniently located for those of us in the South-East. Also, however awkward or difficult the move, you just had to tell Rod about it and he would have a go. Got into all sorts of scrapes as a result, mind you!

    I can't remember who the owner was, we sent some money to his representatives, but it's a long time ago!

    No, I'm afraid that I didn't follow up on the Scottish coaches, the problem being that at that time (early '90s) we were up to our eyes getting the railway established, running a largish farm business, etc, and there was never time! Also, hard as it is to imagine it now, there was so much available direct from BR or the scrappies that there was more than enough to keep us busy closer to home! I did appreciate my time in charge of your shoe-box of photos- there was some fascinating stuff there and I can still memorise many of the pictures. I guess that most of it has gone now.
    JJ
     
  6. PolSteam

    PolSteam Member

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    Well, you'd be surprised, I was!

    lots of them are now listed on the VCT site.
     
  7. pmh_74

    pmh_74 Well-Known Member

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    The surviving BZ was subject to a very extensive restoration, I think at one time it very nearly went the way of the others (although it was not yet unique at that time).

    There's a write-up here on the RVP website, although the photos seem to have gone AWOL: http://www.rvp-ltd.org.uk/spBZ.php
     
  8. GWR Man.

    GWR Man. Well-Known Member

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    flaman and Reading General like this.

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