The Severn Valley Railway has seen the roll-out of its latest, almost finished Teak Carriage 43612 from the paint shop at Bewdley.

It has taken a team of 25 more than 6,000 man-hours to painstakingly repair and restore the coach over the past 25 years and this reveal marks a major milestone in bringing the 1934 vintage coach back into regular operating service.

The coach was unveiled in front of a crowd of 50 guests which included volunteers that were involved with the project, Directors of the railway as well as members of the press.

The carriage owners are the SVR Charitable Trust and their trustees were also present for the unveiling. Some of the funds for the coach came from the legacy of a supporter of the railway.

‘It looks amazing, and it’s a credit to the team involved, with leadership from our paid staff member Colin Astbury. They have a clear passion to keep these heritage skills alive. I can’t thank them enough for their efforts.’

SVR Managing Director Jonathan Dunster

The restoration of the coach is still ongoing with mechanical work and the fitting of a new braking system to still be completed at Kidderminster Carriage and Wagon Works with it scheduled to be in the Severn Valley Railway’s Teak Rake of coaches by Autumn 2024.

‘We’ve repaired the underframe, floor and roof, replaced all interior panels and vinyl wall coverings, reupholstered all 64 seats with new 1924-pattern moquette, installed new tables, and repaired the timber frame and some of the exterior teak panels.
‘A number of the largest teak panels were beyond repair, so these were replaced with the last of the SVR’s stock of new panels, obtained many years ago. Naturally grown teak panels of the required size are no longer available, as the felling of suitable mature trees in the Far East was prohibited several years ago.

One of the more unusual jobs was the replacement of some of the gangway components, as these were worn beyond acceptable limits. Although 43612 was built by the LNER at York in 1934, the gangways were contracted out to Metro-Cammell in Birmingham. After the company closed, most of their drawings were saved by Birmingham library. One of our volunteers spent an afternoon in the library with his laptop, creating CAD drawings from the stored microfiches. We sent these to a local manufacturer who made the required components on a CNC milling machine, together with a spare set to go into store.

After many weeks of final painting and varnishing, the lining and lettering was applied – all painted by hand. On a Gresley coach, there is a third-of-a-mile of straight lines to paint on, together with gold leaf on the lettering!’

Martin Turnbutt SVR Volunteer at Bewdley