SOUTH DEVON OFFERS NEW Mk 1 COACH ENDS
As a result of an incident last year, in which a child fell through a missing carriage floor, the South Devon Railway is making replacement ends for Mk 1 coaches.
Since the incident on June 22 2017 (SR470/480), “almost every SDR coach has been withdrawn for examination or repairs at some point,” reports Dick Wood, the railway’s PR & business development manager. The vehicle involved in the incident, Second Open No. W4805, is one of four still out of service for heavier repairs, while others have received temporary attention but will be withdrawn at the end of the year as part of a works programme. SDR Engineering has produced a set of dies, allowing the end sections to be made using the 700-ton press in the Buckfastleigh boiler shop and supplied to other preserved lines.
Parts available include complete left and right-hand ends (including corners) at £390 each, and centre sections (over the corridor connections) for £38 each, together with bodyside, gangway and end pillars, and corridor connection plates. For a full list, contact SDRE on 01364 643461 or email engineering@southdevonrailway.org The SDR was fined £40,000 for breaching health and safety regulations by putting No. W4805 into traffic without its toilet floor, which had been removed for repairs to the vacuum brake pipe. To retain sufficient passenger capacity while its own stock is withdrawn, the SDR has hired in autocoach No. 163 (from the Llangollen Railway), Mk 1 Brake First Corridor No. 17015 (from Jon Jones-Pratt, owner of Kinlet Hall and Thornbury Castle) and DMU trailer No. 59004 (from the Dartmouth Steam Railway). A Mk 1 Tourist Second Open, No. 4507, also came from the DSR for the ‘Thomas’ weekend on May 5-7.