Gwili’s vintage four-wheelers break cover ahead of 2023 debut
TWO vintage four-wheel carriages have emerged from extensive restoration work on the Gwili Railway as part of a 30742 Charters photographic event ahead of their return to passengercarrying duties next year.
Friday, October 14 saw GWR five-compartment third No. 216, built in 1888, and Taff Vale Railway brake third No. 220, built in 1891, run together for the first time in complete condition following their extensive work that benefited from a £14,000 share of a £22,000 National Lottery Heritage Emergency Fund grant received by the line.
Recovered in 1977, No. 220 had been a grounded body used as a garden shed in Herefordshire. It was fitted to an ex-LNER brake van underframe in 1986 and was initially restored by the pupils of Brynteg Comprehensive School, Brigend. It returned to traffic in 1990 and appeared on the children’s TV show Blue Peter the following year, but with its condition deteriorating, it was taken out of service in 2008.
Work on the five-compartment vehicle saw life-expired plywood panelling replaced with steel sheets and a new door constructed. The springs and door locks have all been overhauled, with replica TVR luggage rack brackets supplied by the Swindon & Cricklade Railway.
Former stable
No. 216 had also become a grounded body, being used as both a dwelling and donkey stable until recovery in 1991; this body has been fitted to an adapted BR Mk,1 horsebox vehicle underframe.
A new lighting system has been installed using LED bulbs encased in original GWR carriage lamps. As with No. 220, an entirely new door has been made to replace a life-expired one, with the remaining nine repaired or rebuilt to varying degrees.
Replica GWR castings have been obtained via the Great Western Railway Association at the Severn Valley Railway.
There are still some finishing touches to be made to both vehicles, including final fitting of the door locks, but work is in hand with a view to returning both of these restoration masterpieces to passenger traffic in 2023.
Scene setting
For the photographic charter, the two vehicles, both in GWR colours, ran with visiting 0-6-0PT No. 1369, which is on loan from the South Devon Railway until the end of the operating season.
A GWR toad and wooden-bodied open wagon in tow helped further set the scene of a branch line working for the day.
Gwili Railway chairman Matt Bowen said: “These carriages are going to be popular with our passengers as a different experience and we must congratulate the restoration team for all the hard work undertaken.”
The railway’s Abergwili Junction development has seen the foundations of its new ‘Dan Do’ carriage shed poured, with tenders to be invited for the steel structure very soon. The shed will provide undercover storage for vehicles such as these that will help prolong their working lives by sheltering them from the elements. The work is being assisted with funding from the Welsh Railway Trust, which owns both Nos. 216 and 220.