Third Class 143 for Tanat Valley Railway
THE Tanat Valley Railway took delivery of its third ‘Pacer’ on August 5, when No. 143619 arrived at its base, five miles from Oswestry. It is the second of three sets previously owned outright by GWR (as opposed to being leased from Porterbrook) to pass into preservation, No. 143618 having moved to the Plym Valley Railway a few months ago. The third set, No. 143617, remains at St Philip’s Marsh and may well also enter preservation in due course.
No. 143619 joins Nos. 143601/616 at the Tanat Valley Railway, and its arrival fills a void caused by the departure of the resident Class 107 DMUs, which left for Nemesis Rail at Burton following a sale by their previous owner. As of August 19, the two cars had still to be coupled – one car had brake issues and the second suffered from flat batteries.
No less than 12 of the 25 Class 143s constructed have now passed into the hands of preservationists (see table), although not all are expected to be restored to working order – the Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway plans to make No. 143607 into its ticket office, shop and cafe, while
No. 143625 has been purchased by the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway as a source of spares for its Class 144, No. 144011, which made its passenger debut on the line on August 18.