Your chance to own a unique piece of railway history!
ANGEL Trains, Gemini Rail Services at Wolverton Works, and South Western Railway are offering readers the chance to buy a one-off piece of modern traction railwayana in the form of a Class 442 EMU driver’s seat. The ‘Wessex Electric’ fleet has been in service since 1988, mostly on the main line routes out of Waterloo to Weymouth and Portsmouth, but also out of Victoria and London Bridge to Gatwick and Brighton. Based on British Rail’s iconic Mk.3 coach bodies, these third-rail EMUs are arguably the most stylish ever built, and are widely admired by enthusiasts and passengers alike. Now, however, the post-Covid world sees no further use for them and so, after more than four decades of service, they have been taken out of service permanently and are been consigned to the scrapyard. Fleet owners Angel Trains and former operator SWR have kindly made one driver’s seat available to raise money for the Railway Benefit Fund through a sealed bid auction. “What a unique piece of railway history up for grabs and what a privilege it is for the Railway Benefit Fund (RBF) to be receiving the amount raised,” says RBF President Pete Waterman. “We are so thankful to Mortons for organising the auction and to South Western Railway, Angel Trains, Gemini Rail Group and Philip Marsh for making it happen. Every seven minutes somebody in our Railway Family reaches out to the RBF for help and advice and your support will ensure we can continue to meet the increase in demand for our services through the tough times.”
How to bid
All you have to do is submit your bid by post or email as follows, and the winner will be the one with the highest bid received by the deadline of 17.00 on Friday September 17, 2021.
When bidding, please also include your name and contact details. The highest bidder will then be asked to make payment, and be given contact details for Gemini at Wolverton Works to arrange collection of the seat.
Postal bids can be sent to:
Class 442 Seat Auction C/O Customer Services Mortons Media Group, Morton Way Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR The winner will acquire a unique piece of railway history in the knowledge that the money raised will go to such an excellent cause as the RBF, which was set up to help railway families through tough times. Good luck!