Vintage carriage fleet to be housed at Washford shed

THE future of the covered rolling stock accommodation at Washford on the West Somerset Railway (WSR) has been secured after agreement was reached between the parties involved.

The site was formerly the home of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust (S&DRT), which operated a museum and restoration base there.

Now the West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust (WSRHT) and S&DRT have confirmed that they have finalised the agreement to buy the threeroad shed and track at Washford. In addition, the WSRHT has signed an agreement for a 10-year lease of the site from WSR PLC, both contracts being effective from February 1.

The agreement will help secure proper covered facilities for the WSRHT Carriage Restoration team who until now have had to work largely in the open at Williton, where the WSRHT will now cease restoration activities.

On February 14, Collett carriage No. 6705 became the first WSRHT coach to be placed inside Washford shed. No. 6075 previously resided at Bishops Lydeard museum. In the coming weeks, work will begin on applying a new coat of paint, fixing a small leak in the roof and renovating the seals on the vacuum brake cylinders.

There is enough room at Washford to house all nine of the WSRHT’s Toplight and Collett carriages and it is hoped to bring them all together from their existing sites at Williton and Dunster in due course.

From a previous engineering study however, the WSRHT is aware that some of these carriages are unlikely to be fit for restoration and may have to be dismantled to be used as parts for the remaining coaches. If any of the carriages are deemed unfit to be moved, either by rail or road, they may need to be dismantled on site.

Meanwhile, Washford station is being transformed from its previous BR Southern Region guise to become a GWR/WR branch line station.