National Wagon Preservation Group

Today I want to show you the National Wagon Preservation Group, which wants to secure endangered wagons for the coming generations. Unfortunately wagons don't receive as much attention as locos or carriages. Therefore I hope that there are some interested people, who care about this important piece of railway history.
Website: http://www.nwpg.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NWPGUK/?ref=py_c

 

Good luck with this. I agree that wagons are a neglected species, but there are reasons for this. It's not easy for wagons to pay their way in the world of preservation. A few charters or demonstration freights each year will not pay for restoration and maintenance. Therefore anyone who is enthusiastic about wagon preservation must also be prepared to help fund their on-going preservation, not just their purchase. There are a few groups around the country that have made a success of wagon preservation. But there are also a lot of wagons that are slowly rotting in sidings because nobody has the resources to keep them in good condition.

 

Good luck. I'm not sure if you are actively involved in wagon restoration, but if you want to further the cause of the group my advice to you is as follows, get actively involved if you are not already as this will give you the depth of technical knowledge you will need in order to answer and pre-empt questions.
Secondly, make regular updates as often as you reasonably can. I know from my own experience, when I write weekly, the wagon group on the SVR gets more passing interest from people than when driving and guarding is getting in my way, even if that update amounts to "hello, still here, but busy right now"

 

The SVR Wagon Group is one of those that have made a success of wagon preservation. I have no particular insight, but it appears to me that they go for quality rather than quantity, and limit their scope to wagons that fit in with the SVR's history and ambience.

 

Ditto Haven Street..... and in both cases, jolly good they look too.

 

Apart from the recently completed SR brake van and current SE&CR Open project of course.
British Rail era wagons aren't really my thing, but it's nice to know that someone is taking an interest in them.

 

Our scope is limited by what wagons we have, not by our choice, the SVR wagon group own none of our wagons. I was simply giving the original poster the benefit of my experience, after all, better to learn from each other.

 

Thanks - looks like some interesting wagons (and a Dalek).