L&B Coach at the NRM

Hey guys I originally posted this question on the NRM forum but I think I should have posted it here. Does anyone know if the NRM plan to restore this coach? I went to the NRM last year and I saw it in a corner of the great hall in a garden section thing, with no literature anywhere to say what the item was or its history or indeed any future plans for it. Now that the L&B will soon be getting two heritage coaches to run at woody bay, maybe its time the NRM (or a third party) should restore the coach and send it home to be reunited with its two sisters. What are peoples thoughts on this? Thanks!!

 

Yes but surely it would look better as a time capsule if it was fully restored to prisitine condition in Southern green or L&B livery. I think visitors would appreciate it more full restored rather than in its current condition. it just seems a little run down and forgotten. If restoring it destroys its originality, then why has coach 7 and van 23 been restored at the L&B? Should they have been left alone?

 

Hmmm not sure I know what you mean. As for as I see it, an item of historical railway significance such as this would be better if it was based on a preserved narrow gauge line in revenue earning traffic, and not sat in a corner in a museum unrestored and slowly gathering dust. But thats just me.

 

Surely the carriage's original condition was when it was first rolled out of the works, not when it was used as a chicken shed?

 

The cynic in me wonders whether "originality" sometimes equals "curatorism" which in turn equals "neglect"! It is rather easier to do nothing rather than maintain and repair sympathetically. (I hasten to add that I am not saying this is the case at the NRM)

P.H.

 

what he means is true preservation is keeping something unchanged for the future, or painstakingly restored to exact original and then kept that way in a Museum. Restoring the vehicle destroys it's originality and running in revenue earning traffic wears it out . Running steam railways is not true preservation, it is simply using up what is left of it's functionality

 

I also dont think it works as an exhibit at York. It looks like it should really be in the Chelsea Flower Show to me. I suppose its one of the very few narrow gauge exhibits but its a pretty poor one it interpret what narrow gauge is all about.
Really York should be renamed the The National Standard Gauge Railway Museum!

 

I must say that I have found that coach helpful in showing some interior details that were not noted. It is certainly not as found.... there are no fleas!

I suspect that things may change if the two coaches currently under restoration by the L&B are as good as they look so far. I hope so, as the NRM exhibit is miserable.

 

It's true, the exhibit has been there for some 20 years, and what was ground breaking interpretation at that time probably has had its day.

At the end of it all, it boils down to is it better interpreted as a summer house (which it spent more of its life doing than it did as a coach) with all original material or have all that original material removed/replaced and become a usable consumer unit on a heritage railway?

I'm not answering that question - but physically, apart from external paint, that coach is fairly much as it was on the day the L&B closed, it's a time capsule and believe me, I have had many requests to look at it from folk because it is original. (however - the bogies and underframes were stabilised many years ago to make sure it wasn't rotting and was structurally sound)

It also does represent the public common carrier narrow gauge railway - something we are looking at addressing.

I'll have a think durng the rest of the day in between other aspects of the day job and get back to you.

 

Whoops - forgot, AT is correct, it isn't fully original, but it is authentic...time for me to write some more of the article I have been promising...

 

I take an opposite view to some of the other posters on here and think that it is a good exhibit and worth keeping in its present state. It tells a good story. It would be better, simpler and probably cheaper and quicker to build a replica.

Or rather, should I say 'it can tell a good story..' The last time I looked at it probably 12 or more months ago), a friend I was with asked what it was and hunted high and low to find something that explained the exhibit. We couldn't find anything at all. This may have changed by now, but if it hasn't, it needs to!

 

Thanks Steve - it used to have photo albums on chains of it in use and in situ, along with copies of the Oakwood L & B book also on chains. Will investigate with interpretation what the state of play is and if we can do something.

 

I quite agree. The L&B's replica coaches will soon show us what an L&B coach looked like in ex-works condition. The NRM's example provides a reference point against which the accuracy of the replicas can be judged. It would only take one "restoration" to destory her perfect authenticity. "Restoration" will rarely be a perfect match for the original in terms of materials and methods used, and while it is right to restore some items and keep them running, if we restore everything we won't have any truly authentic examples of steam-age craftsmanship left.

Besides, don't you think there's something rather special about looking at the NRM's coach and knowing that nothing has been replaced since it left L&B service? Thse are the very same seats the passengers would have sat on, the same panes of glass through which they would have seen the beauties of Exmoor. It is a living link with the past.

Another way of thinking about it is too look at all those people who criticise engines like Flying Scotsman or the FfR's Prince as having "almost no original parts left". I'm afraid that result is inevitable if you want to keep an item of rolling stock running forever. We can't have our cake and eat it.

 

I happened to be in York in Friday and managed to get a couple of hours in the NRM (with the added bonus of not having the kids in tow!). I specifically wanted to go and take a look at Coach 2, as my interest in the L&B has grown considerably since I last visted the NRM.

There were a couple of laminated information booklets, located in the little seating area in front of the coach, but it did take me a couple of minutes to spot them. I couldn't find a sign that actually stated what the exhibit was. Maybe that might be something worth adding.

I'm not sure that the L&B Trust would want to restore Coach 2 to working order. It would be a huge undertaking and would probably result in most of the original material being replaced. They seem to be doing pretty well with coaches 7 & 17, and are talking about more after that.

Personally, I think Coach 2 is a very interesting exhibit that should be maintained in its current "time capsule" state. When the L&B do extend the line, Lyn is built and coaches 7 & 17 are in service, then perhaps there should be more of an L&B exhibition at the NRM, with all the L&B artefacts (name plates of the original locos, miniature Taw) located together. Maybe a visit from Lyd (or Lyn) could be arranged?

I'll try and upload my photos later today.

 

The coach spent almost as long as a garden shed as carriage on the railway. As it stands it is as preserved and shows visitors to the NRM the condition coaches are restored from. It has the original fabric on the seats (which decayed in the rectory but is not decaying any more).

To restore it would mean removing original but damaged items and replacing them so it could run alongside other similar coaches. It takes something unique which something regular. We restore so many items, we should leave at least a few alone.

We should leave the coach as it is, unique and special, in the NRM whilst the L&B makes an excellent job of rebuilding the remains of the other coaches for revenue service on the restored line.

 

20 years ago there was no L&B railway and this coach had a story to tell. Maybe the coach could be put on a longterm loan to the
L&B at Woody Bay .There are plenty of other coach bodies around that could do the job as a summer house exhibit.