Lynton & Barsntaple heritage coaches heading to Woody Bay April 15

See story at: The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway | The Last Narrow-Gauge Railway Adventure
The delivery dates for the heritage carriages 7 and 17 have now been announced as the 15th April. The underframe for carriage 16 is now complete and will be delivered to Great Yeldham in Essex (the home of the carriages project) the same day.

 

Re: Lynton & Barnstaple heritage coaches heading to Woody Bay April 15

The two coaches will be travelling in convoy on low-loaders, probably leaving around midday (depending on how long it takes to extricate them from the hangar and get them loaded). I'm not sure what the intended route is yet, but look out for them, and if you can, please send any photos to webmaster@lynton-rail.co.uk Just so the team at Great Yeldham have something to keep them busy, the underframe for Coach 16 will be delivered from Boston Lodge on one of the low-loaders, so they can get cracking on the next one...

The carriages will be in action behind L&B M-W 2-6-2 replica LYD, courtesy of Paul Lewin and the team at FR/WHR, for the L&B Spring Gala at Woody Bay over the weekend of 11/12 May.

Congratulations and well done to all the L&B EAST volunteers for a GREAT job of reconstruction!

 

very good news, cant wait to see a full rake of coaches at woody bay.

 

They look absolutely stunning in the sunshine! If the EAST Restoration Team don't win the NRHA Volunteers Award, or indeed the carriages themselves winning the HRA's Carriage Competition, then something is wrong with the world! They are absolutely stunning!

The Heritage Carriages - Monday 15th April .....First Photos and now with added VIDEO | The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway

Updated Link: http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/story/heritage-carriages-tuesday-16th-april-photo-update-1324

 

Really stunning, a superb job, very well done to all.

 

Excellent job, they really do look the part, great work.

 

There is a photo taken today by Trevor Garnham of both coaches in Woody Bay platform now on the L&B website More will follow in due course, i have no doubt. Also, look up our twitter and Facebook links for a few more taken by Trevor at the same time...

Oh happy days!

 

updated website

The Heritage Carriages - Wednesday 16th April: Photo Update 01:30hrs | The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway

just cant get enough of these coaches, its another small step in the right direction for the L&BR

 

Will these carriages be going into day-to-day service immediately, or are they being saved until Lyn is ready and/or Lyd visits? Is there undercover storage for them at Woody Bay?

Well done to all involved!

 

There will be a certain amount of testing and commissioning to be completed before they go into passenger service, but they will be in use from the May Gala onwards. There is storage space for the in the carriage shed.

 

Lynton & Barsntaple heritage coaches heading to Woody Bay April 15

They look tremendous, looking forward to some interior shots. Are they two subtly different liveries with the crest & lack of?

 

So they will become the day to day rake, presumably with the others as spares/two-train service (eventually?). Good stuff! Really inclined to make my first visit now, and very pleased to hear there is storage for them as well.

 

Re: Lynton & Barsntaple heritage coaches heading to Woody Bay April 15

Well spotted Will! The original 1898 livery was actually "Terracotta and Light Salmon" (pink) with the three crests as shown on coach 7. When repainting of the rolling stock started around 1901, the livery became "Deep Indian Red and (possibly Creamy) White". The top varnish however, yellowed with age, so giving even more of a creamy effect. The intention in 1901 was to include the crests, but the railway, which was a bit short of cash, couldn't afford the additional expense! Coach 7 has been reproduced as it would have been from 1901 to around 1922, if they'd had the money. Personally, had it been my choice, I would either have left the crests off, or gone for terracotta and salmon, but it certainly does look very special as it is now!

Coach 17, although in the same "Deep Indian Red and White" livery, was built in 1911, and never carried the crests, and is as seen from delivery to 1922-ish. (There are reports that some of the stock appeared in an all-over "Chestnut" or possibly "LSWR Green" towards the end of independent days, but how many and which carriages they may have been isn't clear).

 

Due to the different carriage widths, couplings and braking systems, it is difficult to run both the heritage and Thorpe Park carriages at the same time (certainly NOT in the same train!), so once the heritage coaches are commissioned, the Thorpe Park rake will not be in use. The next Heritage coach - No 16 - is a brake third, so will give additional resilience, (17 can run alone, but 7 can't) and would also allow for a two train service. Something to look forward for next year, perhaps.

 

Why can't a two train service run using the heritage and Thorpe Park coaches as separate sets? Seems a shame not to use them, or are they to be sold to pay for a fourth heritage coach? Three heritage coaches doesn't seem to offer a lot of potential for a two train service!

 

Theoretically, yes, both could be used on separate trains, but I'm pretty sure that isn't planned - certainly not for regular service, anyway. IIRC, the passenger capacity of the two heritage coaches is about equivalent to the four TP coaches (and with much improved disabled facilities), and will be sufficient for the current service, and after coach 16, coach 11 is already fully funded, so there will be four heritage carriages available, although probably not this year! I believe the TP coaches are to be sold on, although I don't know when or for how much.

 

The next underframe left Boston Lodge today.

 

Ah! i wondered where that had got to - I was expecting it to be delivered on one of the low-loaders collecting the carriages. Still, I guess the team at Pilton (EAST) deserve a couple of days off! Any pictures?

 

I cant speak for the Trust, but if anyone wanted to make an offer for the four TP coaches, I guess they would be happy to listen to offers.

As I understand it all the heritage coaches are to be finished in the L&BR company livery, but new built tourist stock could be turned out in Southern Green, the only trouble is I though that all new stock will have to comply with disabled access act so the doors will be a different colour.

That said the new coaches at Statfold don't have the doors a different colour, can anyone explain why this is so?