Eight of these coaches were acquired by the railway in the early 1990s. Originally built by Alan Keef Ltd in 1984, for the Thorpe Park in Surrey, three of these coaches entered service on the Lynbarn Railway at the Milky Way near Clovelly in 1994/95.  The other five were stored on the ouskirts of Barnstaple until such time as they were required for use on the railway at Woody Bay Station.

The original coaches were very basic, so four have been rebuilt  enclosed and panelled, with drop-light windows. Coach 1 has a dedicated guard’s compartment. Coach 2 has removeable seats in one compartment to accomodate a wheelchair, and Coach 3 has a fully upholstered first class compartment.  Coach 4 is a standard all third similar to coach 2.

The four newly refurbished coaches are being used on passenger trains only until we are able to replace them with full size Lynton & Barnstaple replica vehicles.

The difference in size between the original L&B coaches and the current stock is indicated in this photo, taken of L&BR coach 15 (Now FR Coach 14) visiting with LYD for the Autumn Gala in September 2010.  Meanwhile, work is progressing on four heritage coaches, based on recovered parts from the originals, which will eventually be accompanied by a number of modern replicas.