L&BR Trust & Future Plans
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Latest Update:
18th February
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Heritage Coaches
Coach 17 underframe arrives at Great Yeldham Click HERE for more picture
21st November 2011 - Coach 17 underframe being loaded at Minfordd
Photo by FR CME Jon Whalley
Tony Nicholson provides these the latest photos of Coach 17 underframes nearing completion at the Ffestiniog Railway's Boston Lodge Works, September 2011. Shortly before making their way to Essex. Read more below about our exciting project to recreate an L&B train
Down in deepest Essex our East Anglia Support Group has been beavering away for quite a while on the L&B's Heritage Coaches. Charles Summers introduces this very exciting project
We currently use four ex-Thorpe Theme Park coaches as our passenger coaches at Woody Bay and although, they continue to give good service, they are nothing like the original L&B carriages in either size, ride or detail. The authentic Lynton & Barnstaple experience will only be experienced when we eventually have coaches of the same size and built to thr same exacting standards as the originals.
This work started some years ago when in order to prevent over-enthusiastic members removing bits from the original carriage sections stored at Landkey, barnstaple we moved most of the parts to Essex and rebuilt the body of Coach 7 in the gasworks at Stanford-le-Hope. Although we learned a lot from that exercise, we were unable to put the carriage back into service because we lacked the funds for the bogies, brakegear and couplings. The coach was returned to Devon and was displayed at Woody Bay for some years attracting a lot of attention. However, as a mere static exhibit it earned no revenue and the North Devon weather began to take its toll. The coach was put in storage pending completion.
A suitable restoration base was found at Great Yeldham by the Essex Groups Ron Hill and the Trustees agreed to return Coach 7 to Essex, along with parts of Coach 17 and any others, for safe keeping and conservation.
Coach 17
It became clear that the first carriage that would be needed was a composite coach with a guard’s compartment. So No 17 – the last carriage built for the L&B and supplied by Shapland & Petter, the local Barnstaple joinery company – was the most appropriate restoration project.
Some excellent sections had survived having been cared for by Roger Ladbury and Charles Gardner (both past L&B Trustees, Directors and Committee Members). Work began by restoring these sections and designing replacements for the missing parts (to original specifications, naturally). The overall length and internal layout and dimensions are not the same as coach 7 or indeed any other L&B coach
Length overall including coupling 40 ft 5in.
Length over buffer beams 36 ft 2 in.
Third Class compartments - 5ft between bulkheads/partitions
First Class compartment - 5ft 9in between bulkhead/partition.
On all other coaches
Third Class compartments - 4ft 10 ins between bulkheads/partitions
First Class compartment - 6ft 0in between bulkhead/partition.
The Van section is 10ft 9ins long internally against Coaches 1 & 2 - 12ft 1in and Coaches 15 & 16 - 9ft 9ins.
The L&B's coaches were originally made of teak but as this is no longer commercially viable we are using Iroko instead which is most suitable substitute being very similar to teak.
Coach 17 - details of the joinery and quality workmanship
The wooden bodywork is now about 95% complete, including the doors. This has cost about £22,500 to date and has been funded by a three-year interest-free loan from a member. Other costly items including a steel underframe at £7,500, a pair of bogies at £21,500, couplings are being manufactured from the Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales. We already have the door locks, thanks to Ron Hill and financial support from the Surrey Group but there is still the matter of upholstery, glass and door fittings.
A stack of doors await hanging in Coach 17
Coach 17 - the framework takes shape
Coach 7
This has also been receiving attention. Paint and panels have been removed, as has the underframe. Tenons retro-fitted between seat rails and side frames. The underframe was to go to Boston Lodge for alteration and strengthening as well as to be fitted with a pair of bogies and couplings, brakegear etc. However, it was decided that it would be easier and quicker if Boston Lodge were to make a new underframe to the same specification as the one they built for coach 17.
Completion and a return to North Devon for revenue earning service is planned for September 2012. This date is entirely dependent upon our obtaining sufficient funds and enough willing hands!
When finished these coaches will be delivered together to Devon where they will be stored in the extended Running Shed.
The sight of these two unique coaches operating once more in Devon on the railway for which they were especially designed will be truly magnificent - help us to make this a reality.
Technical
The coaches will be fitted with dual braking air and vacuum, They will also be fitted with steam heat. The bogies are a tried and tested FR design. Photos of the underframes and bogies are available HERE and HERE
Operationally - the Thorpe Park coaches and heritage carriages cannot be used together. Total capacity of the four Thorpe Park vehicles is just over 70 passengers including 4 first class. Coaches 7 and 17 will provide 74 third class and 9 first class seats - 83 in total The Railway will eventually need over a hundred third-class seats. The next carriage was going to be No 4, a lovely end-observation saloon but having 28 first-class and only 8 third it is not required at present. The Trust has decided that the next coach has to be either 10 ( another third Ob.s like coach 7) or No. 11 ( a 56 seat seven compartment all third) - we have parts in store for both.
A heritage coach costs around £65,000, a very reasonable sum given the size of the vehicles and the quality of finish, appearance and comfort.
Other "Heritage" coaches will follow, whenever possible using parts of the originals recovered from various locations around North Devon
The principal dimensions of an L&B coach are as follows:
Length overall 39 ft 6 in. including couplings.
Length over buffer beams 35 ft 2 in.
Width over bodies 6 ft Oin.
Width over steps 7 ft 4 in.
Total wheelbase 28 ft 10 in.
Bogie wheelbase 4 ft 4 in.
Wheel diameter 1ft 6 in.
Height, rail to centre of roof 8 ft 7 in.
Height, solebar to cant rail 6 ft 4i/2 in.
Height, maximum internal 6 ft 6 in.
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