GWR Corridor Brake Third No 2180
Strictly speaking, 2180 is not a GWR coach: it was built after nationalisation in 1950 for British Railways (Western Region) by the Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Co. Ltd in Birmingham to a design by the Great Western Railway's last chief mechanical engineer, F. W. Hawksworth. After withdrawal from passenger use, it was converted for work on permanent way trains when the guard’s compartment and luggage area were converted to use as a galley and dining room. One of the compartments became a boiler room and the rest sleeping accommodation. On final withdrawal, it was purchased from Cardiff and taken to the West Somerset Railway before being bought by a South Devon Railway Association member. In 2007, work started on its restoration by members of the London & Home Counties Group of the South Devon Railway Association. News of its painstaking restoration and progress to date can be found here. |
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