PWM2229, Type 17A Wickham Trolley, works no 4146
This trolley was built in 1947 for the Great Western Railway and supplied to the GWR at Perranporth in Cornwall. It was built with a JAP 1323cc engine and given the number B161 PWM2229. It passed into the ownership of British Railways Western Region on nationalisation in 1948 and, at some time in its life, it joined Southern Region stock and numbered DS3331. In returned to the safety of the Western Region on 1st January 1963 and renumbered PWM5653, probably based in Exeter. Some time in the 1960s, it arrived on the then Dart Valley Railway (now South Devon Railway) where it saw use clearing the line prior to reopening. It acquired a somewhat Heath Robinson upper deck platform and was christened The Bramble Basher as it was used, not surprisingly, as a vehicle for clearing brambles. Many years ago it lost its engine - who knows where to - and was left, sadly, to deteriorate slowly. The good news is that PWM2229 has now been rescued from amongst the undergrowth and is being restored to work as a personnel carrier. Incidentally, does anyone have a JAP engine and gearbox they don't want? If so, please contact us.
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