Toplight Coach Group at the Swindon and Cricklade Steam Railway

GWR 7545 Toplight Coach Group News

31th October 2003

The coach is due to be shunted soon and will swap places with the Gloucester Railcar Trust DMU. This is being done so that the original Hayes Knoll door frame can be removed as it is no longer needed and limits the clearance. This will be cut out with an oxy-acetylene torch as it is welded at the top and concreted in at the bottom.

One side of doorframe to be removed We have continued removing what remains of the outer body panelling which is exposing the body framework. The body framework is made using teak and oak. The teak sections seemed to have lasted much better than the oak. These types of wood were cheap and readily available in 1907 (when the coach was built) but today are very expensive. Some sections are in excellent condition, some in very poor condition which will need to be replaced. The main sections that have rotted are in places where water would have collected, e.g. under the windows etc.

Photo showing condition of framework immeediately after panelling is removed Some of the outer doors are in very poor condition and the droplights (these are the windows in each door that drop down) need to be replaced. Luckily we have at least 2 spare doors that were obtained from another toplight coach before it was scrapped in approx 1980

At the bottom of each vertical post there are steel corner gussets. Many of these have rusted away completely and will need to be cut out and replaced. We have been offered some new ones by both the LMS Coach association at Peak rail and also Stephen Middleton.

We have a large number of fittings from the coach including many brass fittings, all the wooden internal handrails (with brass fittings at each end) and also all the original steel roof ventilators. The coach also came with a new set of internal "bellows" for the corridor connections. These came from Swindon works in the early 80s and have never been used.

The plan at the moment is to strip down to the frame the end nearest Blunsdon, removing the corridor connection and then begin replacing the frame sections at this end working our way along the coach.

Fancy getting involved? Much of the work is easy such as sanding and varnishing, wire brushing etc. Then contact us

James Faulkner tel 07715 322241 or james75452000@yahoo.com or Nick Bailey on (01242) 604522


	GWR 7545 Toplight Coach Group News 31th October 2003 The coach is due to be shunted soon and will swap places with the Gloucester Railcar Trust DMU. This is being done so that the original Hayes Knoll door frame can be removed as it is no longer needed and limits the clearance. This will be cut out with an oxy-acetylene torch as it is welded at the top and concreted in at the bottom. We have continued removing what remains of the outer body panelling which is exposing the body framework. The body framework is made using teak and oak. The teak sections seemed to have lasted much better than the oak. These types of wood were cheap and readily available in 1907 (when the coach was built) but today are very expensive. Some sections are in excellent condition, some in very poor condition which will need to be replaced. The main sections that have rotted are in places where water would have collected, e.g. under the windows etc. Some of the outer doors are in very poor condition and the droplights (these are the windows in each door that drop down) need to be replaced. Luckily we have at least 2 spare doors that were obtained from another toplight coach before it was scrapped in approx 1980 At the bottom of each vertical post there are steel corner gussets. Many of these have rusted away completely and will need to be cut out and replaced. We have been offered some new ones by both the LMS Coach association at Peak rail and also Stephen Middleton. We have a large number of fittings from the coach including many brass fittings, all the wooden internal handrails (with brass fittings at each end) and also all the original steel roof ventilators. The coach also came with a new set of internal "bellows" for the corridor connections. These came from Swindon works in the early 80s and have never been used. The plan at the moment is to strip down to the frame the end nearest Blunsdon, removing the corridor connection and then begin replacing the frame sections at this end working our way along the coach. Fancy getting involved? Much of the work is easy such as sanding and varnishing, wire brushing etc. Then contact us James Faulkner tel 07715 322241 or james75452000@yahoo.com or Nick Bailey on (01242) 604522