Ffestiniog Railway's Boston Lodge Carriage Work's has been busy over the winter period building more new carriages for the two railways.
A new carriage for the Welsh Highland Railway is now nearing completion. Ffestiniog Railway Carr 15 has had its original livery restored, and a good deal of maintenance on other carriages has also taken place.
WHR Carriage 2048 is due for completion after Easter, more details of which will be released when it enters service.
At the same time, Carriage 2045 is going through a 10-year overhaul, which includes floor repairs, re-varnish of the seats, tables and walls and cleaning of the upholstery.
Carriage 103 is back in service, after receiving the same treatment as 2045. FR 121 is the next carriage to benefit from a ten-year overhaul.
Carriage 15 has had its livery restored. The carriage is of interest to enthusiasts as, together with Carr 16, form the first bogie carriages to be built in Britain, and date from 1871.
Britain's only Welsh Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, used both carriages when
travelling to Blaenau Ffestiniog to catch the train to Llandudno, and then onto London.
What work has been done on Carriage 15?
Tony Williams, the Boston Lodge Manager, has said: “Carr.15 has been showing the rigours of life in North Wales!”. The carriage has been subjected to wet weather and a salty sea air environment around Porthmadog. Some work has been done to the woodwork, which has been cleaned, sanded and then painted.
Stephen Paul, a senior member of the Carriage Works team, said:
As this carriage is such a prestige vehicle, its paint work is a major concern to us; this particular repaint should last a long time – especially as we will soon be able to keep all our carriages undercover when the building of the new carriage sheds is completed”.
FR Pullman Observation Carr No. 152 is to be freshly out-shopped, including re-varnishing and is to be named ‘Eryri-Snowdonia' (the welsh name on one side, the English on the other.
This means that all four F&WHR Pullman Observation carriages will have local names.
FR carriage No. 102 is being renovated as part of a volunteer-led project. This carriage used to be a first-class observation carriage. However, it will soon be turned into a third-class observation carriage and will be on the front end of the train, opposite that of the Pullman carriages.
Carr.102 will be very similar to FR Carr.123, which is currently out of service. The only difference will be is that the former Guard's compartment will be adapted to take two wheelchairs.
Boston Lodge is building a replica Pickering carriage for the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway. This is a Brake Composite carriage that ran on the North Wales Narrow Gauge
Railway and then on the original Welsh Highland Railway.
Work on the carriage's chassis and bodywork are well underway.
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