Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway has received the help of Windale Furnishing Ltd, who are specialist caravan upholsterers based locally to the railway in Skegness and has supported the restoration of one of two large narrow gauge vehicles which are just short of being 100 years old.
The two carriages were built in 1924 by the Gloucester Rail Carriage and Waggon Company and worked passenger services for the Ashover Light Railway, which provided services from Clay Cross to Ashover in Derbyshire.
Sadly, the passenger services came to an end in 1936 and the carriages were repurposed as sports pavilions for workers of the Clay Cross Company which was founded by railway pioneer, George Stephenson.
Four of the vehicles had worked for the Company before being converted, one of which collapsed in 1960, two were purchased by the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway in 1961 and were returned to service on its Humberston line, near Cleethorpes, the fourth carriage also survived and is in operation at the Golden Valley Railway near Ripley.
Carriage 1 has been undergoing restoration for a number of years as it is a much hard project than that of its sister vehicle.
Piper Windows of Skegness kindly donated the safety glass in order to restore the vehicle's windows.
Further support has also been provided by Skegness upholstery specialists, Windale Furnishing Ltd who used authentic railway carriage moquette in order to reupholster old Glasgow tram seating which had been used as part of the vehicle's restoration at Humberston some 60 years previously.
The moquette was woven especially by a mill in Huddersfield for charity, The Vintage Carriages Trust, which can be found at the Museum of Rail Travel at Ingrow West station on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.
The Trust has supported Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway for over 40 years now and was more than happy to supply leftover moquette from a restoration project of its own to be used on the restoration of the carriage.
Russ Froggatt, Managing Director of Windale Furnishings, said: “It was an interesting project to fit the moquette onto the frame of the old tram seats. We're used to working with modern materials on static and touring caravans and motor homes, so this was a first for us.”
“It was also the first time we had done any work for a railway carriage and in some respects, the moquette was nicer to deal with – it's a more substantial fabric than we are used to. We're thrilled to have been able to help put this wonderful piece of Lincolnshire's railway heritage back on the rails here in Skegness”.
Richard Shepherd, Chairman of the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway's Historic Vehicles Trust: “This generous work by Windale Furnishings is a huge boost to our efforts to return the second of our old Ashover carriages to running order. Without the support they have given us – and that of Piper Windows who have donated the safety glass – we would have had to spend much more of our limited resources to have the work done. The seats will look better than ever and we can now concentrate on restoring the body of the carriage, its bogies and brakes to make it fit for another 99 years”.
