A 1958 driving coach from a railcar, which last carried passengers in 1987, is set to get back on the tracks.
Number M56182 has been painstakingly restored by Paul and Chris Moxon, a father and son from Beeston Regis in Norfolk.
They have worked on the project for nine years and, on Saturday 9 September, passengers can relive the past and take a trip on the restored coach. Visitors to Holt Station on the North Norfolk Railway (NNR) may see a short ceremony to relaunch M56182, which takes place at 11.00am before its departure on a private service to Sheringham, via Weybourne and Ketling Heath Park. It is expected back at Holt at 12.45.
It is expected to run on various services during the day and, in the evening, will be allowed out for a rare event. Extra trips will run from Sheringham at 18.50, 19.25 and 21.00 with the 18.50 running as a fish and chip special.
The Class 104 driving coach was originally constructed at the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, just one year after steam locomotive 76084 which is also scheduled to be in service on 9 September.
M56182 has been restored as closely as possible to its original condition. Passengers can ride in salvaged seats of a similar style to those which would have been in place in 1958 in both first class and standard – or second class as it would have been at the time – saloons.
Woodwork in these areas has been varnished and vehicle frames have been overhauled. Considerable attention has been lavished on the wheels and any rusty bodywork has been removed and replaced. The whole unit has been repainted to the original green livery with which it would left the works and the front of the coach has the distinctive ‘whiskers' painted on, something considered very modern in the late 1950s.
Instruments on the driving desk have been repaired and wiring renewed thus ensuring that the coach, when connected to a similar driving car, will form a train which can be driven from either end, a considerable step forward for railway operations during British Railways' drive for modernisation in the 1950s.
A third train will be in action on 9 September. This will comprise the company's unique set of LNER teak-bodied, articulated coaches which were built around a century ago, in the 1920s. In the late 1950s, these coaches would have ceased working the main lines and would be running services on provincial railways and hauled by a diesel locomotive, something which will also happen in September.
Co-owner and restorer, Chris Moxon, said: “We are looking forward to seeing M56182 in action and carrying passengers, having spent much of its life out of service and slowly decaying. We have taken great care to return her to original condition and although the wooden finish and comfortable seats look old-fashioned now, they were the height of modernity in the 1950s!”
Graham Hukins, the NNR's Commercial Manager, added: “That the coach is returning to service in pristine condition aged 65 – a figure normally associated with retirement – is a tribute to the dedication of Chris and the team. We are looking forward to having a Class 104 at Sheringham. The type ran Norwich-Cromer-Sheringham services in the late 1970s so it's very appropriate the M56182 has been saved for use on the NNR.”
For full details and advance booking, visit www.nnrailway.co.uk.
