The East Somerset Railway have an exciting new restoration project following the arrival of Taff Vale Railway (TVR) 3rd Brake No. 203.

The coach has a long history following being involved in the ‘Coke Ovens’ accident in 1911.

During this accident, both 203 and 266 were recovered with significant damage but with the chassis intact.

203 was sent to Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Works, where it was given a new body and a new high roof.

It ran for 16 years before Great Western Railway took over the TVR, with the chassis assumed to have been scrapped and the body becoming accommodation and later a cattle feed store.

The body was later discovered by volunteers from the Somerset & Dorset preservation site in Radstock in 1973, with plans to restore it.

A suitable chassis was located and shortened to fit the body after its relocation to the West Somerset Railway, and it remained at Frome station’s goods yard.

It later headed to Cardiff for further restoration and was later accepted by the Welsh Industrial & Maritime Museum.

The coach then ended up in storage, and as the now-called National Museum Wales sees no opportunity to restore it, they have agreed to give it to the railway for them to restore it.