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Restoring a classic Great Western carriage...
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| A potted history of No 6705...
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| No 6705 is a Collett Brake Corridor Composite coach, built at Swindon in 1938. In the early 1960s, it was overhauled by Western Region and was shipped to America as part of a heritage railway collection based in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Years later, it ended up in Steamtown, the Erie Lackawanna Railroad Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania where, in the harsh climate, it ended up in very poor conditon.
Surplus to requirements in Pennsylvania, it came close to being scrapped,but was rescued in 2006 when Robin White organised transport to Halifax, Nova Scotia, from where it was shipped to Newport, along with nine class 66 locos bound for Britain. Moved to Crewe, the coach is currently being restored under contract by Colin Worrall, paid for by the WSR Steam
Trust.
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| Just need a little cash to complete the work...
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| All that stands in the way is money! The Trust requires just £30,000 to complete the work described above. Fund raising has begun in earnest, and an appeal is being launched this month to raise enough money to complete the coach.
What better way to celebrate GW 175 than to invest in the restoration of one of the few GW coaches that survived intact, rather than modified as a mobile office or store?
Chris Dowrick, the Trust's Treasurer is happy to take contributions, and more detail is available from Curator, Ian Coleby.
For contact details, see the WSSRT website. Alternatively, you can contact the project's fundraiser, Chris Austin on austinca2@googlemail.com.
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| And then...
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| Once 6705 is back in traffic, and earning money, the Trust will be able to make a start on restoring further 'Toplight' and Collett coaches to form the WSR's first historic train.
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