Carriages and Wagons

Passenger Carriages

The passenger carrying coaches used on our railway are all BR Mark 1s. These were designed by the newly nationalised British Railways as a standard post-war design for use on all regions. The design took features from the big four railway companies (GWR, LMS, LNER & SR) and had to make use of the available materials, as there were still considerable shortages following the second world war. The resulting vehicles were highly successful, being built in large numbers between 1950 and 1964 with the last examples withdrawn from normal mainline use in 2005, they are still used on heritage railtours today.

The basic body shell could contain specific window, door, and seating arrangements for different duties. The coaches at Wallingford are a mixture of Tourist Second Open (TSO) coaches, with 64 seats arranged in eight bays of four, and Brake Second Corridor (BSK) coaches, having 32 seats in four compartments, a Guard's compartment, and a large luggage area. The current vehicles are:

British Railways MK1 Tourist Second Open, 3736, Undergoing Restoration. Built by BR at Doncaster

in 1953, this was the first of the ubiquitous Diagram 93 TSOs to be built. Withdrawn in 1983, it was originally preserved at the Birmingham Railway Museum and arrived at Wallingford in 1997.

British Railways MK1 Tourist Second Open, 4508, Active. This coach was part of the Great Western 150^th anniversary rail tour set in 1985, the tables still feature the GWR150 logo. It was originally preserved at the Birmingham Railway Museum and arrived at Wallingford in 1997. 4508 was re-upholstered by the CWRPS volunteers using traditional 'Trojan' moquette produced by the original manufacturers, who are still in business.

British Railways MK1 Tourist Second Open, 4628, Out of Service requiring restoration. Built by BR at York in 1956. Withdrawn in 1982 it is awaiting transport to Wallingford.

British Railways MK1 Brake Second Corridor, 34623, undergoing restoration. Built by Gloucester Carriage and Wagon Ltd in Gloucester in 1955. It was withdrawn in 1990 and arrived at Wallingford in 2022 and is undergoing repairs to allow it to enter service.

British Railways MK1 Brake Second Corridor, 35129, Active. Built by Charles Roberts Ltd near Wakefield in 1957 it remained in service until 1986. It was then used for SAS training exercises until it was preserved in 1989, eventually arriving at Wallingford in 1995.

In addition, there are two Great Western Railway carriages at Wallingford:

Great Western Railway Collett Full Brake, 184. Built at Swindon in 1935, this carriage did not carry passengers as it comprised two large luggage areas separated by a Guard's compartment. It was withdrawn in 1971 and became an ENPARTS van, used to transport engine spare parts from Swindon works and eventually arrived at Wallingford in 1990. Today it is used by the Carriage & Wagon Department.

Great Western Railway Hawksworth Brake Second Corridor, 2225, Out of Service. Built by Metropolitan Cammell at Washford Heath in 1950, this was one of the last GWR designed coaches but was supplied to BR after nationalisation, before the Mark 1 coaches entered service. It was withdrawn in 1966 and converted to a staff van for use with a track machine. It arrived at Wallingford in 1988.