Vintage coach close to completion at Kirkby Stephen

Stainmore Railway Company (SRC) at Kirkby Stephen East is delighted to announce that working with the North of England Civic Trust (NECT) it has received official confirmation of a grant of £11207 from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) to fund a Heritage Skills trainee for three months to assist upholstery contractor Stephen Ball in the manufacture of all 26 ‘bucket’ seat units for LNER teak Tourist Third Open (TTO) coach No.60505. These will be in exactly the style used on the vehicle when introduced to traffic in 1936.

Interviews for this post are to be conducted in August with work commencing in mid September. It is planned that all the seats will be completed and installed by the end of 2012.

Individual seat units were offered for sponsorship in early 2012, with all 26 taken up (at £275 each) within a few weeks. They were sponsored by a number of private individuals and a very generous grant from a private Trust; SRC thank all the seat sponsors for their great support and look
fo ward to providing them with their first ride in 60505.

Coach 60505 was built by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at its York workshops in 1936. After withdrawal from passenger service the interior was stripped and it was used for departmental duties, carrying tools and equipment for railway maintenance. Purchased from Historic Scotland in 2002 as authentic stock for the former LNER line, on arrival at Kirkby Stephen it was lifted off its wheels, the wooden body was stripped and the underframe fully overhauled.

Over the last ten years the teak body panels have been repaired and varnished, the canvas roof replaced and protectively coated, and huge progress has been made with refitting the interior.

Now externally almost complete, the biggest remaining internal project is manufacturing and fitting the 26 double ‘bucket’ seat units, the successful sponsorship of which has already covered its costs as described above.

To complete the last lap, this exquisite restoration of a 1930’s historic gem requires a further £25000.This sum will cover:

Casting, polishing, chroming and finishing the luggage racks

Purchase of specialist flooring and the manufacture of the tables
and internal doors
Completing the electrics
Completing the vestibules and corridor ends with all their equipment
Professional painting of the complex lining pattern
Multiple smaller detail tasks

Donations of any value towards the final stages of this vehicle’s imminent return to its original art deco splendour will be gratefully received, and to recognise donations over £25 Stainmore Railway Company offers the following incentives:

£1000 guarantees two adjoining seats on 60505 on its first train on its first service day, including launch day sponsors' lunch at KSE for two, a full line footplate ride for two on the steam engine hauling 60505, a complimentary ride for two on 60505 whenever it is in service, and a commemorative certificate recording your donation (first nineteen donors only)

£500 guarantees a seat on 60505 on its first service day, including launch day sponsors' lunch at KSE, a complimentary ride on 60505 whenever it is in service, and a commemorative certificate recording your donation

£250 guarantees a seat on 60505 on its first service day at KSE and a commemorative certificate recording your donation

£100 guarantees two seats on 60505 on a subsequent day in service and a commemorative certificate recording your donation

£50 guarantees a seat on 60505 on a subsequent day in service and a commemorative certificate recording your donation

Donations from £25 to £50 guarantee a commemorative certificate recording your donation Donations will be gratefully received as follows: Cheques payable to Stainmore Railway Co Ltd should have ‘60505 appeal’

written on the back and be addressed to

The Secretary
Stainmore Railway Co. Ltd
C/o Manor Cottage
1 West End
Sedgefield
Co. Durham
TS21 2BW

Once completed, funds permitting by the end of 2013, the coach will be regularly used on public passenger services on the rapidly developing Stainmore Railway