The Swanage Railway Trust

Three of the Trust's four vehicles are from 'Bournemouth Line' sets build for trains from the region to Waterloo. These vehicles are unique amongst former Southern Railway vehicles in having a 'skirt' that extended the body side to below the running board. The fourth vehicle is also of a design that formed part of these sets but is from a later batch build without the skirt.

The four vehicles comprise two Semi-Open Brake Thirds (4365 and 4366), a Corridor Composite (5761) and a Third Open (1457). The first three were acquired in a substantially complete condition. However, the Third Open lacked seats when it arrived at Swanage but material from similar vehicles has gradually been obtained and stored to enable an authentic restoration in due course.

The four vehicles differ greatly in their condition: 4365 is ostensibly well preserved but has recently deteriorated following storm damage to the canvas roof. 4366 is in poor condition although the interior was removed and store some time ago so the damage is reversible. The condition of the other two vehicles is generally good and they have been sheeted over to ensure that this remains the situation when restoration starts.

The decision on which vehicle to restore with the available funds was eventually relatively straightforward; 4365 was complete and in need of recent damage being addressed but not such a large project as to represent unacceptable risk. This view was ironically reinforced by the poor condition of 4366 as work on the identical 4365 would provide patterns and valuable insights for this vehicle.

At this stage, any restoration of heritage vehicles will essentially be a 'non-core activity' given the railways investment in the Mk 1 fleet. As such, any project can have only limited access to facilities with most work expected to be carried out in the open. Given these constraints it was decided that some professional assistance would be beneficial in speeding up work on the exterior as well as providing welding and related skills.

Work started on 4365 in early July and is expected to run through to late autumn when it will be suspended until the spring as there is a heavy program of overhaul planned for the main service fleet. The progress reports on the right provide up to date information. Additional assistance is particularly welcome on this project and no special skills are needed. Please contact the project manager.

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Andy Vincent
Phone: 07771 896150 or email

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