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Wisbech & Upwell
Carriage - 7
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Recently discovered image of the
carriage in service, photo in the collection of Ian Lake
Above vehicle on new bogies
Inaugural test run 2008
Condition as passed for service with buffing gear and ride height
adjusted
The gas light (dummy) chimneys and pipes take shape
on the roof. (photos: Nigel Scarlett)
| Number |
7 |
| Type |
C |
| Year of Manufacture |
1884 |
| Builder |
GER Stratford |
| Owner |
M&GNJRS |
| Status |
Restored and passed by the HMRI
for service, September 2010. New bogies and running gear manufactured at Weybourne. |
| Comments |
Wisbech and Upwell Composite Tramcar No. 7 was
one of only two bogie tramcars built by the Great Eastern
Railway for the line, all others being 4-wheelers. It entered
traffic in September 1884.
Until 31st December 1927, when the line was closed to
passengers, the coach carried the local inhabitants of the
isolated fenland communities along this famous rural tramway.
Following the closure the vehicle (by then LNER 60461) was
converted to a full third and together with some of the other
W&U tramcars, it moved to the Kelvedon and Tollesbury branch in
Essex. Here it worked until the closure of the line in May 1951.
At this time sister car no. 8 (E60462E) went on to become famous
as the buffet car in the Titfield Thunderbolt, whilst no.7 (now
E60461E) was sold out of railway use and became an onion store
on a farm near Ramsey in Cambridgeshire.
In 1973 no.7 was rescued and moved to the Cambridge Museum of
Technology.
It moved again in 1983 to the Rutland Railway Museum at Cottesmore.
It was transferred to the M&GNJRS in 2002. The restoration
features a copy of the bar from the Thunderbolt film.
(Steve Allen) |
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Drawing |
Autocad drawing of the coach
Click Here. |
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