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Historic Devon Belle is ready to roll again
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| BACK ON TRACK: Swanage Railway Trust acting chairman Steve Doughty and the restored Pullman observation coach Car 14 |
A HISTORIC restored railway coach will start rolling along the Swanage Railway following a £100,000 rescue mission.
The Pullman observation coach, once hauled by the world-renowned Flying Scotsman, was destined for the scrap heap on the west coast of America before it was handed a lifeline by a group of Dorset volunteers.
After an 8,500-mile journey and a year of restoration work funded by Purbeck Line volunteers the coach will be unveiled at Swanage station next week.
Known as Car 14', the 1947 coach was originally part of the Devon Belle express train that ran between London and north Devon.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s it toured Canada and America as part of the Flying Scotsman before funding for the steam train's journeys dried up. For the next 30 years the coach was stationary outside an office block in San Francisco, where it was used as a café, conference room and store.
When the owners renovated the offices they decided they no longer needed the coach and it faced an uncertain future before Swanage Railways stepped in with its bid to bring Car 14 home.
Swanage Railway Trust acting chairman Steve Doughty said: "The repatriation and restoration of the observation coach Car 14 has secured its future and enabled it to do what it was built to do, providing passengers with a wonderful way to enjoy the Purbeck countryside from the comfort of a train.
"It offers the potential for Swanage Railway to further enhance its service to passengers and the re-laid Purbeck Line's reputation as an innovator among heritage railways in the United Kingdom."
The project was conceived eight years ago and the coach was shipped from California in January last year, sailing via the Panama Canal to Southampton docks before spending a year being restored at Ramparts in Derby.
The transportation and restoration cost £100,000 and Car 14 will be out in all its glory as it begins its new lease of life being hauled along the Purbeck Line by steam locomotives.
The coach will be making its first run on Wednesday, July 16, with the unveiling ceremony at Swanage at 10.30am before it sets off for Herston, Harman's Cross, Corfe Castle and Norden park and ride.
Donations to the Pullman restoration project can be made to the Swanage Railway Trust (Devon Belle Fund), Station House, Swanage, Dorset, BH19 1HB or via the Trust's website at www.swanagerailwaytrust.org.uk
10:04am Saturday 5th July 2008
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