Vintage coach back on track

A 1920s train carriage which used to take families to the south coast on holiday is back on the Severn Valley Railway track after a new coat of paint.

The number 9369 Great Western Railways coach has spent the last three months in the workshop at Bewdley station.

SVR volunteers have given it a new lick of brown and cream paint to restore it to original colour after 30 years running the line between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth.

The coach was ordered in 1915 but because of the First World War was not finished until 1923.

It was called a 'Toplight' coach and ran in the Bristol area, and was used for private hire to take middle-class families to the south coast.

After being withdrawn from service in the early 1960s, the coach was taken to Shrewsbury station where it was used as a mobile office in a sidings.

In 1972, SVR enthusiast John Tarrant bought the coach and restored it. The coach has run on the SVR line for the last 30 years.

SVR marketing manager John Leach said: "It would have taken thousands of people from the South West area to the coast for holidays. It's a lovely piece of coachbuilding and is sure to attract attention."