76084’s Support Coach

Quietly and behind the scenes a much valued team of professionals and volunteers have been working on 76084’s support coach. It is being load tested out of Carnforth before being taken to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway on 2nd May 2013. The test run was behind Neil Boden’s B1 61306 Mayflower on the mainline.

The coach is BR Mark 1 BSK (Brake Second Corridor) number 35457 which was built at Wolverton in 1963 and at one time formed part of the Heaton Football Set. It was bought jointly by the A1 Trust and Ian Storey, owner of Black Five 44767 George Stephenson and Chairman of 76084 Locomotive Company Limited. The A1 Trust not having a use for it was subsequently bought out.
It spent some time on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway where 44767 was based and left the NYMR in March 2011 going to Hepscott initially.

Restoration work was mainly done along side 76084 at Hepscott with the job being finished at Washford Heath by shareholders Mel Chamberlain and Steve M. As the accompanying photograph shows it has been restored to a very high standard and those responsible should be complimented.

35457 forms part of the Company’s vision for 76084’s use on Network Rail metals. 76084 has successfully hauled charters on the national network with 35467 always in close pursuit!

These photos show the exterior of the coach as photographed in October 2015. The information on the end of the coach tells us her maximum speed and that she carries dual train heating – steam or electrical.

Inside the coach are 4 compartments fitted with ‘First Class’ seat cushions all protected by covers as shown here. There are 13 amp sockets in each compartment for running electrical items. The kitchen is well equipped with an oven and hob plus kettle for the all-important brews. When running the noticeboard will be well used.

The end connections can be seen clearly in the left image. Steam pipe below, electrical train heating in yellow and the small top electrical lead is for train lighting control. In the storage area we have a twin oil storage and pump for the 2 different oils needed to lubricate a steam locomotive. One for the motion and another for the pistons. The corridor is as you might expect.
Well done all involved in restoring 35457.