Shropshire train enthusiast's railway carriage transformed into cafe
An historic railway carriage restored by a Shropshire train enthusiast has been given a new lease of life as a restaurant.
The carriage has been through endless transformations, from a third class passenger coach to an ambulance train in the First World War, a breakdown coach and finally a railway workshop.
After it was rescued and lovingly restored by Andrew Wilson, the carriage has been transformed yet again, into part of the Station Kitchen Restaurant at West Bay in Dorset.
Among those who have sat at the tables inside are David Tenant and Olivia Colman, who were filming episodes of Broadchurch in the town.
Andrew Wilson, a volunteer on the Cambrian Railways in Oswestry, rescued the carriage from dereliction and thinks it is the only one of its kind still in existence.
He restored the outside and repainted it.
He was approached by a television company who wanted to used it for a crash scene but decided instead to sell it to Ross and Claire Moore for an addition to the couple's Station Kitchen restaurant.
The carriage has a fascinating history, originally built in 1911 as a third class corridor passenger coach and turned into an ambulance train in 1918, when it was fitted with bunk beds and had medical staff on board – a hospital on wheels.
After the war it was converted into a breakdown coach and used until the 1980s, when it was withdrawn from service and stored at the Swindon Works in Wiltshire where it was used as a workshop.
Mr Wilson said he had an offer for the carriage from the Channel 4 soap, Hollyoaks, which wanted to buy it to use for a train crash storyline.
Not wanting the carriage to be damaged he instead sold it to the Station Kitchen owners.
They converted the inside into a dining car with tables and chairs.
West Bay is a well known holiday spot and the setting for the award winning TV drama, Broadchurch. Recently David Tennant, Olivia Coleman and Lenny Henry dined there during the filming of the series.
Mr Moores said: "We had been looking for a train carriage for our restaurant and found one online which then led us to this one.
"We bought it in April and spent about five months converting it – there was nothing in it, no electricity or anything, so we had to completely gut it and install electric." Mr Wilson is a volunteer with the Cambrian Heritage Railways, based in Oswestry. The railways group is working to restore the former mainline track that ran from the station at Gobowen, through Oswestry and south into Mid Wales. At the moment the group has two short sections of track open, one in the centre of Oswestry the other at nearby Llynclys.
