415 hours work to restore vandalised Severn Valley Railway carriage
Work on an historic train carriage, which was one of two vandalised by yobs at the Severn Valley Railway, has been completed after 415 hours of hard work.
The damage was discovered early on Boxing Day, when workers were shocked to find spray paint covering the sides of the carriages.
The 1922 Great Northern Railway composite No. 2701 is now ready to return to the line after being given a new paint job – fit with replacement intricate 24 carat gold lettering.
WATCH: Find out more about the restoration
Now, restoration work on the paint job of the second carriage, the 1938 Great Western coach, which would not have needed a repaint for another seven years, could be finished towards the end of next week, weather permitting.
The chairman of the SVR’s charitable trust Hugh McQuade said while he was pleased to see the work completed – it was bittersweet as the time could have been spent doing something else at the railway.
“We finished the 2701 at about 10am yesterday morning and shunted it out of the workshop an hour later. It took 415 man hours to do the job from start to finish.
“Right now it’s with the fitters having routine maintenance done, which we usually do at this time of year. It will be available to be back on the line when the services return in February.
“With regards to the other Great Western coach, we’ve been working on that in the storage shed and used some graffiti remover supplied by the train depot in Oxley in Wolverhampton. It’s been donated by Alstom and Virgin Trains.
“So far we’ve managed to strip off the majority of graffiti without damaging the paint job but there’s some pink paint that won’t shift so more work. We’re going to have to varnish the whole section of the coach to make it match.
“It was lovely to see it looking brand new with everything clean and shining but at the same time we’ve lost a months work which is something we shouldn’t have been doing.”
The the iconic Flying Scotsman. was hauled by the 1922 Great Northern Railway several years ago.
More than a dozen volunteers have come forward to help remove the spray paint at the railway in Kidderminster, while people have been donating money to help pay for the repairs.
Well over £11,000 has been donated by members of the public and Mr McQuade thanked them for their generosity.
Both carriages were sprayed down the middle for about 20ft – with one featuring the word ‘Banksy’ in black.
Anyone who would like to support or make a donation towards the project should call 01562 757940 or visit svrtrust.org.uk
