Clerestory No 1663 : Location No.5 Building

With an eye on this carriage’s historical past it was decided to name the express this carriage will form the “Sheffield Special”.

This was an unusual express in that it would shed carriages at high-speed en-route. These carriages would have to be brought to a smooth stop at the station platform by the guard (acting more like a modern DMU driver) whilst the main express powered onwards non-stop. The slip coach would then be picked up by a local train and taken with its remaining passengers up one of the branch lines or onwards on the main line on a stopping service. This was the reason why 1663 had such large windows for the guard at one end and why in one coach it has both classes and luggage space. This interesting operation ensured fast point-to-point express timings with maximum flexibility of destination. An interesting if expensive solution by the GCR to a perennial problem of how to cover these conflicting needs.

There has been no progress on the body, however, there has been progress on the 50ft ex LMS frame. It has been shot blasted and painted early in 2007 and spent most of its year as a painting flatbed for the top end of the big class 56 diesel. Now free of this loan, trust members Richard Potter, Clyde Pennington and Jim Kent decided to bring in an experienced welder (Ian) to weld the required stiffeners. This work was carried out in January 2008 on a surprisingly good day. As the first major piece of engineering this team has attempted it was successful, with no distortion of the frame, the only snags being in the loan and safe storage of equipment. The trust would like to thank all those from the centre who helped with this activity.

Clerestory Frames - ready to Roll?

The next task is to prepare for the body to be rolled on the 50ft LMS frames. Sounds simple, but there is a lot of planning and hard work to get to this stage, Pat Sumner is currently preparing the method statement and consulting with other organisations to pick their best brains as there will be no 2nd attempts on this one!

Suburban No 799 Location Outside

This vehicle is our most complete suburban as it is still on its original GCR frames. Even though it looks a little shabby, the wooden body frames are felt to be in good condition. The roof, with its simpler form than the clerestory has been felted and the carriage has been prepared for a long wait outside. We would like to give the roof a good coat of bitumen over the summer as the tarpaulins proved not up to the job in Ruddington’s windy conditions. In addition any ferrous items have also been removed including some of the part corroded zinc-plated sheet that has been added at some time during its use at Hull Docks. To avoid the risk of dry rot, some of the windows and doors have also been removed. We would of course like to store this vehicle inside, but it must wait its position in the queue behind other more worthy or more delicate vehicles.

Suburban Brake No.555 Location Outside

Our final suburban is stored on a long bed truck with its three sections pushed back together. Originally split when purchased for use as an extension to a bungalow in Sheffield it has received some attention with a felted roof and some paint on some of the bodywork. As with No 799 it is set for a long wait outside before restoration. It is not fully watertight and so again some of the doors and windows have been deliberately removed to avoid dry rot. Another LMS 50ft frame is available when the time comes to fit this body onto, but as the body is stable where it is there is no hurry to make this move. The body is still “rescued” for now and should be restorable to a good standard when time and money allows. However, recent vandal activity is concerning. This is the first vehicle they approach from the park and over the last year a number of windows have been smashed from the open inside. We just hope that that is as far as these unwelcome visitors will go for now!

Interested in helping these vehicles get back in service earlier?

If you feel that the Sheffiled Special should be back into service sooner then we would welcome any assistance on a practical level. A small team could easily adopt some of these vehicles within the control of the trust and accelerate their return to service. There is a lot of work and some money required, but you would be surprised what an impact each individual can make, even on a limited basis. If you have skills, knowledge or just an interest please contact us on the relevant page of this website or say hello if you see us at the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre and become part of our growing restoration group.