Railway hosts weekend carriage convention

Around 40 delegates from across Britain will be at Llangollen Railway for the 15^th annual Carriage Convention being hosted there this weekend, October 18 and 19.

This is the first time the Carriage Convention has been held in Wales and many of the diverse groups involved with carriage restoration at the various heritage railways and museums in Britain will be represented.

 

The gathering will bring together the vast knowledge and experience of those working to preserve the wide variety of heritage carriages which exist in operational condition, or as museum exhibits, and others in course of restoration.

During the course of the convention Llangollen Railway intends to provide practical demonstrations of work on rail vehicles, including panel welding and body repairs, mechanical maintenance and wood manufacturing in the railway’s workshops.

Delegates will give talks on the many varied aspects of carriage restoration and illustrate the work they are involved in with their project for the promotion and interest to others.

 

The exchange of information will help those looking for assistance with their own challenging restoration project who may benefit from applying new technology to the solution for a repair of obsolete equipment, as pioneered by others.

A carriage parts sales stand will provide for the many hard-to-find items needed to complete a restoration project from obsolete screws to full size vehicles and a mini car boot sale on Sunday morning will cater for those who bring parts for sale.

The convention will provide a full tour of the engineering workshops at the Llangollen Railway which is the home for such new build locomotive projects as the Patriot ‘The Unknown Warrior’, ‘Betton Grange’, the ‘Night Owl’ and the recently announced B17 ‘Sandringham’.

 

The carriage workshop was the location for the acclaimed restoration of the Great Western Steam Railmotor and Trailer as operational at the Didcot Railway Centre, as per picture below.

Restoration projects completed at Llangollen Railway will be on show and will include the Wickham railcar, the Southern Railway Elephant Van, the London North Eastern Railway Thompson Brake Third coach and the former Kings Cross Suburban Coach set, as well as other projects which are underway.

A convivial Saturday evening will be offered with a trip on the Llangollen Railway’s Real Ale Train which operates with the restored Elizabethan Buffet coach.

Llangollen Railway director, Peter Lund, said: “We are delighted to be hosting this national event and look forward to meeting delegates from a wide range of participating railways and museums.

 

"We want to make this weekend a very useful occasion for all delegates. By bringing people together to share their experiences, and to view our own projects, we hope to promote the important work of continuing to provide historic railway vehicles for the enjoyment of the many people who visit heritage railways.”