Railway launches appeal to buy historic horse-drawn dray

* The historic horse-drawn dray. 

Llangollen Heritage Group has been negotiating the acquisition of a historic horse-drawn dray dating from the turn of the last century. 

And it has launched a crowd-funding appeal to buy and transport it back to the railway for public display and operation during special events. 

The Great Western Railway dray was among the property of a deceased gentleman who formerly worked at the Swindon railway works. 

It was discovered in a domestic garage earlier this year in Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire having been stored there since the early 1960s.

TV's Michael Portillo, a keen supporter of railways, has already voiced his backing for our project.

He said: "I am delighted to hear of the discovery and purchase of a very historic Great Western Railway horse-drawn dray soon to be brought to the Llangollen Railway. It will make a spectacular addition to the heritage artefacts on display and will bring great pleasure to enthusiasts and visitors."

Railway horse-drawn drays were used extensively in the early days of the railways to bring goods to a railhead or take them away. Many thousands of these carts were built before the general advent of commercial motorised traffic.

This rare example was built by the Great Western Railway and bears the works No. 3314. It dates back to the turn of the 1900s.

The design was classified by the Great Western Railway as a “trolley” and refers to the fact that there was no permanent seating arrangement for the drayman, as he was expected to sit on the load.​

* To help the appeal you can donate through the crowd-funding page at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/gwr-dray?utm_term=eVG4AeDkx