AC Railbus 79976

[009 micro modeller]

Unfortunately there is a development.

 

 

 

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ac-railbus-79976/updates/?

 

 

Hopefully someone else is successful.

 

 

 

Jason

Does this mean though that it has been saved, albeit by another group? I notice there is time remaining on the project.

[dibber25]

Does this mean though that it has been saved, albeit by another group? I notice there is time remaining on the project.

 

I suspect that GCR may already have gone to far for it to be reversible. It was several weeks ago that they contacted me about it - despite the fact that I haven't owned it for over ten years. (CJL)

[Steamport Southport]

Does this mean though that it has been saved, albeit by another group? I notice there is time remaining on the project.

 

Hopefully.

 

I actually went on to the Crowdfunder site to pay a few quid towards it and noticed the news item. It was over £1000 at the time and 72% towards the total.

 

 

 

Jason

[009 micro modeller]

Hopefully.

 

I actually went on to the Crowdfunder site to pay a few quid towards it and noticed the news item. It was over £1000 at the time and 72% towards the total.

 

 

 

Jason

There was this comment made on National Preservation:

'This is one of several proposals which the owner is considering the viability of, as I understand it. There are no “done deals”.'

 

I don't want to speculate too much but based on this I wonder if another group has been able to put together funding more quickly and has stepped in. I think at this stage anyone saving it would be a good outcome.

 

Edit: from the Crowdfunder page - 'AC Railbus is safe and has been awarded to another group'.

Edited June 22, 2018 by 009 micro modeller

[dibber25]

There was this comment made on National Preservation:

'This is one of several proposals which the owner is considering the viability of, as I understand it. There are no “done deals”.'

 

I don't want to speculate too much but based on this I wonder if another group has been able to put together funding more quickly and has stepped in. I think at this stage anyone saving it would be a good outcome.

 

Edit: from the Crowdfunder page - 'AC Railbus is safe and has been awarded to another group'.

 

That sounds encouraging. I guess speed of removal may be an issue, too, because I suspect the GCR wants it out of the way quickly so they can press ahead with the canal bridge work. I just hope that someone at GCR knows where all the parts and materials are stored and will pass them on with the railbus. I'm happy to help with showing folk where they WERE stored when I last had any involvement. (CJL)

[Steamport Southport]

Apparently moving to Nemesis in Burton.

 

No details, just from a post on National Preservation forum.

 

 

 

Jason

[Dava]

Good news item on the railbus from the GCR Railway Review newsletter, I'm not supposed to copy this so don't tell anyone...

 

"Following recent interest in the AC Railbus which has been stabled north of Loughborough Shed for some years, this week, it has been moved to Quorn and Woodhouse awaiting road transport to its new home in Burton, where there is clear restoration plan. Although a huge amount of work is required to return the vehicle to a fully operational condition, we are sure it has a bright future ahead of it and we all look forward to seeing it running again one day in the future."

 

Shhh!

[dibber25]

I've just had a very positive conversation with one of the new owners. W79976 was the first of the rail buses to run crew-training trips on the Tetbury and Cirencester lines and operated the first day of railbus service on the Cirencester branch. Since it left those WR branches in 1964 it has led a charmed life.

It was used as a parcels vehicle between Yeovil Junction and Pen Mill stations. It was then transferred to the Ayr-Kilmarnock service until road improvements allowed that service to be withdrawn.

It was stripped of mechanical parts which could be re-used on other DMUs and sold to Brian Kinsey for display at the Yieldingtree Railway Museum at Bleadon & Uphill station in Somerset.

When Mr. Kinsey became ill and his museum closed, he donated it to the Bodmin & Wenford who used it as a static buffet.

When B&WR got use of Bodmin station they set the railbus aside for scrapping as they had been told their gradients were too steep for it to be allowed to run.

To save it from scrapping, I bought it and moved it to County School in Norfolk. By then it had a lot of broken glass but was otherwise in reasonable order. There it was de-asbestosed but the future of that site was uncertain at the time so I moved it to the Colne Valley where there was a skilled welder with railbus experience who had maintained W79978. 

He left the CVR as he relocated to somewhere further away and with the CVR's future in doubt at the time, it was offered a place at Loughborough, where the Mountsorrel branch group was interested in it.

I relinquished ownership of it at that time as the GCR paid the movement costs and the heavy work that was involved in working on it was simply too much for me.

Once again, it looks to have escaped the axe and this time to a group with the expertise to actually restore it, which is very good news. (CJL)

Edited June 26, 2018 by dibber25

[Steamport Southport]

I'm just glad it could be saved and now has a good chance of a secure future. I hope to ride on it some day.

 

Also many thanks to those who have tried to save it over the years and those that were willing to pay towards it's survival. 

 

 

 

Jason

[Northmoor]

It was stripped of mechanical parts which could be re-used on other DMUs and sold to Brian Kinsey for display at the Yieldingtree Railway Museum at Bleadon & Uphill station in Somerset.

When Mr. Kinsey became ill and his museum closed, he donated it to the Bodmin & Wenford who used it as a static buffet.

Chris - for years I've been researching the history of railway preservation, focussing on when schemes opened and closed, numbers of open days per year and numbers of visitors.

 

Bleadon & Uphill Museum has been a difficult one - when did it open and close?  Also, is there anyone still around who might know about visitor numbers and details of opening times etc.?

 

Any knowledeable responses welcomed!

[Phill Dyson (onslaught832)]

Great news

Edited July 6, 2018 by Phill Dyson (onslaught832)

[dibber25]

Chris - for years I've been researching the history of railway preservation, focussing on when schemes opened and closed, numbers of open days per year and numbers of visitors.

 

Bleadon & Uphill Museum has been a difficult one - when did it open and close?  Also, is there anyone still around who might know about visitor numbers and details of opening times etc.?

 

Any knowledeable responses welcomed!

 

I've sent you a PM. Not sure I can be much help but I'll check through the old correspondence and see if I still have anything relevant. Most of the material relating to the railbus went with it to the David Clarke Railway Trust at the GCR. However, in my time, it was already Bodmin's property, not Bleadon's. (CJL)