GNR composite No. 2701

This historic carriage was built during 1922 at Doncaster as one of a batch of ten, built to Diagram 164K. They were unusual in being 9' wide at a time when most carriages were the less luxurious 8' 6". Accomodation consisted of 3 1/2 first class compartments (the half-compartment, known as a coupé, was a common feature of Gresley composites) and 4 thirds, seating 21 and 32 passengers respectively. A side corridor ran the length of the carriage, with a gangway and a small toilet at each end. The interior was of varnished mahogany with white panels and green tapestry seating in the firsts, varnished teak with red & black replin seats in the thirds. Externally the standard GNR finish of dark teak was applied, with the mouldings picked out with a 3/8" wide yellow line edged with 1/8" blue lines. Vertical lines above the waist terminated top and bottom in arrowheads. Running numbers, class descriptions and the company's name ("GREAT NORTHERN" was spelled out in full on the long corridor side panels) were applied in gold leaf letters shaded in blue.
When 2701 was less than a year old, ownership passed to the LNER. Renumbered 42701, the simplified livery with gold/red lettering and yellow/red lining would have been applied at an early opportunity. The 1946 renumbering didn't affect pre-grouping carriages, but British Railways would have applied their prefix/suffixes and their carmine & cream livery. It is known that some, if not all 164K's had their 1st class compartments downgraded to 3rds at about this time;- those "in the know" could travel in first class luxury for third class fares!
On November 16th 1922 No. 2701 was part of a Doncaster to Peterborough train which collided, at Retford and in fog, with the rear of a Manchester to Cleethorpes train. No. 2701 was recorded as being undamaged. Withdrawn during June 1958 No. 2701 and fellow 164K No. 69 were among a batch of 10 GNR/early LNER carriages converted to Camping Coaches, with 2701 becoming No. 157. In this conversion the interior was removed being replaced by cooking, living and sleeping areas and the exterior attractively reliveried in green and cream. The whole batch was allocated to Mundesley-on-Seauntil 1963 or 1964, following which it became DE321089, later 041593 and was used at Boston, as an office. The records were somewhat confused at this stage, and due to circumstantial evidence our carriage was initially thought to have been No. 69 until the discovery of parts labelled 2701 settled the matter.
Purchased by a publican during the 1980's 2701 was again altered to become a breakfast room for a pub in Swineshead Bridge, but that scheme failed and it moved to Stoneyford Lodge, near Heanor of the same purpose. British Coal then extended their open-cast workings over the proposed site. During the summer of 1994 Mr Gopal was thus delighted to sell 2701 for a very reasonable price to the LNER (SVR) Coach Fund for restoration to original condition.
Safety considerations permitting, you are welcome to visit No. 2701 whenever staff are working inside. You can then observe the progress being made. In addition, a set of teak panels for the exterior has already been purchased for over £6,000 but the carriage must be made structurally sound before they can be fitted. Restoration commenced during mid-2000 and the rate of progress depends entirely on how many people are prepared to help with the work and how quickly we can raise money to cover the cost of the work. Naturally more money raised means that the work can be contracted out to skilled craftpersons thus greatly speeding progress. We could probably restore 2701 for about £20,000 but that would mean doing everything the hard way and would probably take 20 years. Costings are currently being prepared for a scheme to finish No 2701 within 5 years, with a sum of about £80-£100,000 currently indicated, but the resulting carriage would complete the Gresley teak set in an extremely attractive and fitting manner.
In order to raise such a large sum the Fund is investigating the possibility of attracting Grants and sponsorship. However to provide working capital, the partnership funding normally required by grant making organisations, and to allow for the possibility of failure to attact sponsorship, the Fund is continuing with its usual methods of fundraising;- by asking visitors to make donations, and inviting subscriptions by standing order. Forms for the latter are available from the Fund's staff. Historically the most successful way of fundraising has been by means of Sponsored Walks, usually held during alternate years, the details of which are circulated to all SVR members and are available on request.

Created on by: Dave Rowley, June 8^th 2001
Last modified by Dave Rowley on November 18^th 2004