Support Coaches and Work Parties
[updated 07/05]

In October 1995 we successfully purchased our first support vehicle, no. M31148, formerly at Colwyn Bay station. It had been used as a venue to exhibit a model railway layout. It took 4 days to remove (with the help of the T.A.), transported then unloaded at Sherherdswell.

support coach recovered from Colwyn bay support coach M31148

Pictured above, group members set about painting and repairs to M31148 not long after it arrived at the EKR.   (photos: left - B.G.Thomas, right - A.French)

With the SELG's relocation from the East Kent Rly. to the Spa Valley Railway at the end of 2004 came the inevitable - M31148 was surplus to requirements after providing us with many years of useful service at the EKR. In March 2005, the coach was offered up for 'sale' or at least to anyone who wanted it, for a donation to SELG funds!

Ideal for spares storage, the coach was basicly sound, capable of being moved and was complete with drawgear on both ends. The brake assemblies had been dismantled although some parts were available. The vehicle had never been fitted with seats at any time to the best of our knowledge.

By early Summer, its sale was secured. The coach was still resident at Shepherdswell in mid-July but was expected to be moved off site to a new home where it was believed the new owner was going to restore it to its former glory.

Both M31148 and our second vehicle, an LMS Stanier-designed coach built at Wolverton in 1936, were wired out with lighting and power points and had their rooves resealed against the elements by the Summer of 1999. The latter vehicle owes its survival to being adapted for departmental use by the CCE Department in Liverpool as DM395903.

ex-Stanier coach refurbished by the new owners at Shepherdswell, photo A.Dussart By late 2003, the ex-Stanier coach was deemed to be surplus and sold to the Deal Model Railway group, the stores previously kept in it having been moved to other locations or sold (e.g. '427' spares with the sale of loco '427'). The coach still resides at E.K.R. (7/05) and was refurbished to a high standard by its new owners for the Summer season of 2004 (pictured left, photo A.Dussart).


For a number of years, the Group was able to regularly provide works parties not just for its own purposes but also for up-keep of the line, typically, vegetation control along the Northern half. Chainsaws, strimmers, hatchets and hand saws were a must on such outings, some equipment having to be hired in.
Mid-1990's Work Party
lineside clearance work by Fund members and associates.
as viewed from the front brakevan, the works train returns to Shepherdswell
Members get stuck in to the brambles and nettles along the embankment near the open crossing, South of Eythorne. (photo: B.G.Thomas) The Group member's works train was usually pulled by 427 'The Buffs', taking the tools right to point of need. The brakevans made a good lunchtime cabin, too! (photo: B.G.Thomas)

With the emphasis shifting to the then recently purchased shunting loco, 427 'The Buffs' in the late 90's and the two Cromptons from 2000, work parties on the fabric of the E.K.R. ceased. Thereafter, only occasional works groups took on specific tasks, like the clearance of vegetation behind Shepherdswell platform in April 2003 being a relatively recent example.