Last year a new appeal was launched to aid the restoration to traffic of two of the Railway's historic coach bodies, North Staffordshire Railway 4 wheelers No.61 and No.127. A group was formed called the North Staffordshire Railway Rolling Stock Trust, quite a mouthful I know but a very active group with plenty of experience. One of the group has previous experience of this type of project through his involvement in GWR Autocoach No.163 and that group's experiences in raising funds and co-ordinating the restoration.
Despite rumours that the only thing keeping No.127 together was the woodworm holding hands it turned out on closer inspection that the basic structure of the body was repairable given the right skills. No.61 had already seen some restoration work and has spent the majority of the last 15 years undercover so was in a better condition. Therefore attention has been focused on No.127 for the time being.
Progress so far on No.127 includes restoration of one of the doors to give the project something to aim for and display as part of it's fundraising activites. Also the chassis off an ex-BR pipe wagon B741715 is being overhauled and modified to accomodate the restored body, some idea of progress can be seen on the Foxfield stocklist page for No.127, but extra help with either physical work or fundraising is always welcomed, we have two to do, and then there are other grounded bodies to turn our attention to afterwards!
To date over £1,000 has been raised towards the initial target of £5,000. Please contact Mr John Allman, NSR Rolling Stock Trust, c/o Foxfield Railway, PO Box 1967, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 8YT for further information.
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