Re-use of old railway carriages

[Max]

Folks, I'm currently doing a project on a railway station that will be closed in the next couple of years. I'm trying to find ways of re-using the existing station buildings as part of the development, and am considering using old railway carriages. I know of a few examples where this has been done (eg. NYMR camping coaches, Strawberry Line heritage centre, Cannon Junction bar in Hull etc.) but I'd be very interested to know of any other cases where this has happened. Thanks in advance!

 

[PaxVobiscum]

The Conwy Railway Museum has an old coach in use for a tea room http://www.conwyrailwaymuseum.co.uk/buffet-coach-cafe.html
and a model railway display in an old brake van http://www.conwyrailwaymuseum.co.uk/additional-attractions.html

 

[YorkshireBear]

Is there a station in this country closing in a few years??? Although i just notice your location is Milan...

I think there is somewhere on the Pickering to Scarborough line that has the old station with loads of coaches as a B&B type thing.

 

[Max]

Is there a station in this country closing in a few years??? Although i just notice your location is Milan...

I think there is somewhere on the Pickering to Scarborough line that has the old station with loads of coaches as a B&B type thing.

Yes, I'm based here for a few months. A station is being closed in the city to prepare for the opening of a new continuous 'circle' line, which makes the terminus station redundant.

 

[burns20]

Allerston Station on the Pickering to Scarborough line. Stayed there as a teenager.

Staying in June at Skipwith Station Carriages between York and Selby

 

[wellhouse]

The original ACORP office was in a Mark 1 carriage at Huddersfield Station.

ACORP have gone (and come back, but to the restored water tower) but the Mark 1 is still there, used, I believe, to store equipment for a Community Group.

 

[bangor-toad]

Hi there,
Have a look at what's happened with the stretch of viaduct leading towards the old Broad Street terminus. It's got a number of tube carriages being used as an urban community and artists studios:

From Wikipedia:

And a bit more info can be found on the actual website: Villageunderground
In all seriousness they are looking to expand their concept to other places - maybe worth getting in touch?

Cheers,
Jason

(I've got no links whatsoever to this group - I just see the tube stock when I pass that way!)

 

[sheff'd victoria]

Im not sure if it is still their ?

But their used to be an old Mk1 coach near platform 1 at Huddersfield station , not sure what it was used for ?

 

[sprinterguy]

Im not sure if it is still their ?

Bus their used to be an old Mk1 coach near platform 1 at Huddersfield station , not sure what it was used for ?

There's a pressure ventilated mark 2 carriage to be found by the lineside at Halifax that has been there for some time, and was recently refurbished and repainted by Northern Rail for the National Children's Museum:
http://www.rail-news.com/2010/02/11/northern-rails-eureka-moment-2/

Up in Northern England, we're quite fond of integrating old railway carriages into the structure of pubs and restaurants. Probably the most well known of these is "The Sidings" restaurant and B&B at Shipton by Beningbrough (http://www.thesidingshotel.co.uk/index.php/home.html), due to it's location adjacent to the "racing stretch" of the ECML between York and Northallerton, which incorporates five mark 1 carriages into it's design.

There is also however the Pullman Lodge Hotel on the seafront at Seaburn in Sunderland, which has three 12-wheel wooden panelled Pullman cars "bolted on" to the front of the main superstructure. For many years these were painted sympathetically in the traditional Pullman umber and cream colour scheme, however in more recent times they have been repainted all black, as if in an attempt to disguise their very existance. Round the back there is also one more recent mark 1 vehicle that has had part of the bodyside cut away to make it a more integral part of the main building.

Personally, I prefer "The Rattler" in South Shields (Named in memory of the "Marsden Rattler" passenger service that used to ferry colliery workers down to Whitburn Colliery from South Shields), which has incorporated three BR mark 1 carriages (Including a suburban compartment vehicle that has been converted to house the kitchens) into it's structure, with the "inside" bodysides cut away entirely to integrate them seamlessly into the main building and increase the total floor space. The all-over maroon livery that they currently wear is looking quite drab at the moment, but the interior of the place is very pleasant, and there was a time when these were surely the only mark 1 carriages to carry a "giraffe print" livery under a previous management! The main building is also topped by the clock tower from the old Manors North station: http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/m/manors_north/index65.shtml

 

[John Webb]

A number of preserved railways use Buffet or Restaurant cars where the station building(s) are too small to allow use as a tea room - Oxenhope on the Keighley & Worth Valley line is an example at a small terminus.
At Hawes, a small train of three coaches and a (non-working) loco form part of the Dales Museum based on the former Goods shed and station.
On the Swanage line there is an Exhibition coach at Corfe station.

 

[Oscar]

You will of course be aware of The Sidings Hotel and Restaurant in Yorkshire which is very iconic.
I presume the station you are referring to is Milano Porta Genova, in which case this is a small urban terminus with an old and fairly small station building.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

There's an old Mark I (probably ex-EMU) carriage in the middle of Deptford Market being used as a caff.

 

[Chrisgr31]

There is an old railway carriage in the car park of Hever Station which I believe is used as offices.

 

[High Dyke]

Sutton-on-sea in Lincolnshire has a number of these interesting homes:

http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=41260985

And there's a large concentration of them at Dungeness as well.

 

[Matt Taylor]

This former pullman car is now at Shepperton and used for corporate hospitality for Ian Allan books,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40172673@N03/8286819131/

 

[tsr]

Is the former tea room, which was in a converted carriage, still at Loch Awe?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Awe_railway_station

 

[Wolfie]

There's an old Mark I (probably ex-EMU) carriage in the middle of Deptford Market being used as a caff.

Indeed, see:
http://uk.yhs4.search.yahoo.com/r/_...age&fr=altavista&va=deptford+railway+carriage

 

[DeeGee]

There's this at Waltham windmill near Grimsby.

 

[mirodo]

Tube Carriage Supper Club at Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum.

http://london-underground.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/tube-supperclub-on-victoria-line-train.html

 

[edwin_m]

Another Pullman at Pecorama in Devon.

The Carriage pub in Newcastle is just what is says (along with the former Jesmond station building).

 

[bishdunster]

The Avon Causeway pub near Christchurch Dorset on the line from Christchurch to Ringwood line which closed in the 1930s is in the old station building, in the platform is a Pullman car and an industrial diesel shunter, i was involved in putting the track down and offloading them, i forget the year now, but was round about 1980ish

 

[underbank]

There are two carriages used as luxury holiday accommodation at the old Coalport Station near Ironbridge. We've stayed in one there and very good it was too!

http://www.coalportstation.com/

 

[TMLB UK]

Valley junction Indian restraunt in jesmond newcastle.

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/03/3a/5d/3b/downstairs.jpg

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/j/jesmond/jesmond(ay8.1998)16.jpg

Awesome restraunt too.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The former railway station at Petworth in West Sussex had had Pullman coaches added to the current residential establishment that is now there.

 

[Cheds]

Appleby has coaches used for further education and training.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

At Glenfinnan station, there's a dining car/sleeping car next to the through platforms as part of the station museum. If you buy a ticket for the museum, it gives you a small discount when eating in the dining car, and vice-versa.

More info here... www.glenfinnanstationmuseum.co.uk

 

[LE Greys]

The Vintage Carriages Trust covers many of them in a database.

http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/search.asp

 

[noddingdonkey]

Im not sure if it is still their ?

But their used to be an old Mk1 coach near platform 1 at Huddersfield station , not sure what it was used for ?

Still there, it's in the *old* Platform 2 IIRC. I think it's used as some kind of classroom by a charity operation next to the station.

There's an old carriage - in Northern livery no less - at Eureka, the childrens' museum in Halifax.

 

[bronzeonion]

At the Epping Ongar Railway we use an Anglia liveried MK2 buffet and serve food from the existing buffet counter and customers can sit in the first class seating area in the carriage or anywhere they like.

 

[Ploughman]

Mention was made earlier of the Coaches at Ebberston / Allerston on the former Pickering - Seamer railway.
Our group actually reinstated the track at the request of the owner.

We also did similar work at 2 other stations.
Hawsker Station and Cloughton Station between Whitby and Scarborough
In all cases rolling stock has been placed on the tracks.