Repurposed train carriages (e.g. bars, restaurants, etc?)

[TheTallOne]

Thought it might be interesting to discuss alternative uses of train carriages post their retirement from service?

Did a few searches and can't see any similar topics.

There is the topic about Amazing Spaces which saw a train carriage turned into a place to stay.

I remember visiting a bar in Budapest that was an old train carriage (I think it's now a restaurant - called or was called Vagon?)

Local-ish to me is this train on the Stratford-upon-Avon Greenway - where you can hire a cycle from the royal mail carriage or have a cuppa and breakfast bap (or a beer/cocktail) from the grey carriage.

 

[Magdalia]

Two examples near here.

Carriages of Cambridge, which is actually at Fen Drayton, near to the A14.

Carriages Tea Rooms - A Unique Afternoon Tea Experience

Travel back to the golden age of luxury rail travel and indulge in our delicious range of handmade Afternoon Teas at Carriages of Cambridge.

www.carriagesofcambridge.co.uk

Travel back to the golden age of luxury rail travel and indulge in our delicious range of handmade Afternoon Teas at Carriages of Cambridge.

The Carriage Museum at Rayne, which is on the Flitch Way near Braintree.

Walks In Essex: The Flitch Way (Braintree To Rayne Station) - Essex Explored

One of my favourite Essex walks is along The Flitch Way between Braintree & Rayne Station. The Booking Hall Cafe makes a great coffee & cake rest stop!

essexexplored.com

A really nice, easy section, is the stretch from Braintree Station to Rayne Station. It’s 2 miles in length and takes around 45 minutes at a leisurely pace. The Flitch Way starts in the ‘Station Approach’ car park, so this is a good option for somewhere to park.

Once you’ve had your coffee and cake fill, the Carriage Museum may be open! It’s closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays but does still rely on volunteers so opening times may vary. Inside is a model railway and a display about the history of the rail line.

 

[TheTallOne]

Two examples near here.

Carriages of Cambridge, which is actually at Fen Drayton, near to the A14.

Carriages Tea Rooms - A Unique Afternoon Tea Experience

Travel back to the golden age of luxury rail travel and indulge in our delicious range of handmade Afternoon Teas at Carriages of Cambridge.

www.carriagesofcambridge.co.uk

The Carriage Museum at Rayne, which is on the Flitch Way near Braintree.

Walks In Essex: The Flitch Way (Braintree To Rayne Station) - Essex Explored

One of my favourite Essex walks is along The Flitch Way between Braintree & Rayne Station. The Booking Hall Cafe makes a great coffee & cake rest stop!

essexexplored.com

They both look interesting and as a former web developer, I like their fake Latin too, lol.

 

[John Webb]

There is 'The Sidings' at Shipton north of York, where two or three carriages provide sleeping accommodation next to the ECML.

Several people advertise accommodation based on various railway vehicles in several of the railway magazines.

Probably the most comprehensive source of information will be the Vintage Carriages Trust database:
https://www.rhrp.org.uk/surveystatus.htm

 

[sprinterguy]

Local-ish to me is this train on the Stratford-upon-Avon Greenway - where you can hire a cycle from the royal mail carriage or have a cuppa and breakfast bap (or a beer/cocktail) from the grey carriage.

View attachment 161046
View attachment 161047

Presumably you can't any more, as that RES liveried full brake has been at the yard of Reid Freight Services' in Longport for a number of weeks now.

 

[TheTallOne]

Presumably you can't any more, as that RES liveried full brake has been at the yard of Reid Freight Services' in Longport for a number of weeks now.

I'll have to check next time I'm in Stratford. Maybe it's just the grey carriage now.

 

[norbitonflyer]

My grandfather and his five brothers used an old railway carriage as a bedroom when they were growing up in the 1890s, the family having outgrown their parents' house (there were also three sisters). The carriage had previously been used as a summerhouse by the rather more well-to-do family in the big house next door.

 

[D6130]

There is 'The Sidings' at Shipton north of York, where two or three carriages provide sleeping accommodation next to the ECML.

The Sidings is also a Greek restaurant and bar....which hosts a Forum meal every Summer.

 

[Cymroglan]

Back in late 2021 Holliers Park, Arreton, Isle of Wight took delivery of unit 483 004 from Island Line. I have never visited the site but it appears to be a quirky collection of retail and catering outlets with a double decker bus being used as a cafe.
The online newspaper article anticipated the train being open to the public in 2022. Does anyone know what the current state of play is?

 

[paul1609]

At the Kent & East Sussex Railway at Northiam station we have Railway Retreats who have a variety of vehicles adapted as holiday accomodation https://www.railwayretreats.co.uk/ and at Bodiam we have the Glamping Coach a converted Mk1 coach https://www.railwayglampingcoach.co.uk/

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Lots of examples of this including:

Avon Causeway hotel at Hurn (in the old station) has a diesel shunter and Pullman carriage at the platform, the latter used for events and breakfast.

A class 317 driving car is in a business park just north of the line on the eastern approach to Reading

A retired Pacer lives in the disused bay at Huddersfield where it replaced / augmented (?) a Mark 1 that serves as a base for a charity supporting men's mental health

Nearby Halifax has a Mark 2 in use as a school group coach at Eureka!

St Philips Marsh depot has a grounded coach body in use as a training room

During my A Level Geography fieldtrip in 1991 I stayed in a hotel in Whitby which had a railway carriage built into it. Can't remember much about it except that the rooms (a compartment) were very 'cosy' for sleep as I barely fitted into the bed (I'm over 6ft)

 

[mike57]

I've posted this before, but for anyone that missed it, my grandfathers home in Norfolk, based on an old railway carriage. It got extended over the years but the original carriage is clearly visible here, with a mini me in 1959. The smallholding has long gone and been replaced with housing.

 

[32475]

There are a number of historic repurposed carriage bodies at Dungeness which were converted into dwellings in the 1920’s and 30s.
This was the subject of a thread a couple of years ago entitled Aberporth Railway Carriage Conversions (sorry I can’t add a link but it’s worth looking up)

 

[TheTallOne]

Presumably you can't any more, as that RES liveried full brake has been at the yard of Reid Freight Services' in Longport for a number of weeks now.

Looking at Google maps, the red royal mail carriage was there approx two months ago. (Assuming people posted their photos at the time of course!).

 

[WesternLancer]

There are a number of historic repurposed carriage bodies at Dungeness which were converted into dwellings in the 1920’s and 30s.
This was the subject of a thread a couple of years ago entitled Aberporth Railway Carriage Conversions (sorry I can’t add a link but it’s worth looking up)

Several also in Selsey, Bracklesham and East Wittering that have been there since similar date. Not as many as I recall back in the 70s but still a number if you know where to look.

 

[Sun Chariot]

As @WesternLancer mentions, Selsey (West Sussex) has a few pre "Big Four" era Pullman cars comverted into homes, mostly sited near the coast.
The majority are private but "The Byways" can be booked as holiday accommodation.

On a Pullman theme, Petworth (West Sussex) has a selection of restored 20th Century Pullman cars as accommodation, at The Old Station hotel.

And finally.... if you take a trip on London Overground passing Shoreditch, you'll spot a pair of former LU Jubilee Line's 1983 stock, planted on top of a building (a bar, I think).

 

[Taunton]

Back in the 1980s I went to a restaurant in Los Angeles called Victoria Station, which on approaching it seemed fashioned out of several obviously ex-BR carriages. Only afterwards did I discover they were the stock that went over with Flying Scotsman on its infamous 1970 USA tour. The loco came home but this was how the carriages ended up. They had been minimally adapted internally, the toilet compartments had been stripped out for additional dining area but pipework remains were all around. In typical USA fashion, the diners' only concern was the food rather than the surroundings.

 

[Iskra]

This one is a very pleasant cafe at (disused) Bellingham station in Northumberland that I visited in January this year:



I believe they had a mk1 before and are working on another former EMR mk3.

 

[Falcon1200]

At the long-closed West Bay station near Bridport, Dorset, two coaches, one GWR and the other a BR Mark 1, form the Station Kitchen restaurant.

 

[StoneRoad]

"Maid of Kent" and "Elmira" - ex-Pullman / WW1 ambulance train - are still at Ravenglass, and available as holiday accommodation [recently undergone refurbishments - and which I'll be looking at on my next visit].

 

[DanNCL]

I believe they had a mk1 before and are working on another former EMR mk3.

They had a driving vehicle from a 4TC. I wonder what happened to it?

 

[Rescars]

I believe there is a much converted BSK offering holiday accommodation at Bridge of Dee station on the old Kirkcudbright branch.

 

[Essan]

2 coaches at Glenfinnan have been converted into a restaurant and a bunkhouse.

 

[matchmaker]

Received via Whatsapp from a fellow model railway club member a short time ago. At Pitlochry Station.

 

[WesternLancer]

Received via Whatsapp from a fellow model railway club member a short time ago. At Pitlochry Station.View attachment 161187

are those the ones made for a film set that are not actual genuine carriages? or am I muddling it up

 

[John Webb]

are those the ones made for a film set that are not actual genuine carriages? or am I muddling it up

A look at their entry on Google maps does say it was from 'Mission Impossible'.

 

[sprinterguy]

Looking at Google maps, the red royal mail carriage was there approx two months ago. (Assuming people posted their photos at the time of course!).

Ah, that mustn't have been long before it was removed, if the photos are recent. I wonder if it's been, or is due to be, replaced by anything?

 

[MotCO]

There used to be a restaurant at the top of Polhill on the A21, and they had a railway carriage in the garden, but I've just looked on Google Map and it isn't there any more. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.3...eT33Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu

However, there is one on the beach at South Shields, "Platform 33", which is a carvery. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.9...KQOiA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu

 

[61653 HTAFC]

There used to be a restaurant based out of a number of Mk1s called "Starlight Express" somewhere between Tiverton and Dulverton, which I visited in 1997 while on a family holiday. By the time our family moved to Taunton in 2003 it appeared to have ceased operations, as there was no sign of it when I tried to find it. I would be intrigued as to what became of those coaches though.

 

[Ashley Hill]

There are four vintage coaches at St Germans station in Cornwall. These have been converted to holiday coaches. Theres also a Mk1 coach hidden behind the fence at Hayle. There is also a Pullman car at Portsmouth Arms but work on its conversion to a holiday let seems to have stopped.