Great Western Railway Churchward Coaches

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Early Toplight coaches are wooden panelled, similar to the last Dean coaches, with elliptical roofs. Their distinguishing feature which also gives them their name is the small glass lights or windows above the main windows.
The identifying feature of Bars 2 design that there is no eaves panel above the window level panels; instead these panels continue up to the gutter. As coaches aged and panels started to be repaired with steel over-panels it can be difficult to distinguish between the two designs.

Bars 2 coaches were built between 1912 and 1913. They were all built with electric lights from new.

It gets even more complicated as many Toplights were sold to the War Department for ambulance trains in the Great War. After the war they were purchased back and put into service; some required little work whilst others required almost completely new bodies. These returned coaches are listed separately on the WD Rebuilds page.

Below are just a few of the Bars 2 Toplights diagrams.

Dimensions
Width over cornices 8' 11¼
Width over body at waist 9'
Width over handles 9' 5
Height to gutters 10' 7¼
Height to top of roof 12' 6¼
Height over ventillators

Diagram Dimensions
Length x Width
Wheelbase

Numbers
Conversions
C31

8 compartment third
with 2 lavatories

57' x 9'

9' bogies

50' wheelbase

50 built in 1910 to 1913

6 built in 1912

2456 to 2464, 2492 to 2532

2533 to 2538


R Spratt collection, 9923 ex 2462
Condemned 1953 to 1956
D47

4 compartment brake third
with 1 lavatory

57' x 9'

9' bogies

50' wheelbase

20 built in 1912

There were also some built to Bars 1 and ex WD Rebuilds

2367 to 2369, 2374 to 2381, 3551 to 3559
D47 corridor side © Real 338


D47 compartment side © Real T5087

3551 to 3556 & 3559 sold to War Department in 1916.

All were condemned between 1954 & 1962.

D51

4 compartment brake third

70' x 9'

62'6 wheelbase

10 built in 1911

8 built in 1912
(63'6 wheelbase)

3575 to 3584

3585 to 3592


D51 No.3581. R Spratt collection
3576 & 3578 fitted with moderised body in 1943 with 2 doors on corridor side, both had 'Gangways and Adapters for Buckeye couplers and Pullman Vestibules' fitted in 1953 Condemned 1955 to 1959
E88

7 compartment composite

4x 1st class and
3x 3rd class compartments

57' x 9'

9' Fishbelly bogies

50' wheelbase

24 built in 1912 in 2 lots

There were also some built to Bars 1

7554 to 7573 & 7745 to 7751 7555, 7559, 7561, 7564, 7566 & 7567, 7748, 7749 & 7751 received 8' American bogies between 1916 and 1918

7561 received Collett 9' light pressed steel bogies in 1939

All condemned between 1954 and 1957

E95

6 compartment brake composite

57' x 9'

9' Fishbelly bogies

50' wheelbase

17 built in 1913 6945 to 6961
E95 No.6953 © JE Cull AEP332
All condemned between 1956 and 1959
G43

First Saloon

57' x 9'

50' wheelbase

1 built in 1911 9055
By Hugh Llewelyn, edited by Richard Spratt, - GWR Churchward 57' Toplight Brake Unclassified Saloon No.9055 Uploaded by Oxyman, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24384575


By Hugh Llewelyn, edited by Richard Spratt, - GWR Churchward 57' Toplight Brake Unclassified Saloon No.9055 Uploaded by Oxyman, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Condemned 1955, now preserved on th eSevern Valley Railway
H20

4 compartment brake first with buffet

70' x 9'

9' bogies

63'6 wheelbase

1 built in 1911 8303
H20 No.8303 @ Plymouth Millbay ca1930 © HMRS AEL111
4 gas cylinders for cooking
Bogies changed from 9' American to 9' Collett Heavy Plate in 1922
'Gangways and Adapters for Buckeye couplers and Pullman Vestibules' fitted in 1953

Condemned 1955

Under Construction.  This project is definitely work in progress. If you would like to receive an email when I update these pages please contact me in the Carriage Shed.

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