The restoration work on our ex-CIÉ/Iarnród Éireann ‘Tin Van’ continues to progress well. Recently, our volunteers started work on sanding down the bodywork prior to repainting. During the course of this sanding down the vehicle, our Marketing Officer made a bit of a discovery…
When first acquired this vehicle back in 2019, there were no visible numerals but the paperwork provided suggested it was No.638A (this being it’s Permanent Way Department number, it was originally No.2971 when it operated as a Travelling Post Office (TPO) vehicle).
However, the sanding down process has revealed that it actually that vehicle’s sister van, No.639A. A few panels were checked, all revealing the number 639A, so we can probably rule out it being a case of one vehicle ending up with the panel from another.
So we know that its ‘last’ number was 639A, under the Permanent Way Department’s numbering system. This still leaves the question as to what its original TPO number was. None of the stock books we have to hand list its original number, which would have been in the 29xx series. If anyone reading this article can shed light on the matter we would love to hear from you, please email niall@downrail.co.uk.
