The legacy of not being able to run trains for a prolonged period continues. With a myriad of other tasks to be dealt with post-flood, it is only now that our carriage team has managed to turn its attention to the ‘green set’, i.e. UTA ‘Festival coach’ 728 and CIÉ Park Royal carriage 1944. Some of you may recall that this pair were the subject of a vandal attack.
Unfortunately, the time out of service has not been kind to poor 1944. On examining the carriage, an unpleasant smell was discovered inside. We traced this down to mould developing on the seat ends, due to the failed window seals letting water in. A depressing discovery, given that its restoration was only completed in 2018.
Not to be deterred, we set to work on remedying this almost immediately, with Marketing Officer Niall dismantling several seat frames (for access). He did this in the midst of recent driver training runs to Inch Abbey. He’d long been looking forward to a ride in the Park Royal behind 124, but this wasn’t quite how he envisaged it.
He was later joined by Chairman Robert, who proceeded to remove some panelling which was particularly mould-infested. A depressing job all round, but better to start sooner rather than later.
Several of the seat cushions will need to be sent for reupholstering, window seals repaired, and panelling replaced as needed.
On a positive note, we did complete the rehanging of gangway doors in both carriages..These had been kicked in during the vandal attack.
There’s a lot of work ahead of us to get this set back in action. If you can help, either by volunteering or assisting with materials, we’d love to hear from you. Take a look at our volunteering page for more information.
