No 41723 - 'Coral A' Wagon for crated glass

Well wagon for the transportation of crates of sheet glass. 

The first specialist glass carrying wagon was No. 36970 built in 1884 and eventually six wagons were built between 1884-7, becoming Diagram D1. Between 1898 and 1908 a further 19 wagons were built to Diagram D2. Diagram D2 wagons, designated CORAL A were fitted with adjustable inner rack partitions.

No. 41723 was built at Swindon in 1908 - one of the last to be built. It is 7 tons 9 cwt. when empty and 12 tons fully laden. There were only 25 CORALs built so they were always rare and No. 41723 is the sole surviving example.

The wagon survived long enough to enter into B.R. ownership in 1948 but was withdrawn from service sometime thereafter and passed to the Dowty Company of Ashchurch, Gloucestershire, apparently to serve as a test bed for the development of buffing apparatus. It was subsequently acquired by the Dowty Railway Preservation Society who, in turn, sold it to the GWR 813 Preservation Fund in 1981. It remained at Ashchurch until August 1983 when it moved to Didcot Railway Centre.

The wagon will need major plate work replacement as part of its restoration. There are plans for a full restoration once the drawings are finalised and a space in the loco works becomes available.

In 2018 an agreement was reached between the 813 Fund and a group of GWS members to set up a project to rebuild the vehicle at the Railway Centre. By this time the condition of the wagon had deteriorated to a considerable extent and it was concluded that the main frames were too badly wasted to be saved and that a new set would have to be constructed. The project was paused during the months of the Covid pandemic but was resurrected in 2022 when an order was placed with Steelway Fensecure Ltd. of Wolverhampton for a pair of 21’ 6” long 12mm thick plate frames to be manufactured and sent to Didcot.

In addition to the new main frames, renovation work will include the provision of new headstocks, drawbar springs, internal partitions and platework.

Build date

1908

Built at

GWR Swindon

Lot Number

583

Diag No

D.2

Date Preserved

1981

« Back To Historic Wagons