TPO Restoration
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The BPMA has spent over four years and more than £100,000 returning a TPO dating from 1908 to its former glory. The restored TPO would have originally travelled at around 70mph, rattling its workers about as they sorted, filled mailbags and transferred mail bags at high speed. Our aim has been to recreate the TPO as a working carriage so you can glimpse at the experience for yourself.
The BPMA acquired the
TPO for their collection from Tyseley
Locomotive Museum in Birmingham in 1999. Carriage LNWR20 had been ready
for scrap from around 1960 but had luckily been saved by the Railway
Preservation Society. It was originally built in 1908 at the Wolverton Works and operated by
the London & North West Railway (LNWR) on the Crewe
to Holyhead route. It was in service until at least 1940.
The restoration began in
2003. Although the process was aided by a few original fittings such surviving
in good condition, it was a daunting proposition as you can see from the picture above. Without our generous funding
from Royal Mail Group it would not
have been possible.
Before restoration could
begin the carriage was stripped and left to dry out for six months. Most of the
floor and panels had rotted away so new timber had to be shaped where necessary.
Colin Worrall, a specialist
joiner contracted by the LNWR,
carried out the majority of the extensive restoration at the LNWR workshops at Crewe. The picture below shows the restored TPO in its LNWR livery in January 2007.
Colin has said of the project:
"We were thrilled to be a part of the restoration of such an important vehicle and we’re delighted that this Travelling Post Office will be on display at The Railway Age until October 2008."
The picture below shows Colin working on the outside of the TPO in 2003. The other picture is one of the original details: a stern notice on the toilet reminding 'Gentlemen. Lift the seat'!
Research into the restoration plans took place at The Royal Mail Archive, the National Railway Museum at York and The National Archives at Kew. You can see one of the plans for LNWR20 found at The National Archives below. Other specialists were also called in: F W Aldridge replaced the electrics and added period light fittings. Peter Douthwaite worked on the interior upholstery. Des Pawson worked to old patterns to make the new netting for the bag exchange apparatus. Saddler L Guinard has produced new leather mail pouches.
At the height of its working life carriage LNWR20 would have been a busy, packed carriage, demanding of its overworked postal workers. It has demanded almost as much in its restoration - see the difference inside from the pictures below. You can visit carriage LNWR20 in all its splendour at The Railway Age in Crewe from Easter 2007. The Railway Age is open at weekends and bank holidays.
