23-07-2025
Vintage train carriage lifted from couple's garden in Somerset
A rare, vintage train carriage which a couple had used as makeshift shed has been lifted out of their garden to be donated to a railway Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust will restore the carriage, which a couple found in their new home's garden. It was lifted from their property by a 100-tonne-crane on Cripps and George Pike from Cannington in Somerset decided to donate the carriage to get it "back to where it deserves to be"."It's really unusual. A lovely little surprise when we viewed the house," Ms Cripps said.
The couple moved into the home two years ago and had used the carriage "as a shed" until they decided to donate it in March this year."We just knew we couldn't take care of it properly," Mr Pike Marshman, director of the trust, came to pick up the carriage and said it was "like Christmas"."How often do you get a railway carriage at the back of a garden? We snapped it up," he added.
According to Mr Marshman, the carriage had likely been retired in 1930, after being built in 1880. It is one of only five of its kind in will be restored at Shillingstone in Dorset, which used to be part of the Somerset line."It had a good life before it was retired," Mr Marshman added."The idea is to get a whole train fully restored with passengers. It would be a dream come true."
