A HERITAGE carriage saved from scrap and lovingly restored by volunteers of the LNER Coach Association has entered public service in Ryedale for the first time in 50 years.

Carriage BTK3669 was “declared finished” by Sir Nigel Gresley’s grandson Tim Godfrey at a ceremony that was attended by those who helped in its restoration.

The LNER Coach Association and its volunteers have spent the last 13 years restoring the carriage to its original condition, complete with varnished teak finish, white roof and brown and white wheels.

Murray Brown, founder of the LNER Coach Association, said: “With this vintage carriage being the last of its type, we have been looking forward to seeing it fully restored, and taking its place in the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) teak carriage set.

“The public love carriages with old-fashioned compartments and this one will certainly not disappoint. Even the seating material, maquette, has been researched and especially woven to the identical pattern from when the carriage was built 85 years ago.”

Carriage BTK3669 has four compartments, side corridor, lavatory and a guard’s van area. It was built in 1930 for the London and North Eastern railway (LNER) to a design of Sir Nigel Gresley, and ran throughout the 1930s, the Second World War and 1950s until it was withdrawn from passenger-carrying service in the 1960s.

However, instead of being scrapped like many other such vehicles, it was earmarked to be part of a breakdown train to attend derailments.

It was finally withdrawn from service in 1980 and put up for sale. It escaped being scrapped once more and initially went to Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, before passing into the ownership of LNER Coach Association member, Marcus Woodcock in April 2002.

It was then moved to premises near Driffield, where, Marcus and fellow coach preservationists Roy Lingham and Stuart Hiscock rebuilt the carriage.

More recently, Nick Stringer joined the team as co-owner and last year, after more than 10 years on the farm, the coach moved to Pickering for final fitting out by the NYMR and a team of LNER volunteers. The restoration has taken 16,000 volunteer man-hours and cost some £80,000 in materials.

John Bailey, North York Moors Historical Railway Trust chairman, said: “We are very thankful to the LNER Coach Association for their hard work, commitment and dedication. It will make a great addition.”