Restoration of the Fauld bogie coach has been quietly taking place with sterling work being done mainly by John Beard and Brian Buck. The decision was taken to deepen the windows by about 6 inches to improve the view for passengers.

The bogies when removed were found to be a bit past their sell-by date. This is the braked bogie - the wheelsets themselves were in reasonable condition having been replaced only about 6 years ago. The other bogie had the original wheels that came with the coach when it entered preservation with the Brockham Museum Trust. The axles were reused and newer wheels pressed onto them. Both the fully renovated bogies have now been replaced.

This shows the revised window depth which although not original, is not out of keeping with the general style of the coach. A further alteration to the body sides and interior layout will facilitate the carriage of an additional wheelchair.

The whole of the wooden body sides was replaced as have been the metal body panels. Only the frame, seats and the roof have been reused. Fortunately the roof had been recovered a few years ago.

Overall view of the rebuilt coach. The panelling has now been fitted and the undercoat applied.

The final livery is RAF blue/grey. Re-entry to service on the Museum passenger trains took place in 2007. Here the coach is in use in May on a day when we obviously weren't very busy. The RAF roundel has been applied on the ends.

A view of the coach in Cragside Station on a gauging run. Note the incomplete platform.

The coach has also been used with the two Lydd coaches to form our first ever three bogie-coach train which is very useful when we are busy. Here it is with MR11001, the 60S Motor Rail loco, at the end of another hectic day at Amberley.