The London Midland Society is restoring 4F steam locomotive No. 4123 at the Avon Valley Railway in Bristol, UK.
Rolling Stock
In addition to 4123, the London Midland Society also owns various items of rolling stock which are used in support of the restoration project.
At present, the other items of rolling stock consist of:
Southern Railway PMV no. 1153. (Presently numbered as BR S1153S)
PMV no. 1153 in the AVR’s demonstration freight train and seen here at Avon Riverside Station.
This van is one of the numerous and highly successful Parcels and Luggage Vans – PLV (later known as Parcels and Miscellaneous Van – PMV) to be constructed by the Southern Railway to diagram No. 3103. Many hundreds of these and similar vans were built to a South Eastern and Chatham Railway design dating from 1919. S1153S was built at Ashford works in 1937 and entered traffic in April of that year as ‘1153’.
It saw almost fifty years in service, being withdrawn by British Rail in 1985 at Peterborough, and was believed to have been one of the last PMVs in revenue earning (as opposed to departmental) service with BR. It was originally purchased by the 35025 Brocklebank Line Association and served them well at the Great Central Railway in Loughborough for many years.
In 2007 it was acquired by the London Midland Society and moved to Bitton, where it is used as a stores vehicle for 4123. The van is operational and makes occasional appearances in the AVR’s demonstration goods train, as seen above. It is undergoing a rolling programme of maintenance and restoration, and has recently been fitted with replacement number plates, data panels and new doors. It has also had its step boards replaced after many years without them.
One of the four new pairs of doors which were made in house by the LMS.
Starting in 2020, it was decided to undertake a partial re-plank and re-paint of the PMV, as the current green paint was starting to show its age, and there were a number of areas where planks had started to go rotten.
PMV at the start of its re-paint and re-plank works. Dave Isaacs who has done the vast majority of the work on this is seen posing on his ladder. New planking – made from far Eastern Meranti – a lightweight hardwood which machines well. The Southern Railway used a modified form of tongue and groove joint detailing for its wooden-bodied vehicles, and this has been reproduced here to ensure the new planks are a match and good fit with the old ones.View on the West side of the van showing some of the new planking.Interior view of one corner showing new planking in day-glo green, and an area of repaired floor.The van in Bitton shed yard, shortly before going over the inspection pit to have its brakes adjusted.As well as attention to the planking, the running gear of the van was attended to in order to make the van fit for use. Here is the overhauled vacuum cylinder re-fitted to the chassis.The springs were also sent away for overhaul to deal with corossion between the leaves.The eyebolts and diaphram plates which hold the springs on to the chassis were also overhauled to deal with wear in the holes and threads, and corossion.New wooden packing pieces were installed behind the buffer bodies, and the buffer backing plates were removed to deal with jack-rusting between them and the buffer beam.With the van repainted and the running gear overhauled and inspected we were able to run it in the AVR’s passenger train during the September 2023 gala. We think this is likely to have been the first time the van was formed into a passenger service in at least 50 years!PMV S1153S is seen at the end of a passenger service which had just arrived at Avon Riverside station from Bitton.The van at Avon Riverside Station – Recreating the days when the inclusion of a van for carrying parcels and other items was commonplace.A somewhat optimistic destination has been chalked on the side of the Van – it’s not possible to get from Avon Riverside to Bristol Temple Meads other than by road…!
LMS Railway Diagram 2103 Goods Van (No 524430) This four-wheeled van is one of many thousands constructed by the LMS for general purposes, including the transport of fish. The van owned by the LMS is of plywood construction, and has served as a stores vehicle for the heavier components removed from 4123. It is generally good condition, but will need to have one of its doors replaced before too long.
LMS Diag 2103 Box Van
The van is in reasonable condition, however like any wooden-bodied vehicle which is stored outdoors 100% of the time, deterioration is inevitable. It has seen a rolling program of remedial work in recent years, including attention to the East-side woodwork. A new sliding door is being constructed off-site to eventually replace this one which is on its last legs.The van is seen stabled next to our PMV in Bitton yard No.4 road during a re-shuffle of items in AJune 2023. Whilst it is capable of being moved short distances, it is not currently in fully operational status, with among other things a missing vacuum cylinder preventing it being formed in trains.
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