York’s marooned Gresley coach meets its end

FOR many years one of the last surviving Gresley teak coaches on the national network has led a lonely but high-profile existence alongside the East Coast Main Line, in the permanent way yard at York where it was readily visible from northbound trains departing York.

This was DE 320645, a former dormitory coach that used to work with ballast cleaning machinery. It is believed that it had not turned a wheel for over 25 years.

It was originally LNER No 24680, a Diagram 34 corridor brake composite, having two first and two third class compartments, with the classic LNER practice of having a door leading directly from the compartment onto the platform.

The coach was rebuilt in 1942 to become a four-compartment corridor brake third to Diagram 324.

The LNER Coach Association secretary became used to receiving letters asking if the group knew of this coach, and