Living in a railway carriage!

[Smithy]

Whilst in Dorset, Wool to be precise, I spotted this different kind of living accommodation. Looks like two old railway carriage's side by side.

 

Certainly something different to live in!

Edited May 28, 2010 by Smithy

[gritineye]

My Uncle used to live in one pre-war, and a carriage was the basis of a bungalow just along the road from me until it was demolished by developers, too quick for me to take a picture though!

[trustmeimamechanic]

That looks like a new building ..... post war it seems old railway carriage's were commonly used for housing for bombed out family's.

Little remains now but I grew up on a farm next to whats now the Bluebell railway station at Horsted Keynes , along side a wood was a row of 8 ? old carriages that were lived in during and just after the war , as kids we were probably largely responsable for the decline of them , many a raft and camp was made from timber "salvaged " from them ... if time hasn't played tricks on my memory ( it was 35 ish years ago ) some still had curtains at the windows and even odd personal items from the residents were still around , some holes in field on the farm were also used to get rid of rubble from blitzed houses , certainly if you dug around there was loads of bricks in places .

[Willyslancs]

theres one across the road from my parents ( the guy is storing it for a group of enthusiasts, he collects trains himself).....

[c101 comando]

not far from me at hayley green there was a nissen hut used as a bungalow it was in good nick and lived in i think untill the last five years but now has been demolished for development

 

there was also a railway carriage house very near to hamton lode not far from the station used i think at least in to the 80s

[simonsfotos]

Many many (plus a few more many's!) I remember staying in a converted railway carriage down on Hayling Island sea front for a family holiday as a child. I think they've all gone now. I also remember reading and seeing some photos of some others that used to be used for the same purpose down at Penzance.

[snowtracdave]

A couple of years ago a site was cleared for redevelopment next to the Crossways garage at Frating just outside Colchester and as the house came down a carriage appeared , was never able to get any pics but I suspect it may have been saved .

[N.O.S.]

This one has been respectfully repainted in original LSWR livery if I'm not mistaken?

 

I've been looking for one to put in the garden for quite a while now, so if anyone has a lead on one in a not-too-appalling state, I'd be pleased to hear :-)

 

If I was to be picky I'd say 4 or 6 wheel, and not too far away from East Anglia

[cosrec]

Hi went to a wedding reception at Shipton by Benningbourgh nr York. It was a Hotel called the Sidings. it is between a railway line and the A19 the restaurant is two railway carridges. Also there is a restaurant right on the pavement on beverly rd hull alled the Cannon this is a railway carridge http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Hull_And_Barnsley_Beverley_Road_Bridge.jpg

[steveo578]

There is a similar restaurant in Newcastle at the old Jesmond Station on a dead section of track isolated in the 1970s-80s when the Metro system and Motorway were built and the goods station complex bombed out in WW2 was finally demolished (imagine quality British Rail -your first sight of Newcastle from the North was a burnt out WW2 warehouse:D). The carriages are still on bogies and parked at the platform with an old signal box nearbye which may be part of the complex.

 

I remember as a small child in the late 1950s many families in rural areas still living in old carriages.

[simonsfotos]

The Sidings has been in existence for many years. I well remember the ads for it in the railway monthlies back in the early 90s offering holidays for dedicated railway buffs.