Ex-GWR Class 143 arrives at Torrington Station

We are delighted to announce the safe arrival of a new addition to our fleet today. This British Rail class 143 used to work locally to Barnstaple on a regular basis, being based out of Exeter TMD towards the end of its working life. We are very grateful to GWR for making this possible and to Allelys Heavy Haulage for achieving the very challenging transportation of this unit from St Philip's Marsh T&RSMD in Bristol to Great Torrington. We would also like to thank all of our volunteers who have been working hard to prepare the site for the arrival of the unit and to those involved in the months of behind the scenes work that have made this happen.

Our acquisition of 143617 marks a tremendous leap forward towards the restarting of passenger services from Torrington Station for the first time since 1982 and at what better time for it to arrive than in the month of the 40th anniversary of the last train!