RAILWAY FUNERAL VAN THAT CARRIED WINSTON CHURCHILL TO HIS FINAL RESTING PLACE IN 1965 RETURNS FROM THE U.S.A.- 24th September 2007

Update from Steve Doughty - 27th September 2007
Project Leader and Deputy Chairman, Swanage Railway Trust.
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Sir Winston Churchill's funeral train catafalque - Southern Railway van S2464S - arrived back in the UK on 24th September 2007, and is seen here being unloaded from the transport ship at Southampton Docks.
Photo courtesy Bruce Williams, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics.

Steve Doughty writes:

The historic railway funeral van that carried the body of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill to his final resting place 42 years ago has been returned from the USA for preservation by the Swanage Railway.

Photo courtesy Bruce Williams, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics.

Built in 1931, the Southern Railway parcels and luggage van is bound for a new working life on the Swanage Railway in the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset.

On Wednesday, 3 October 2007, the historic van is to be loaded on to a road transporter at Southampton Docks, Dock Gate 4, 35 Berth, Eastern Docks, for the final leg of its 8,000 mile and six week journey via the Panama Canal on Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics’ vessel ‘Tamerlane’.

The return of the historic van No. S2464S has been made possible in large part due to the generous sponsorship of the transport costs by the previous owners, the California-based City of Industry.

Photo courtesy Bruce Williams, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics.

But, No. S2464S while may be home, dedicated Swanage Railway volunteers still have to raise an estimated £20,000 for its full restoration.

With the world watching, it was on 30 January 1965 that the van – specially repainted in Pullman colours and suitably decorated – formed part of the wartime leader and Prime Minister’s funeral train from London Waterloo to Oxfordshire.

Later that year, the historic van was saved from being scrapped and was exported to California thanks to the late Darius Johnson of the City of Industry. It was subsequently placed on display at a resort hotel near Los Angeles.

Last year, following an approach by the volunteers of the Swanage Railway Trust, the historic van was declared surplus to requirements by the Los Angeles City of Industry – Mayor David Perez kindly offering it to the Trust as “a gift to the British people”.

The Churchill Project appeal to save a very special piece of British railway history was the idea of Steve Doughty, Deputy Chairman of the Swanage Railway Trust which runs the Swanage Railway.

Steve explained: “We were determined to avoid any possibility of the historic van eventually being broken up far from home. I am grateful to the City of Industry and the many members of the public who have chosen to support this project so far.

“However, we still need around £20,000 to fully restore the van to its 1965 condition. The van is home and the project is on the home stretch so now, to borrow some words from Sir Winston, we just have ‘to finish the job’.”

Full details of the repatriation project, including how to donate to the next phase, can be found on our latest news page at http://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/news319.htm or the Trust's website via this link or by contacting the Trust's Deputy Chairman Steve Doughty at stephen.doughty1@btopenworld.com.

The van was painted in Pullman livery in 1962 and stored in anticipation of its eventual requirement to bear Winston Churchill’s coffin on its final journey to Bladon, near Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire after his state funeral.

The special funeral train was hauled by the steam locomotive that bore his name – a Southern Railway streamlined Bulleid Pacific. This locomotive is now preserved as part of the national collection at the National Railway Musuem in York.

From Southampton Docks, the van is being transported to Cranmore on the East Somerset Railway for restoration prior to display on the Swanage Railway.

Fund raising continues and I am grateful to those who have already contributed to the costs of returning van S2464S to the UK. However, we do still need to raise much more to finish the job so even if you have already contributed please consider sending a cheque to the Swanage Railway Trust (Churchill Project), Station House, Swanage, DORSET BH19 1HB or via our website at this link.

Steve Doughty
27th September 2007

Donations to the Churchill project can be made to the Swanage Railway Trust (Churchill Fund), Station House, Swanage, Dorset BH19 1HB or on-line by debit or credit card via the Trust’s website at ‘www.swanagerailwaytrust.org.uk’ by following this link.

Please click here to visit the Swanage Railway Trust Appeals section at http://www.swanagerailwaytrust.org.uk/appeals/index.htm#Churchill

Contact details:
Steve Doughty
Deputy Chairman
Swanage Railway Trust
Station House
Swanage
DORSET
BH19 1HB
Tel: 07860-108754
Email: stephen.doughty1@btopenworld.com