Carriage Shelter Appeal 2025

Why is this so important?

Protecting the investment and legacy of our heritage carriages is vital to the future of the L&BR. From those who dedicated their time and efforts to find and rescue parts of the carriages from Devon over the years, our specialist volunteer teams in Essex and Woody Bay who’ve carefully hand crafted each one and help keep them in tip-top running condition, to those who have made generous financial donations over the years – all those past and present have made significant physical, emotional and monetary investments meaning that our much loved carriages are one of the most unique heritage rail fleets in the country.

The new shelter will mean that these carriages will be protected from the worst of the North Devon weather. It will significantly reduce their maintenance cycle, meaning we will have to spend less in future and do other things with both our available time and money.

Through a generous member donation, this appeal has been kick-started with nearly a quarter of the estimated £60k already in the fund or (or, one carriage in the shelter which will hold four).

But we URGENTLY need your help – we need to complete this project before next Winter so no further damage is done.

What can I do to help?

We’d really welcome your donations no matter how big or small, every penny helps us progress this vital project quickly.

Please remember: If you declare that you’d like the Trust to claim Gift Aid on your donation, we can claim an extra 25p for every £1 you give. Simply, your donation to the Carriage Shelter fund is increased by the HMRC by 25% which completes the shelter faster!

You can donate via a BACS bank transfer (reference “CS” for carriage shelter and remember to add a “Gift Aid” reference too if you want us to claim Gift Aid) to;

Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust

Lloyds Bank

Sort Code: 30-90-49

Account no.: 00445050

Or, you can send us a cheque (please email the treasurer at [ [email protected] ] for address details and make cheques out to “Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust” (again reference “CS” for carriage shelter in your covering note of letter and remember to tell us if you want us to claim Gift Aid).

Or, you can donate NOW via our online shop by clicking the button ABOVE or BELOW, where you can decalre your interest us claiming Gift Aid when completing your transaction.

Please note: If donations to the appeal exceed the final costs associated with building the shelter, we will ring fence any surplus for other carriage related maintenance and improvements including the ongoing work restoring Van 23.

Have you any further information?

Below are links to the planning drawings so you can see what the shelter will look like:

• View: Existing and proposed site cross sections
• View: Plan and section
• View: Elevations
• View: Site plan

Our ‘’Steam on the Moor" YouTube film series featured Episode 7: Caring for our Carriages and more recently Episode 15: Carriage Shelter Update where you can find out more information about the project and the carriages.

And keep and eye out on YouTube and our social media channels for regular updates on this exciting project.

Finally, genuine thanks from all of us at the L&BR, we’ll see you in one of our carriages soon!

This page last updated: 28^th Feb. 2025