59515 Class 117 Trailer Composite Lavatory

Home Railway	Yeovil Railway Centre	Location History	West Somerset RailwayAug 95-Jun 13
Current Location	Yeovil Railway Centre		Yeovil Railway Centre Jun 13-Present
Current Status	Operational (Hauled Stock)
Current Livery	Non Standard Green & Cream
TRA Designation	4
Partner Vehicle(s)	None
Owner	South West Main Line Steam Company
Website	yeovilrailway.freeservers.com
Record Last Updated	1 January 2020
Preservation Modifications Heavily modified. Corridor ends have been removed and observation windows fitted to the ends of the vehicle. The central section formerly containing the toilets has been stripped out and a wheelchair area created. Double doors have been fitted to the centre of the vehicle.
Preservation Information 59515 was preserved by the West Somerset Railway in 1995 for use on off peak services. The railway had previously run an interesting variety of different DMU sets but wished to standardise on maintenance, so aquired five Class 115 powercars along with six Class 115/117 trailer cars as a direct replacement for the earlier sets. By March 1996, 59515 (along with 59493, 59506 and 59510) had been painted into a non authentic carmine & cream livery and formed a vacuum braked 4-car hauled coaching stock rake. Like many suburban centre cars at this time, the vehicle was not preserved as a DMU vehicle, being used as hauled coaching stock because they looked similar externally to some designs of GWR coaching stock. This dedicated 4 coach set was later disbanded when one of the vehicles was sold on to another railway. 59515 remained on the WSR and continued to be used as hauled coaching stock to boost the length of Mk1 coaching rakes during busier galas when as many coaches were required in service as possible, but was spending increasing amounts of time out of use in the headshunt at Minehead. However by 2012 the vehicle was finally considered surplus to requirements and put up for sale, being bought by the Yeovil Railway Centre the following year and moved to their base by rail, the coach being hauled by a Class 31 diesel locomotivbe over mainline metals. July 2013 saw restoration work commence with the removal of the corridor connections and relocation inside the workshop. The toilets and water tanks were also removed. During August the vehicle's ends were heavily modified with the corridor connection being plated over and three viewing windows cut into the ends. The bogies were also repainted. September & October saw bodywork repairs to the sides followed by a coat of grey primer and overhauled buffers were fitted. Towards the end of the year, a new ceiling was fitted to the ex toilet area and the saloon lighting cleaned up and made operational again. 59515 was then pressed into service unfinished for Santa Special operations. January 2014 saw the restoration continue. The old toilet window was removed and a double set of doors added to allow wheelchair access. Work then continued in Feburay and March to complete the exterior of the vehicle with much sanding and filling followed by a top coat of Green & Cream. 59515 then entered service on the railway.
Future Plans To maintain in service.

	59515 stabled at Yeovil, 14/6/18. Robert Harwin

	59515 stabled at Minehead, 4/9/10. Chris Moxon

	59515 stabled at Minehead, 6/8/04. Simon Jones

	59515 stabled at Minehead, 25/4/03. Robert Frise

	59515 stabled at Minehead, in Carmine & Cream livery during the days when it operated in a 4-car hauled coaching stock set, 3/10/99. Stuart Mackay