CL Coach E43024
CL Coach 43024
The CL coaches were built in a limited run of 50 for the Eastern region. There are now 8 left in preservation. They started their working life on branch lines such as Cambridge to Bury and Marks Tey to Haverhill and Bury as well as local commuter services between London and Ipswich. They also served the Kings Cross outer suburban services to Royston and Cambridge. They began to be scrapped from 1965 onwards due to the introduction of DMUs and EMUs. The survivors were sent to Kings Cross in the early 70s as the York Road and Hotel curves could not accommodate longer framed stock. DMUs were used however their insufficient power and seating capacity meant that they weren’t suited for peak service traffic. We can’t find much information about 43024 specifically, however, we know she was used at Kings Cross due to her being in service until 1976/77.
Built: Doncaster 1954
Length: 56′ 11″
Weight: 29 tons
Seating:
8 compartments
42 Standard
19 First
Information and restoration updates
This coach is the newest acquisition of the museum. We aim to fully restore it to running condition. If you can help in any way either by volunteering or by making a donation this would be appreciated.
Any information or photos of CLs in service would be greatly appreciated if you have them. Please email any to marketing@earm.co.uk
What is a Composite Lavatory coach?
MK1 Composite lavatories have both first and standard class seating as well as toilets. The layout of this coach is unique compared to other Mark 1 coach types as there is a corridor along the coach however there is no walkway past the toilets that are positioned halfway through the coach, splitting it in two halves. It is a suburban coach which means there is no gangway connection to allow access to adjacent coaches
WE NEED YOUR HELP
The Restoration project is run by Volunteers at the East Anglian Railway Museum and funded by donations, if you can help in any way either by Volunteering or making a donation this would be appreciated. Please see the donation details below or the volunteering page here
Preservation of E43024
In 1977, the coach was moved to the Strathspey railway at Aviemore, Scotland and was used up until the mid 90s when it became surplus to their requirements. It was stored outside until 2016 and has been undercover since. We bought the coach, and it was transported to the museum in July 2025.
Why did we buy the CL?
As a museum we had 4 Mark 1 coaches, an SK, BCK, TSO and BS. The TSO is currently used as seating for our cafe, and the SK and BCK make up our mainline set. This leaves the BS as a spare coach which doesn’t really fit with the rest of our collection. The BS is a suburban coach so with the CL we can have a suburban coaching set. This will take some of the strain off our current running coaches and allow us to portray coaches from two different time periods and types of route.
What is our plan for the CL?
We plan to restore the coach to a serviceable condition so she can run with our BS. The BS is currently in the restoration shed having a new paint job after we completed some minor metalwork repairs. Both coaches will be painted in Rail Blue to portray a suburban set from the 1970s. The coach needs extensive metalwork repairs as well as interior repairs. The coach has unfortunately succumbed to the usual Mark 1 corrosion around the windows and side skirts. The interior woodwork is both sun and water damaged in places, therefore most of it will be removed to be refinished before reinstalling. Some framing and panelling will need to be replaced; however, we will salvage as much as we can to keep the coach as original as possible. The coach will also need to be completely reupholstered as we suspect the moquette is original and is therefore a bit threadbare and faded. New lino will also need to be laid as the existing lino is crumbling.
Restoration timeline
16th May 2025
Saw the coach for the first time!
Two members of Carriage and Wagon headed up to Scotland to see the coach and assess its condition to see whether it would be a viable and useful project for the museum to undertake. The CL was in better condition than we expected, however there is still a lot of work to be done to get it into serviceable condition.
Some internal and external condition photos.
13th July 2025
The coach has arrived!
After a nearly 600-mile lorry journey the coach arrived safely at Chappel. We put it into the platform for a weekend shortly after it arrived to give it a good sweep out and to see if we could do anything about the doors, most of which are seized shut. The coach was used as storage at the Strathspey therefore there was a lot of debris that needed clearing. It looked much better afterwards.
(see before and after of one of the compartments after the sweep out)
9th November 2025
Work begins!
Unfortunately, the coach had to be stored outside for a few months until some shed space was freed up. In that time, it was displayed next to the BCK during the summer beer festival to try and raise some money to start the restoration. £1028 was raised, which is a fantastic amount that we are grateful for. It helped buy us a new timber door frame as well as some metalwork to help us rebuild our first door. We also bought new glass to replace the broken and cracked panes.
7th December 2025
First window complete!
This was the broken window in the first-class end compartment. We replaced the corroded parts of the body framing and body skin as well as fitting a shiny new window to replace the broken one. All the other windows will need taking out and resealing along with metalwork repairs if necessary.
1 down, only 27 to go!
Internal framing and panelling stripped in preparation
Corroded metalwork removed
14th December 2025
An awesome discovery
While removing the interior panelling to be able to replace the window, we found a message etched into the bitumen paint on the inside near the window. It says ‘a merry xmas’. We imagine this was written by one of the coach builders in 1954 while the coach was under construction. The perfect time of year to discover it as well.
15th January 2026
Livery history
We uncovered her original number under many layers of paint. We know that the Strathspey put her in a crimson and cream livery. After some sanding we found that she has been in Rail Blue, lined maroon, and crimson. Due to the damage to the paintwork, we will have to take the coach back to bare metal for the best results when she is repainted. Hopefully we will find more hidden gems under the many layers of paint.
The CL would not have been in crimson and cream in service as this was reserved for mainline gangwayed stock. Being built in 1954 she would have been outshopped in crimson and later repainted in maroon. Initially maroon suburbans were unlined, but lining was introduced to them later. She would have been painted in Rail Blue at some point in the mid 60s to 70s as part of BR’s corporate rebranding.
22nd February 2026
Crash pillars
Crash pillars are a vital part of the body structure as they help prevent ‘telescoping’ in the event of a crash. This is when one vehicle rides up and enter the passenger space of another. On Mark 1s the communication cord end pillars normally rot at the bottom due to water ingress. The corrosion on the body skin showed that the CL had been a victim of this, so we had to fix it. We removed a strip at the bottom of the coach and found some holey crash pillars. They were in better condition than we expected with only the 2 outer pillars requiring new metal. This was done, and we fitted some new sheet metal to replace the old skin.
5th March 2026
A few less holes
Mark 1s tend to corrode along the bottom of the body skin due to water getting trapped between the framing and skin. This leads to the corrosion bursting out of the side of the coach and leaving a large hole. I had to replace part of the ‘z’ section which makes up the vertical structure of the coach and the lower angle which forms the horizontal structure at the bottom of the body. All that was left to do was rivet new sheet metal into the hole and apply some filler.
Next update – coming soon
We are currently working on the door and skirt metalwork. The observant ones among you will have noticed that in the photos showing the completed window, the door is missing. We removed it to allow us to replace the metalwork however the door is in quite bad condition as well. We are in the process of removing the skin and building a new door. The skin is too badly damaged to be repaired however we have a spare door skin that we will put the new frame in. We will replace parts of the old frame and use that in the next door we are going to restore. We are currently waiting on some new parts for the door that will be delivered soon.
CL Coach Donations
The East Anglian Museum is a registered Charity, without our volunteers and donations we would not be able to operate, If you would like to donate to the restoration fund for the E43024 please see the details below, If using paypal please indicate (E43024)
GiftAid
Gift Aid is a simple way to increase the value of your donation to the Museum by 25% – at no extra cost to you.
If donating online please choose the GiftAid option when checking out and we will do the rest.
Please gift aid if you can by completing the form here and email to reception@earm.co.uk)
You can still donate to us with a cheque. They need to be made payable to ‘East Anglian Railway Museum’ (not ‘EARM’) with reference “ E43042” on the back. Please send cheques to the E43024 Restoration Appeal, East Anglian Railway Museum, Chappel & Wakes Colne Station, Station Road, Wakes Colne, Essex, CO6 2DS. If you would like a receipt, please include a SAE.
Larger donations can be made via bank transfer. Please email reception@earm.co.uk or click on Contact Us for further details