Why is Castaway here in an old Railway Carriage?
Actually, it isn’t, it is really built around the frame of an old redundant Railway Goods Van.
But there’s quite a story.
Back in the late 1960s, when Britain’s railways were being modernised with the change from steam engines to diesel, 20,000 – 30,000 steam locomotives had to be scrapped. And at same time, the rail fleet of one and a quarter million freight wagons was cut down to 600,000, prior to the introduction of new fast, express main line freight delivery services. Up to then, all goods trains had been limited to a speed of only 25 miles per hour! Not very competitive!
(Think Amazon!)
Suddenly, Britain was flooded with all this redundant equipment. British Rail couldn’t cope with cutting up all their steam engines, and contracted out lots to private scrap yards.
And Wales benefited, with nearly 300 ending up in the yard of Dai Woodhams, a scrap metal dealer in Barry. He started cutting the engines up, but soon realised that it was quicker, much easier and more profitable, to work on the ten times bigger numbers of goods wagons that had come in to him at the same time. He used some of the wood from the wagons for his pallets business; and those in better condition were sold off, especially to farmers.
Grounded goods vans like Castaway spread to farms all over Britain – and being smaller, they even made it to rail-less places like Orkney in the Scottish islands.
Without their wheels, the static van provided ideal, roomy, ready made sheds of a very good quality. These van bodies were an immediate success as cheap and sturdy storage for feed, or animals; and farmers became one of the steadiest customers. Here in Llanthony, this Castaway van originally served as a facilities store for our own camping site.
Meanwhile, back in Barry, Dai Woodhams put all his steam engines aside, completely in favour of the wagons. Then, suddenly with the rise of the Steam Preservation Societies, all the new steam enthusiasts were looking for steam engines for restoration. At Barry, they found a rich source of locomotives that had just been left behind. Dai had inadvertently kept the lot! Of the 297 steam engines he had, 213 were ultimately rescued by the developing rail preservation movement, and many are still in use on heritage lines today. Dai became a legend – a national institution for what he had inadvertently done by accident!
(To hear him talking: Go to YouTube: ‘Dai the Train’ (Woodhams Scrapyard) – HTV Wales – 1990s)
And the wagons? They got round to the whole of Britain from many sources, to farms everywhere, if you knew where to look. And they lasted for decades on from the 70s, as the specification for the original wood construction was so high. And that’s how your Castaway has survived to shelter you here today!
For photos of how Castaway looks now visit our Gallery page