Shortly after our Goods Van arrived at our new home at the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway, the railway offer the museum use of a spare portacabin which has been sat on site disused for a number of years. The portacabin measures approximately 27 foot long by 8 foot wide. 

We plan to refurbish and convert this cabin into a museum, shop and volunteer staff area, the latter being a separate area within the cabin. The portacabin currently consists of three separate rooms that are accessed through one door, our plans will see the removal of one of the two internal walls to allow an open plan area which will become the museum and shop area providing visitors with a chance to look at the museums large collection of small artefact and a chance to browse our shop before leaving. Please see the below image for a better idea of our plans. 

More artwork is currently being created to show the finalised plans which have been agreed between both the Museum and the Railway. These plans will include: 

• Solar Panels - the site does not currently have mains electric which gives the museum the ideal opportunity and time to look at sustainable methods and ways to offset the aspects of the Museum and Railway operation that is unsustainable. 
• Doubled Ended Access Ramp - to comply with COVID-19 guidelines and to allow disabled access, we have chosen to include a doubled ended ramp which will allow wheelchair access and also allow a "Way In" and "Way Out" to be created in line with current guidelines for the safety of visitors and volunteers with regards COVID-19. This also helps with the railways future planned developments for 2021-2022.

The portacabin refurbishment and conversion is estimated at £434 for ensuring the cabin is dry, safe and secure, by this, we mean: 

• repair a leak in the roof
• replace three pieces of damaged plasterboard 
• replace insulation in areas of the damaged plasterboard
• remove one internal wall
• replace doors and door furniture (i.e. handles and locks)
• replace all electrics

There will be further additional costs for the purchase of shop furnishings, museum display cabinets and COVID safe equipment such as cough and sneeze guards, hand sanitiser stations. These additional costs are estimated to be £3,876.35 making the total cost of this project is estimated to be £4,309.78. We are initially looking to raise the £434.00 to allow us to refurbish and convert the Portacabin with the remainder of the funds to be raised at a later date.

Most of the work will be carried out by our own volunteers, where possible, which will keep the costs to a minimum.

If you would like to help us raise the funds for our Portacabin Refurbishment and Conversion Appeal Fund, please visit the link here, if you would also like to Gift Aid your donation, please complete our Gift Aid form which can be downloaded here.

On Thursday 11th March 2021, our Gloucester built London, Midland and Scottish Ventilated Goods Van 187085 built in 1930 was transported from its temporary home of just over 2 years to its new long term home at the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway (LMMR) in Cynheidre, Carmarthenshire, South West Wales. 

 Trustees of the museum and the LMMR were present to receive it shortly before 9:00am and was unloaded shortly before 10:00am. The agreement between the Museum and LMMR was also signed for a minimum of five years. 

On this occasion the Trustees of the museum were welcomed with open arms by the LMMR, who have offered the museum a home for its ever growing collection, this was just in time for the museum's fifth anniversary on the 25th March. 

On Thursday 25th March 2021, the museum celebrated its 5th birthday and plans and preparations were well underway for a virtual open day on Saturday 27th March on the museum's social media channels.  

On Saturday 27th March 2021, the museum's trustees and members attended their new home at the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway (LMMR), upon arrival some time was taken to inspect the vehicle and start some preparation work to remove the graffiti. This was followed by the induction of the trustees and one museum volunteer to the LMMR and a number of assessments undertaken with all present passing with flying colours. 

After the induction a total of two hours was taken brushing and rubbing down the graffitied area of 187085 and half an hour of painting with red oxide primer to protect the area from further deterioration. It is estimated that a total of 17 and a half hours is needed to rub down and prime the remaining van above the chassis and running gear.

During the day, scheduled posts that were prepared during the week were being posted on the museums social media channels to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the museum and its achievements to date. At 11:15am a joint Press Release between the Museum and the LMMR was released regarding the museum's new home, this was featured and covered on The Llanelli Standards website: Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railyway Welcomes Gloucester Carriage and Wagon Museum! – Llanelli Standard

FINAL UPDATE - M187085 Transport Appeal - 05.03.21

We successfully raised the grand total of £1,657.25 with 5 days remaining as of the 25th February on our main crowdfunding page. On the 19 February we successfully extended our project by a further 7 days to maximise our fundraising efforts. On Tuesday 2nd March we arranged and confirmed the delivery day between ourselves, M187085's new home and the transport contractor, the date in question will be the 11th March. 

On the day of arrival, Trustees of the Museum will be present on site following current Covid-19 regulations and will be photographed along with a number of videos being recorded for our records and future history. During this opportunity we also plan to undertake some other recording for our 5th Anniversary and our Anniversary Virtual Open Day event that will be taking place on our social media channels. Further details will be available soon...

Some of you may have seen our Facebook and social media channel posts back on the 10th October this year when we released information regarding Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0DM Works Number D1012 of 1956 probably better known as "Cadbury No.14", which can currently be seen in the Carpark of Cadbury World. 

On the 10th October after entering discussions back in 2019 we were happy to be able to release information and announcement that we have kindly been donated / gifted "Cadbury No.14" from our friends at Cadbury World with an aim to fully restore this locomotive back to its original "Cadbury" livery and to get the locomotive operational and running again after being stood still since 1979 and having two cosmetic restorations since then. 

We know and understand that this locomotive requires a major overhaul as its original Gardner engine block unfortunately has a crack and we have been successful in finding two organisations who are rather specialists and are both happy to help and assist us with the engines overhaul and restoration. To find out more about "Cadbury No.14" please click here, if you would like to donate to our "Cadbury No.14" Fund please click here.

*BREAKING NEWS*

Hello everyone,

Firstly, we would like to thank you all for your continued support, contributions and following, it has been well received by all and we are extremely grateful to everyone.

We are pleased to announce that our Museum as well as our trade stand are once again able to attend exhibitions and small scale events following current government guidelines.

If you are intending to visit us at an an exhibition or small scale event, please note that we have put in place registration, social distancing and hand sanitizing procedures. These include the requirement to give us your name and contact telephone number when you arrive, and the wearing of a face mask, unless you are exempt (not provided by us). The use of disposable gloves (provided by us) will be required if you wish to browse our trade stand. There is no need to pre-book unless you intend to arrive as a large party and are not part of a social bubble.

Please observe these revised procedures for your own safety and for the safety of our staff and volunteers.

We look forward to welcoming you to our Museum

We must apologise for the lack of updates over the last year or so. We have been extremely busy behind the scenes in many aspects and areas and some of you may have noticed a major update on ourwebsite including a number of different features including a subscription section on our home page where you can keep up to date with the museums progress and developments as they arise.

Since our last update, we had spent the whole of 2019 consolidating and updating our archives, records, artefacts and more while fundraising for the restoration of our first item of rollingstock. 

Also during 2019 two of our founders and trustees moved to South Wales in March and have been slowly catching up with everything since then. 

We have also been looking into the links and connections the original Company had with the South Wales area and after undertaking this research we found out some extremely interesting information aswell as Coal Wagons for the South Wales Coalfields and carriages for the Cardiff Railway Company and Taff Vale Railway they also had over 600 depots and outposts all over the world for the purpose ofwagon repairs with 6 being located in South Wales, these were located in Hirwaun/Aberdare, Cardiff, Newport, Pontypool, Penarth and Swansea.

We have therefore decided to look into the potential of having a South Wales branch to our Museum and for this reason we have created a survey which can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/PTFGNJR and  therefore retargeting and rebranding this potential branch as the Gloucester Railway Carriageand Wagon Museum: Hirwaun Heritage Project.

Since we have undertaken this we have gained the help of a number of organisations in The South Wales area who are helping with various aspects and areas. 

We have also started to gain a number of quotes for buildings, Feasibility Studies, Local Economic Impact Studies and more and these will be added to our finalised business plan in due course.

We are also currently applying for our Charity Status with the Charity Commission.

We also have a number of other surveys to help gauge interest in a number of different area and these can be found following the links below:

Spending: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/PBGN5ZG

Museum shop: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7TNMBTL

Initial survey (some areas here may not be relevant to those in the Hirwaun area but the majority are general questions): https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DPKC66B

Museum exhibitions and displays: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VGB9S7P

Thank you all again with your continued support as following not only on our website but also our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).

Hello everyone,

We are very sorry for the lack of updates since our last update. 2018 has so far been very hectic for ourselves at the same time very exciting.

Firstly, in December last year (2017) we were invited by the Gloucester Life Museum to put on an exhibition for the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Limited. The exhibition started in January and ended in April 2018 and we were very lucky to reach over 4,000 visitors during this exhibition.

Secondly, we attended the annual Tewkesbury Miniature Steam Rally ran by the Model Steam Road Vehicle Society for the third time this year and again we were welcomed with open arms, this was our third year in attendance and have been welcomed back every year so far since 2016. This years event was special this year as we launched our new appeal and released information about the Museum's latest acquisition, An LMS Goods Van built in 1930 by the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Limited. Since this event the Museum have been all hands on deck to find a suitable home/storage facility for this wagon to be stored in/at and to allow restoration work to take place. Once the Van has been restored it would be a great asset to the Museum and will allow the museum to use the wagon as a form of 'home' for the museum collection and much more.

All of the funds that have been raised through the various museum appeals in the past have been brought forward and will form the initial funds to start the restoration of the LMS Van and so far the museum have a total of £136 raised to kick start the restoration but further funds will be needed. The approx. restoration costs for the LMS Wagon will be somewhere in the region of £6,000 and therefore the museum have an LMS Van Appeal to help raise funds for its restoration. If you would like to help the museum with there appeal, please contact us on: grcwm@outlook.com

Thank you all again for your continued support and following. We look forward to updating you again once the LMS Van has been moved to a new temporary/permanent home and restoration begins.

The Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Museum would like to wish all of our followers and supporters a very Merry Christmas, hope you all enjoy your day and hope you all keep safe.

We shall be back in 2017 with more events, more news and updates and keep watch as we may have a number of special updates for all of our followers and supporters.

Kindest regards,

Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Museum

Sorry for the lack of updates on our web page, we have been having some technical difficaulty recently, hopefully this is now all fixed and we are back up and running.

RECENT NEWS AND UPDATES

You can now download the Museum's Membership Form directly from our website, just visit the Membership section and download the document direct from there. 

We are also hoping that by the end of November we should have our very first sample  Tea/Coffee Mug, This will be used as a sample to show you what the first section/collection of mugs will look like and if you like them, we shall be taking orders. 

If you are already interested in the idea of owning a Museum Tea/Coffee Mug please do get in touch as we would love to hear from you and we can then make these available sooner rather than later. Further details on the mugs shall follow shortly.

Following our recent quiz night fundraising event we had a good turnout of people for our first fundraising event. 

We are sad to announce that we were unsuccessful in purchasing the Gloucester built Class 100 DMU Trailing car which the museum had hoped to purchase as the vehicle was to far gone to be able to restore and would have cost in the region of £100,000.00 to fully restore. 

We are sad to inform everyone that the museum had the opportunity to purchase a Gloucester RCW built DMU Car, but sadly as the museum does not currently have the relevant funding we had to turn this down which means the DMU Car in question will be sadly going for scrap next week.