THOUSANDS of pounds worth of damage have been inflicted on two railway carriages stored at Meldon by the Dartmoor Railway Association.

The two carriages, owned by the association, have in the past been used to run a heritage service between Okehampton Station and Meldon Viaduct Station. However, with half of the windows in the two carriages smashed two weeks ago, the DRA is now facing substantial fundraising efforts to repair the carriages. Both the first class carriage ‘FK’ and the ‘Lab 11’ carriage — a converted tribology carriage once equipped with instruments to carry out inspections on the line — were attacked late on Friday, February 25.

The damage has been described as ‘a body blow’ for DRA’s volunteers who restored the vehicles and have worked hard to protect them through the last difficult couple of years. The carriages have been daubed with graffiti before but the smashing of so many windows inside and outside the carriages is more time consuming and costly to put right.

Association chairman Sue Baxter said: ‘It’s the much loved stock that we used for the service to Meldon right through into 2019 before Dartmoor Railway CIC went into administration. The FK is a first class carriage with a corridor to compartments adorned with wall murals. The Lab 11 carriage was a shell when it arrived and we refurbished it so that it has open plan seating around tables. It is a very versatile space and along with the large guard’s compartment means that we can carry several people with wheelchairs or a group of cyclists. There was a lot of work by many volunteers setting it up. Vandalism is just so senseless.

‘The carriages survived Storm Eunice and we were just getting back towards doing regular maintenance. We are talking with the quarry owners Aggregate Industries about a new agreement which we hope is going to be in place soon so it is disappointing that this has happened. We may be looking at £500 each to replace some windows so we are talking about thousands of pounds. We will have to start fundraising.’

She added: ‘In the next year or so, perhaps two or three years’ time, we are hoping to be in a position to run a heritage service again.’

DRA member Geoff Horner said the damage was found on the Monday morning, February 28, when everything had been fine at close of play on the previous Friday.

He added: ‘The graffiti we had before was more annoying than anything. We have no idea what the cost will be to replace the glass. It is very annoying and frustrating and it is all so mindless.’

On a brighter note, the Dartmoor Railway Association is hosting a talk by Ian Mundy from Great Western Railway about the behind-the-scenes work to bring the passenger railway service from Okehampton to Exeter back to the town. Ian’s railway background includes becoming manager of Dawlish Station just five days before the collapse of the line into the sea!

‘The Railway Perspective on Reopening the Dartmoor Line’ takes place at the Ockment Centre, Okehampton at 7pm on Thursday, March 24. Everyone is welcome. There is no charge but non DRA members are invited to make a donation.