The Society purchased former Great Western Railway Tool Van No 146 from the Dart Valley Railway plc in September 2001. When purchased the vehicle's condition was anything but great and some "TLC" was long overdue. Restoration progress was swift and included extensive repairs and restoration such as renewing the vehicles wooden sides and re-roofing.

The Tool Van moved to the South Devon Railway on Friday 22 March 2002, the move been made on John Antell's low loader from Somerset.  The vehicle compliments the many fine items of GWR rolling stock found on the South Devon Railway. The Tool Van has been out shopped in full GWR livery of brown sides, red ends, white roof and black under frame with appropriate lettering.

Although the vehicles main use is to act as a store and workshop for the Society, the odd trip along the line as part of demonstration freight trains can not be ruled out.

Former Great Western Railway Tool Van No 146 pictured at Kingswear as purchased from the Dart Valley Railway plc in September 2001. As can been seen the vehicles condition was anything but great and some "TLC" was long overdue.

The first task undertaken by Society members was to unload the van of the various signaling items belonging to the DVR. This task alone took two full days, there being many small items to recover, however once empty restoration work could at last commence.

The priority task was to make the roof water tight. At first some patch repairs were envisaged, however on closer inspection the decision was taken to renew the complete roof.

At the same time as the roof repairs were taking place the interior of the van was given a quick tidy up and repainted using paints from the Society's stock. This resulted in walls with a black lower half and cream top half, with shelving offset in Network South East Blue!

Of course work was regularly interrupted in order to consume copious amounts of tea. In this shot Society Director Jon Morton is seen with a cuppa in one hand and brandishing his saw in the other ready for the next round of woodworking therapy!

Only a few days after work started the new roof timbers were all in place. There were originally four apex shaped glass roof lights fitted to the vehicle. These features were removed by the DVR in the 1990's in an attempt to cure water leaks. The Society intends at a later date to restore these items as cosmetic features -  thus giving the van the correct appearance. "Destination" style roof boards will also be added and these will carry the wording "Loco Carriage Wagon Dept. Newton Abbot".

Before the new roof canvas could be fitted any rough edges had to be smoothed down - a time consuming but essential task.

The van roof was to be white when restoration was completed. In  order to keep maintenance low and to save painting in years to come, a 10 metres by 3 metres white tarpaulin was purchased and used as the final roof covering. An industrial black plastic lining was applied under this to give added protection.

It was necessary to keep the tarpaulin tight as it was fixed down.

With the new roof covering applied the van was water tight for the first time in many years, however with a few hours of daylight left thoughts turned to the body sides. The old wood worm had been busy and it was clear that some planking would be required. At first it was intended to replace selected planks however on further investigation the rot was discovered to be more severe than first though and the decision was taken to repanel the majority of the van. The state of the existing cladding is clear in this picture.

With the cladding on the first quarter removed, the timber framework was cleaned up and treated with preservative. The roof canvas has still to be fixed finally at the ends - a job that would wait until the end cladding had been attended too.

The van was originally vacuum braked and steam heat fitted, with gas lighting.

The renewal of the cladding has proceeded well with all four main quarters, and side door and one end all being completed by mid October. By this point over 260 metres of tongue and groove timber had been used, each piece being treated before fitting. All joints have also been mitred out to give an authentic appearance - a time consuming but very worthwhile task.

The work on the Kingswear end of the van was more complex as there were a number of extra fittings to contend with. These were all removed and cleaned up, new cladding fitted and the fittings then refixed. The completed job awaits the attention of the paintbrush.

Such has been the enjoyment of rebuilding the van, on several occasions work has progressed into dark hours. Here, working under floodlight, Jon Morton is busy applying more primer.

Dart Valley Railway owned Class 03, D2192 shunts the Society's Tool Van out of the sidings at Churston prior to its movement by road to the South Devon Railway at Buckfastleigh.

Prior to loading onto the road vehicle the Tool Van found itself inside the main workshop at Churston.

The partly restored Tool Van was moved to the South Devon Railway by road, the movement being in the very capable hands of P.H. Antell & Sons from Somerset.

Being loaded for road haulage.

After a long wait following problems getting the vehicle to Churston ready for loading it was a great relief to see the Tool Van actually leave the Paignton & Dartmouth Line.

The actual move was completed in just a couple of hours despite the Signalman only giving a yellow! The arrival at Buckfastleigh saw the future of the near 100 year old vehicle assured for the first time in many a year - it once being considered for scrap if not sold!