Carriage 5344 Cafe, Milcote, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, UK - Static Train Cars on Waymarking.com

Old carriage, now placed on the Greenway, the route of the former Great Western Railway track between Stratford and Honeybourne which was closed in 1976.

Carriages Cafe serves a variety of refreshments, including an all day breakfast, which has proved to be a great success! There is also, a wide range of vegetarian options available.


History:
Built in 1967 by British Rail, in Derby, Mark2 TSO 5344 takes on a new life.
On 13 March 2004, Matt Beacham’s ambition to open it as a café at Milcote Picnic Area was finally realised.
In 2003 Matt purchased Carriage 5344 standing on the MoD site at Long Marston. The plan was to empty it of all fittings and re-equip it as café/diner. Prior to re-locating it at the Milcote Picnic Area later that year.
However, things didn’t go quite to plan.
Although able to complete most of the interior refitting, Carriage 5344 was barred from moving because of a blanket movement ban imposed by the MoD. It was only after a letter from local Member of Parliament, John Maples, and the intervention of the MoD in Whitehall, that permission was finally given for a one-off movement, under the supervision of personnel from the Defence Rail Executive.

That movement took place on Saturday 21 February 2004 and just moved Carriage5344 to the hard stand area inside the Camp. There it stood whilst arrangements were made to assemble the necessary equipment for the next stage. On Wednesday 3 March 2004, two 80 tonne cranes, one 38 wheeled low loader with towing unit and a track-bed low loader and towing unit arrived. The two cranes proceeded to separate Carriage 5344 off its 12 tonnes of bogies and then lift the 20 tonne remainder onto the 38 wheeler, the combined weight now being 58 tonnes. The bogies were then craned onto the low loader. Once everything was loaded and secured, the two cranes, two low-loaders, and support vehicles, set off for Milcote Picnic Area.

A track panel had been installed, together with connections to all mains services many months before. After a considerable wait, the first crane arrived, allowing the crane operator to set up, ready to off load the bogies, which were the next to arrive. The low-loader carrying the carriage had to reverse two and a half miles from the main road at Clifford Chambers and in due course it too arrived. On 13 March 2004, Carriages 5344 Café welcomed its first customer and on 27 March 2004, Johnny Herbert of Formula 1 fame, performed the opening ceremony.
Taken from: www.carriagescafe.co.uk/

Opening hours vary depending on the time of year.
Open 7 days a week.
Mon-Fri 10.00 to 3.00
Sat, Sun 10.00 to 5.00

Type of train car: Passanger Location: Former railtrack, now used as a walking/cycling trail Price (In local currency): £0.00 Interaction allowed: yes Visiting hours: From: 10:00 AM To: 3:00 PM

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Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   10/16/2010 Norfolk12 visited it