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King George VI’s railway carriage going on display in Shropshire
Tuesday 29th March 2011, 4:15PM BST.
The 798 LMS armoured saloon used by King George VI
The armour-plated railway carriage used by King George VI to tour the country during the Second World War to raise the nation’s morale is going on display in Shropshire.
The carriage is thought to have been the scene of several important meetings between the monarch and the likes of Winston Churchill, and his US and French counterparts Franklin Roosevelt and Charles De Gaulle.
It will be revealed for the first time when visitors to the county’s Severn Valley Railway’s Engine House Visitor Centre at Highley get the chance to inspect its interior first hand during a series of guided tours from April 9 to 26.
The carriage was built with reinforced steel frames, armour-plated roof and side panels, and even armour-played shuttering for the windows in a bid to protect King George VI from possible aerial attack by Hitler’s Luftwaffe. It is one of the heaviest coaches ever to run on British rails, tipping the scales at 56 tonnes.
Severn Valley Railway visitor services manager David Mee said anyone entered the saloon really would be walking in the footsteps of some of the most famous powerful names in history.
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