Train saved from scrap undergoes final restoration

A railway enthusiast who saved a historically important electric train from scrap has found it a permanent home and begun its final restoration works.

Brad Wright, 22, bought the British Railways Class 309, also known as the Clacton Express, in March 2022.

He spent the next two years trying to find a home for the train before a deal was struck with the East Anglian Railway Museum at Wakes Colnes, near Colchester, from where the train once ran.

Mr Wright, from Needham Market, Suffolk, said he was "immensely satisfied" to see the train being restored ahead of a dedicated exhibition in April.

Mr Wright came across the electric train when researching online in 2021.

Built in York in 1962, it was a pioneer of its time, one of the first type of trains in the world to run at 100mph (161km/h).

This train operated on the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street to Colchester, Clacton and Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex.

It also ran to Harwich, Ipswich and Norwich from the 1980s onwards.

It was retired in 1994 and initially preserved in 2009 at the National Museum for Electric Trains, before moving to a railway in Sussex when this shut.

The train was put up for sale and faced being scrapped had a buyer not been found.

Realising it was of not just historic importance but local importance to Essex and Suffolk, Mr Wright worked to raise funds and bought the train with the help of a benefactor.

He also set up the Clacton Express Preservation Group - a non-profit group that offers support and volunteers to restoration projects.

"It's a very niche area within preserving trains and the [electric trains] that are preserved, a lot of them don't have a good secure future," Mr Wright said.

"Some of them are really unloved and need that person and group to really root for them and advocate for them.

"Otherwise they'll just rot away, unfortunately."

Mr Wright kept the vehicle in a storage unit while trying to find it a home.

A deal was agreed with the East Anglian Railway Museum last April and it was moved to its new home.

Since then, Mr Wright and his team have been working to restore it to its former glory ahead of its first dedicated exhibition in April.

He said it would mark the 40th anniversary of when electric trains started running between Colchester and Ipswich and said the exhibit would also play a part in Railway 200, a celebration of 200 years of railways.

While there were uncertain times and a lot of stress as Mr Wright sought a home for the train, he said he was proud of the team's work.

"It's an immense satisfaction to have pulled it all off and to see it being restored and to have been part of the restoration myself," he said.

Mr Wright believes the train had a huge importance to the region.

"These commuter trains were the ones that would have got you home from work every day. They were the unsung heroes, really; the workhorses of the railway," he said.

"They deserve a place in history, just as much as anything else."

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