ONE of the first large items to be removed from the now-closed Electric Railway Museum, Coventry (RM Nov, p9 and 84) was LAB 4 Hastings, No. RDB975386.
This remarkable vehicle started life as Class 203 ‘Hastings-gauge’ DEMU buffet car No. S60750. 
When it became surplus to requirements it saw various uses including a paint store, but was retrieved for use in the APT test programme.
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Its narrow body profile meant it was ideal for trials with APT tilting mechanisms and was fitted with APT bogies, which have been retained.
A proposal to restore it as a buffet car for the preserved Hastings DEMU fell through, and it is now preserved in its experimental form. Picture: Peter Nicholson
Read more in January’s issue of The RM – on sale now!
