Coach No. 4, integral to the Ashover Light Railway, marks a century of history since its 1925 opening.
The railway ran from Clay Cross to Ashover with stops at several places, including Chesterfield Road and Milltown. Ashover (Butts) was the western end of the line.
The Clay Cross Co. built the railway in the 1920s to haul limestone and fluorspar from Overton Estate quarries to Clay Cross. The company needed permission to build it, but the law said they also had to carry people. The track was narrow, only 2 feet wide.
They needed locomotives, coaches, and wagons. The Jackson family owned the company. They bought used Baldwin steam engines and wagons from World War I.
Four new coaches were built, and the Ashover Light Railway opened in April 1925. Coach No. 4 was one of them. Passenger service ended in 1936, but the coaches served at a show in 1937.
Coach No. 4 sat in a shed until 1953. Then, they took it off its wheels and it became the Clay Cross Works Bowling Club HQ, where it stayed until 2007.
The Midland Railway Trust bought it with help from their affiliate, GVLR. They planned to restore it, an idea that started in 1986, when they envisioned creating a narrow gauge railway.
The coach got temporary wheels, and volunteers worked seven years to restore it to its original condition. The coach began carrying passengers again in 2014.
The GVLR will celebrate on April 6 with Coach No. 4. A steam engine from 1914 will join it. Trains will depart from Butterley Park Station and go to Newlands Station.
You can walk to both stations, as footpaths connect them to nearby towns. People can also take a train from Butterley Station.
See photos and items from the railway at Butterley Park Station, put on display by Robert Gratton and Stuart Band. They also wrote a book about the railway.
The Ashover Brass Band played at the opening in 1925 and when Coach No. 4 returned. The band will play again for this celebration.