GN&SR Diag. S2

The Great Northern & Southern Railway Diagram S2 was a group of 16 four-compartment second class passenger coaches built by the GN&SR between 1856 and 1858.

The first second class coaches owned by the GN&SR (Diag. S1) had been of a primitive design, looking more like three stage coach bodies stuck together, these had been purchased second-hand from the Redwick & Knightsbury Railway (the S1s being some of the R&KR's original first class coaches). The S2s were some of the first coaches to be built at the newly constructed Midley {GN&SR} Carriage & Wagon Works. They were initially only used on express trains with the S1s being used on all other services, though both diagrams could still be seen running together on the same train when needed. From 1859, an altered version with two open sided compartments and no divisions above the seatbacks were produced as the Diagram C1. The S2s had quite a long working life on the mainline; as when newer second class coaches were built, the S2s were transfered to local and stopping trains aswell as commuter services in Redwick, Aldeby and Beckfield.

Though, by 1884, the S2s had been displaced on the mainline. Eleven were deemed surplus to requirement and sold off to various other companies, the five remaining on the GN&SR found work on branchlines and, latterly, as stock for workman's trains. But since only a small number of them now existed they were quickly scrapped, with the last being withdrawn in 1892. One of the coaches sold was still in existance by the 1913 and was restored as part of an event for 75 years of rail transport in Etorea. She (Ex - GN&SR №44, now VCLR №10) was recovered from a dump siding at Lady Enid Colliery and restored at Midley C&W Works in 1937 and ran on special trains the following year. She is currently in the Knightsbury Industrial Museum coupled to Auden "Tattoo" Type 0-4-0PT (Works №204/1892), two private owner wagons and a VCLR brake van.