Tube carriages from WW2 to be destroyed if not sold for £32k within 5 weeks
A £32,000 World War 2 London underground train will be destroyed if not sold within five weeks.
Marcus Mayers, 45, is in a race against time to find a new home for three tube carriages that would have taken Brits to work during the Blitz.
Despite buying the train, Marcus admits he has no space to store all three carriages which are currently based on a scrapyard.
However the businessman, who has clearly fallen in love with the carriages, has been told the yard is under instruction to destroy them if they remain there beyond five more weeks.
Marcus told the Daily Star: “I’ve been after them for years basically.
"Three years ago I wrote to South Western Railway asking if I could buy one and they said no, but I was quite pleased to track it down to the scrapyard it had been taken to.
“The gentleman at the scrapyard seemed very sad and really didn’t want to cut it up but that’s his job so he was more than happy to see them potentially saved.
“He’s given me five weeks to get them off his site before he has to cut them up.
“I think it is a race against time, I can probably store one or two of them but I don’t have anything to do with them and if I don’t save them, it’s one of those things where they don’t deserve to be cut up.
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“They’re over 80 years old, the longest running trains which were still in service until last year, they’ve done sterling service in London and on the Isle of Wight and it’s just an ignominious end to a beautiful iconic vehicle and I just don’t want that to happen.”
Marcus paints a picture of what the train would have felt and even smelt like when first in operation, particularly its role during war time Britain.
He said: “If you imagine they did service during the war when people were sleeping overnight in the tube stations, they would have been there taking those people to work in the morning.
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“There’s a lot of emotion there, you get that feeling, you can nearly imagine that smoke.
“If you go on the London Underground now it’s all clean and hygienic whereas this is all wood and smoke you can nearly feel it, there’s a little shiver down your spine as you try and pull open one of these jammed doors.”
The new owners can take their carriage away in its current wrecked state. However, with train specialists on speed dial, Marcus hopes whoever splashes the cash will want it refurbished.
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In fact he views the sale as a rare opportunity to support pals who are experts in the field but currently out of work as a result of the pandemic.
Marcus who runs eBay trading company Shed Number 2, explained: “There’s three of four friends of mine who work for a preserve railway in North Wales which went into receivership so they all lost their jobs.
“I’m really keen to get them some work so they can do these up. I’ve known these lads for 10, 20 years and they’ve got no way of paying the bills for their families so if I do this right then four people will be able to keep their houses."
Owning a carriage will not just be a slice of history but according to Marcus, a unique and smart business investment too.
“They’d make great over night accommodation, if you’ve got a large garden they’d make a fantastic office and even if you just want an office extension at the back,” he said.
“Everyone’s working for home at the moment and people want staycations in the UK, between staycations, eating out and home offices, they’re perfect because they’re iconic, they’re a talking point. Who else has got one of those?”
Interested buyers can view the train HERE or head to Shed Number 2's Ebay site.
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