Hornby R40027 DRS, Mk1 Restaurant Buffet, 1657 – Era 11 Coach

OO GaugeHornbyR40027 DRS, Mk1 Restaurant Buffet, 1657 – Era 11 Coach
Brand new item direct from our new Yorkshire model railway shop.
Product InfoThe first standardised railway carriage design built byBritish Railways, the Mark 1 coach introduced in 1951 could be found acrossBritain’s railway network and continued to be produced until 1963, and evenlater in the form of multiple units and non-passenger stock. Along with beingwidely deployed, Mk1 coaches were built in various places including Derby,Doncaster, Eastleigh, Swindon, Wolverton and York.Most Mk1 coaches had 63ft 5in long underframes with 64ft 6inlong bodies, although some were built shorter to be used on tighter curveswhere large overhangs would otherwise have prohibited running. In 1977 areduction in the number of fatalities on British railways since 1955 wasattributed to the introduction of the Mk1 coaches due to their steel build,strong underframe, and buckeye couplings making them far safer in the event ofan accident.Mk1 coaches started to be withdrawn from widescale servicein the 1990s, although in some regions, particularly in the south, Mk1 basemultiple units continued to be used well into the 2000s. Network rail continueto use modified Mk1 coaches for various departmental duties and rail touroperators continue to use Mk1 coaches on specially organised services.The Mk1 RB is a Mk1 Restaurant Buffet coach containing akitchen and a serving buffet counter. As well as these features the coach wouldalso feature seating, usually with a capacity of 23 passengers. The first phaseof building British Railways’ Mk1 catering vehicles followed the traditionalpattern of dining that had been catered for since Edwardian times, with largeKitchen Cars preparing multiple course dining for consumption in both First andThird Class Dining Cars. However, during the early 1950s it became apparentthat social patterns regarding rail travel catering were changing, a directconsequence of WWII attitudes towards dining.The catering department of British Railways was experiencinga demand from travellers for cheaper and lighter meals and was seeing anincrease in social drinking that was not related to dining. This change indining patterns meant that the use of a Buffet vehicle, rather than a fullKitchen Car/Dining Car combination, was sometimes a better option and the thirdphase 1957-62 Mk.1 building programme provided many of BR’s vehicles withbuffet facilities, not just in addition to full meal provision, but alsoreplacing it. Propane gas units were used for gas cooking, reducing thereliance on electric power which, in turn, allowed for a smaller dynamo andbattery.