Description

OO GaugeBachmann39-180A BR Mk1 BG Brake Gangwayed BR InterCity Executive
Brand new model from our new Yorkshire shop
British Railways Mk1 coachesBR Mark 1 coaching stock was the first standardised designof railway carriages built by British Railways (BR) post-nationalisation in1948, the family of locomotive hauled passenger coaches being constructed from1951 until 1963 to augment and replace the array of ‘Big Four’ and earlier‘pre-grouping’ designs inherited from the LMS, LNER, GWR and SR. Non-passengercarrying Mk1s and multiple units based on the Mk1 concept continued inproduction until 1974.Today, Mk1 coaches are used for charter services on the mainline, by the likes of West Coast Railway Company, or on preserved railways suchas the Severn Valley Railway, West Somerset, North Yorkshire Moors, EastLancashire and Spa Valley lines, to name but a few.Mk1 coaches were built at many BR workshops as well as byoutside contractors including Metro-Cammell, Cravens, and Gloucester RCW.  Anextensive range of vehicles was introduced to cover all manner of trafficdemands and mixed uses that the railway took in its stride in the 1950s: frombuffet counter catering to full restaurant service, First and Second Classaccommodation including composite vehicles with some of each, guards’ brakevans and luggage/ newspapers/ parcels/ animal space, sleeping cars, variousgeneral merchandise and specialised Post Office vans and niche use vehiclesconstructed in small numbers such as horse boxes.  These non-passengervehicles were shorter in length (usually at 57 feet) than the standard 63 feetof their passenger counterparts.The more common types that made up the majority of expressand secondary passenger trains include First and Second Class, Composite, Openand Corridor, Suburban (compartment only), Brake, Buffet, Restaurant, andSleeping cars. The study of prototypical train formations is an entire subject,and Bachmann Branchline provides the range of models to create these trains inmodel form.During their working lives, Mk1 coaches have formed thebackbone of all locomotive-hauled BR services at one time or another, untilreplacement by later Mk2 coaches, or multiple unit stock, in the case of manyof the Mk1 Suburban non-corridor fleet.  Many famous named trains such asthe Flying Scotsman, Belfast Boat Express (a late steam turn that lasted into1968), The Cornishman, Irish Mail, Thames-Clyde Express, Atlantic Coast Express(ACE), The Waverley, the Caledonian, Devonian, Mayflower and Master Cutler allcomprised Mk1 coaches when newly introduced.  In other cases they ranwithin or alongside train formations such as the Yorkshire Pullman, and made upthe then numerous sleeper services that covered the length and breadth of thesixties railway network during the hours of darkness.Loco-hauled Mk1s were in front line service for half acentury, whilst their EMU counterparts and Thumper units lasted until themid-2000s.  As a result, the Mk1 family has carried the widest range ofliveries of any passenger rated rolling stock, with only private owner wagonspresenting a greater variety in UK railway history.  Mk1s have worn BRCarmine and Cream, BR Western Region Chocolate and Cream, BR Southern Green, BRMaroon, BR Blue, Blue and Grey, InterCity Executive, InterCity Charter, NetworkSouth East, Regional Railways, ScotRail, Sealink, Departmental, BR Exhibitions,Royal Mail, Travelling Post Office, Rail Express Systems, Provincial TransPennine, Parcels Red, West Highland Green and Cream, not to say a myriad ofpost-privatisation and heritage colour schemes in preservation.   ManyMk1s also found further use with the engineers and Research Departments, andthese departmental uses are also presented in the range.