BR MK1 Maroon RF

BR MK1 Maroon RF

v4.5
Type: RESTAURANT FIRST (RF)
Built: 1952
Seating: 17, Open Plan 2+1
Length: 64.5 feet
Weight: 43 tons
Era: 1956 - late 60s
BR Region: Western

As British Railways inherited a large collection of pre war catering vehicles, few catering vehicles were built during the initial Mark 1 building program in the early 1950s. Only two types providing provisions for cooking meals were commissioned, the Full Kitchen car and the Restaurant First. Both these types built three years before the 1956 catering prototypes, which arose due to changes in onboard catering practices and operating experiences using the initial 1951 designs.

The Restaurant First, presented here as No. 302 allocated to the Western Region, and mounted on BR2 bogies. A half sized kitchen is provided, including single anthracite stove, pantry, refrigerator, two sinks, coffee machine, linen cupboards with extra storage space and staff compartments. Fitted with wooden panelling and plastic faced laminates in and around the kitchen areas for easily cleanable surfaces. The Kitchen windows being fitted with white translucent glass. The height of the working Kitchen surfaces prevented full depth windows from being used, these windows on the non corridor side being slightly shallower - the lower edge in line with the bottom of the drop light door windows. Only five of this type were built.

Seating available for 17 First class passengers in the 'Restaurant', arranged in an open plan 2+1 layout, being a table to each window - seating two abreast on one side of a centre isle, and seating one abreast on the other side. All seats are loose fitting. One toilet provided, towards the centre of the coach, for the use of catering staff only.

Anthracite stoves proved unpopular with the catering staff, and with changes to catering practices, the life span for these coaches was sadly cut short, all being withdrawn by the late 1960s.


USE

This type of coach would be found on express passenger trains on the Western region during the late 1950s and mid 1960s. Normally found in the middle of the train between first and Second class coaches, coupled to a RSO or RUO at the Kitchen end.


LIVERY

A change of government in 1951 saw the passing of a new Transport Act that lead to the abolition of the Railway Executive in 1956, giving the Regions much more autonomy in their actions. One such regional development led to the London Midland, Southern and Western regions adopting new liveries based on their former pre-nationalised companies.

Urged on by the desire to replace the Crimson and Cream livery with a single coloured livery for ease of maintenance and cleaning, the Maroon livery made its first appearance in the spring of 1956. Instigated by the London Midland Region (the largest BR region), the livery closely matched that of the former London Midland and Scottish Railway, whose lines outside of Scotland, the LM region now controlled.

By the early 60s, Maroon was adopted by all regions except the Southern, as the ''official'' standard livery for all coaching stock. Coach ends were painted black until 1964 where upon new painting techniques, developed at the Southern Region's Eastleigh works, started the trend to paint the coach ends in the same colour as the body sides.

This livery lasted until the corporate Blue Grey livery was unveiled in 1965. During the mid 50s and late 60s, many rakes would be formed with a mixture of coaching stock bearing old and new liveries.


THE MARK 1 PROGRAMME

After the Second World War, wartime conditions highlighted the need for better standards in regards to vehicle lengths, profiles and couplings, for stock working between the 'Big Four' companies. A commission of senior officers was duly appointed by the UK 'Railway Companies Association' to create and implement a set of dimensions that would be applied to all future stock from each company. Although completed, the standards were not implemented, as nationalisation was imminent.

On nationalisation in 1948, the commission's findings were used by the new

Author: Stephen Dark & Alexander Barnard

BR MK1 Maroon RF
• config.txt 45.89KB
• dls_thumbnail.jpg 14.42KB
mk1_maroon_rf_art
mk1_maroon_rf_art_icon.texture.txt 95 bytes
mk1_maroon_rf_art_icon.tga 32.02KB
mk1_maroon_rf_body
env.texture.txt 26 bytes
env.tga 48.53KB
mk1_maroon_rf.texture.txt 36 bytes
mk1_maroon_rf.tga 1.50MB
mk1_maroon_rf_body.im 225.68KB
mk1_maroon_rf_shadow
black.texture.txt 28 bytes
black.tga 812 bytes
mk1_maroon_rf_shadow.pm 217.90KB
• tail_lamp.gs 5.92KB