Entry posted by ess1uk
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oh dear,
it appears my bargain second hand mk2b TSO was not so much of a bargain 
seems that not only has it had passengers put in it, but someone has swapped the correct B4 bogies for incorrect BR1 type.
oh well!
should do my homework before jumping in!
every day a school day.
the good folk of this parish have come to my aid and several offers could mean I have a nice rake of coaches running on correct bogies shortly.
best get some more track laid to run them on!
Source: my layout, Ruby Road.
I really should get round to weathering all my coaches and adding end details at some point to match these 3 that came from Exford Park.
So learning from the above I have done a bit of research!
Now after checking my mainly Lima mk2 coaches I find most are prefixed with a W so presume they would be Western region allocated to Old Oak (OM) or Laira (LA)?
Good start.
Now what workings would they mainly be found on mid 1980s and with what motive power?
The coach numbers are as follows with their depot listed in 1989:
· 6x W5449 (LA)
· 2x W13493 (OM)
· 2x W16084 which is not a Mk2 number
· 1x E6524 (MA) micro buffet TSOT
· 1x 5456 (OM) micro buffet TSOT in NSE but this is a TSO number
So obviously at least 7 will need a renumber.
RMweb Research (thanks CARADOC) says:
5449 is a Mark 2b TSO; These were numbered 5434 to 5497.
13493 is a Mark 2b FK; Numbered 13476 to 13513.
16084 is an incorrect number; IIRC this is a Mark 2b BFK and should therefore be in the series 14104 to 14112.
6524 is a Mark 2c Micro-Buffet, these were converted in 1980/81 from TSOs, although the Lima vehicle is a Mark 2b rather than 2c.
RMweb Research (thanks FLOOD) says:
The Lima Mk2 coaches are a Mk2B FK, a Mk2B TSO and a Mk2B BFK.
The original coaches are air braked, dual heat stock.
When first built, 1969, they were used on the London to South Wales Inter City trains and the London to Bristol Inter City trains along with Mk2A stock. These were hauled by 47s, Westerns and Falcon. Based at Old Oak Common, Cardiff and Bristol.
From 1972 both the Mk2A and Mk2B stock were displaced to the London to Torbay, Plymouth and Penzance trains. These were hauled by 47s, Westerns and (from 1974) Class 50s.
Based at Old Oak Common and Laira the Western Region stock remained at these two depots for the rest of their lives.
From May 1976 they began to be used on London to Birmingham trains (Class 47, Western and Class 50) and from October 1976 they were displaced from the West of England services onto London to Worcester trains (Class 47 and Class 50) and NE/SW trains (Plymouth to Edinburgh, Cardiff to Newcastle, Penzance to Leeds, and return. Class 45, 46, 47 and 50). Some of the Mk2A stock went to other regions.
From autumn 1979 the Mk2B BFK and TSO stock (and remaining Western Region Mk2A stock) was tested with Class 50s on the Waterloo to Exeter route and began to be hauled by Class 33s on that route from around the same time.
From May 1980 to 1991/2 these trains were Class 50 hauled apart from some 47/4s being used from 1987 and 47/7s arriving around 1990. Class 47s continued to haul Mk2A and Mk2B stock on these trains until the 159 stock took over in 1993.
From the mid 1980s a small number of Mk2B TSOs were reallocated to Trans Pennine services based at Heaton and loco hauled trains from Kings Cross based at Bounds Green.
About half of the FK stock was declassified to SK in 1985 and worked on Provincial trains based at Oxley, the remainder were used on mainly NSE boat trains with a few being spare coaches for the Waterloo - Exeter line.
The Mk2B BFK stock was withdrawn quite early, some coaches going to Northern Ireland (about 1980) and two coaches being converted for the Royal train in 1977. The last two left (17107 and 17109) were converted for Royal Train use in 1990 and 1987 respectively..
Number series:
TSO: 5434 to 5497
FK: 13477 to 13513
BFK: 14104 to 14112 (only 14107 and 14109 got renumbered to 17107 and 17109 in 1983)
Waterloo - Exeter rakes were 3 TSO, 2 BFK, TSOT, 3 TSO originally.
The TSOT was a Mk2C TSO with one window bay by the left hand toilet converted to a counter. This meant there was a red stripe from the door hinge to between the first and second windows at cantrail level instead of the blue stripe.
Mk2C stock had different roof vents (and some had different toilet windows) but I won't worry about this too much.
The numbers for Western Region TSOT stock with the Mk2B style toilet windows were 6501, 6503, 6512, 6513, 6517, 6521 and 6527.
An FK occasionally replaced a BFK in the rake.
Regarding renumbering I will either use Fox transfers (water slide) or HMRS (pressfix).
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