Maroon Coach livery dates

[Halvarras]

On 22/11/2021 at 19:33, br2975 said:

 

BSK W34885 was still in Chocolate & Cream, in 1968

 

Indeed, I saw it on the tail end of a down train passing Truro on 22nd July 1968.

 

Parkin says this one was on B4 bogies but this is incorrect - the confusion appears to stem from a photo of it at Wolverton Works mounted on shiny new B4s just before it lost chocolate & cream livery. I last saw it withdrawn in Hinksey Yard, Oxford in 1973, so sadly it didn't last long in blue/grey.

 

Bachmann's 39-079B represents this vehicle but it has chalk boards on the van end doors, so technically unsuitable for mid-late 1960s operation.

[EddieK]

I recall that the BR coaching stock fleet was categorised into A, B and C. (Nothing to do with marks of coach!). On the vehicle end, the vehicle type would have a suffix to denote which fleet it was in, for example FK(A). I believe this dated back to when BR had to provide coaching stock for works holiday specials and similar, so the "A" fleet were used intensively all year, the "B" fleet had an easier life and the "C" fleet spent most of the year sitting in sidings until six weeks or so of frantic activity taking the citizens of the local industrial towns on their Summer holidays. Maintenance and overhaul (including repaints) were tailored to suit the levels of activity.

[EddieK]

16 hours ago, EddieK said:

I recall that the BR coaching stock fleet was categorised into A, B and C. (Nothing to do with marks of coach!). On the vehicle end, the vehicle type would have a suffix to denote which fleet it was in, for example FK(A). I believe this dated back to when BR had to provide coaching stock for works holiday specials and similar, so the "A" fleet were used intensively all year, the "B" fleet had an easier life and the "C" fleet spent most of the year sitting in sidings until six weeks or so of frantic activity taking the citizens of the local industrial towns on their Summer holidays. Maintenance and overhaul (including repaints) were tailored to suit the levels of activity.

Further to the above, RCTS book for 1978 refers to the (A) suffix as being something to do with a BR standard gangway. Need to dig deeper on this...

[keefer]

as i have read about it, it was merely to do with maintenance schedules.

Parkin (1999) p.68:

"The frequency of works visits is obviously dependant on the work load of the vehicle. Three classes were denoted by the letters A, B and C [where :]

Group A included all sleepers, catering vehicles, Pullmans and stock in regular all year round rosters.

Group B had regularly rostered 'strengthening' vehicles if used 3-or-more days each week [and]

Group C had the rest.

The maintenance group was sometimes added in parenthesis after the vehicle code e.g. BSK(B), though these were not always changed when a coach was transferred and the RO once noted E9254 branded BSO(C) running regularly in a roster covering 438 miles per day."

[rodent279]

Slightly off topic, does anyone have the numbers of the vehicles in the WR's chocolate & cream Bristolian rake on B4 bogies? I've tried looking through various threads on here, and come up with about 5 vehicles.