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HST buffets


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Holy thread resurrection Batman!

 

Hi all,

 

Having fitted lighting to some of my BR blue/grey HST coaches, I'm painting the interiors to add a bit more detail. I've found some useful threads and a couple of photos on the normal first class and standard class interior colours (orange and blue respectively) but I'm stuggling with the interior colours for the TRUB restaurant-buffet car. I found a great photo of the buffet area - see here (you might need your sun glasses :sungum: ): http://locomotive.wikia.com/wiki/File:Original_buffet_on_hst.jpg but can anyone confirm what colour the seating would be in the rest of the carriage? I can't find a picture anywhere!

 

Many thanks,

Chris

 

The TRUB coaches had first class seats and first class upholstery so they were definitely in orange even when they were described as unclassified. The London Midland Region Mk3a RUB stock also had orange seating.

 

There was an article in Modern Railways around 1978 about the TRUB being introduced and also one in the early '80s about the restructuring of Travellers Fare. I've had a quick look for these but as I have a streaming cold at the moment I am struggling to find them.

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Hi Reason why underframes were arranged same sided in a rake was to enable a crew to isolate brakes easily - no need to crawl under a train you just walk down the correct side and if even luckier this would be cess side and no next to the other running line !

 

It was necessary to reform a couple of XC HST sets after conversions at Wabtec as this little bit of history was lost on the new boys! It great being a dinosaur!!

HST buffets and the variations to the menu is a book waiting to be penned ...

Burgers and NCR tills and Keg bitter all part of the experience, tills broke with vibration and nobody cleaned the beer lines ! to say nothing of the mega head available. Real food cooked onboard is a skill dying on the real railway !

 

Robert

Is it too simplistic to wonder why the vehicles were not designed in such a way as to allow brakes to be isolated from either side?,

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Thinking about it, the first class seats were larger than those in second class so if the TRUB stock had other than orange upholstery they would have needed seat covers that would only have been used on that stock and the 20 TRUKs but no others. Sure, BR were inefficient in a number of areas but not to that extent.

Edited by Flood
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The TRUB coaches had first class seats and first class upholstery so they were definitely in orange even when they were described as unclassified. The London Midland Region Mk3a RUB stock also had orange seating.

 

There was an article in Modern Railways around 1978 about the TRUB being introduced and also one in the early '80s about the restructuring of Travellers Fare. I've had a quick look for these but as I have a streaming cold at the moment I am struggling to find them.

 

Brilliant thanks for the swift response Flood - just what I was hoping for! I was a bit puzzled by them being 'unclassified' as you say.

 

Hope your cold improves soon!

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Brilliant thanks for the swift response Flood - just what I was hoping for! I was a bit puzzled by them being 'unclassified' as you say.

 

Hope your cold improves soon!

 

Initially the HST TRUKs (Trailers Restaurant Unclassified Kitchen) and TRUBs had unclassified seating so that Second Class passengers in theory could also take a full meal.  In the mid 80s both were reclassified TRFK and TRFB.  I concur with Flood the seating fabric colour was orange in the TRUB.  Can't recall the colour in the TRUK.

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Cookng real food on board may be dying out but GWR has recruited and trained some excellent new teams for their Pullman service. For the future reference of others the seating in their restaurants is their normal first class brown leather-effect. More than one astute standard class passenger is well aware that if partaking of a full meal (around £65) the journey is made, subject to availbility, in a first class seat what ever the official designation. I can recommend the experience too, though my ticket is first class which affords priority seating and advance booking in the restaurant.

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Cookng real food on board may be dying out but GWR has recruited and trained some excellent new teams for their Pullman service. For the future reference of others the seating in their restaurants is their normal first class brown leather-effect. More than one astute standard class passenger is well aware that if partaking of a full meal (around £65) the journey is made, subject to availbility, in a first class seat what ever the official designation. I can recommend the experience too, though my ticket is first class which affords priority seating and advance booking in the restaurant.

 

The cooked meals are of course only available on Pullman services, hot meals (basically only breakfast but it was extremely good) were discontinued on other trains when the Pullman catering was introduced.  Oh, and Standard Class ticket holders are ejected once they have finished their meal - be interesting to see what happens on the Class 800 workings where I suspect fewer seats might be available for meal service.

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Twin-unit 800 services might also have restaurant car access issues as there will be no gangway between units. Or are the Pullman services all to be covered by 9-car sets? And that assumes that Pullman dining even survives the HST withdrawal.

 

On up services my experience has been that “once seated stay seated” applies. Perhaps because service is only completed on approach to Reading and/or there is potentially no room in the standard class by that stage anyway. On down trains it is reasonable to ask standard class ticket holders to move into their part of the train for what may be 2-3 more hours after service.

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I remember the Aberdeen - King's X HSTs in the '80s.

 

Buffet closed after Dundee (I think) to allow crew change and re-stocking and didn't reopen (along with meal reservation) until after Edinburgh.

Presumably similar happened northbound, maybe from Newcastle or Berwick?

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A couple of weeks ago a Leeds bound (heavily delayed 110mins) VTEC service closed the buffet and First Class offer at Newark, while CrossCountry closed the buffet on a Glasgow bound train at Berwick...

Am I right in thinking that back in 1993 Leeds-London was part of the 'Intercity Shuttle' service and the buffet would be open prior to departure and stay open until arrival at destination? Without getting into the private/public ownership debate the Intercity Shuttle concept seems so much better than what we have today.

(Edit for spelling)

Edited by QuoitsPlayer
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A couple of weeks ago a Leeds bound (heavily delayed 110mins) VTEC service closed the buffet and First Class offer at Newark, while CrossCountry closed the buffet on a Glasgow bound train at Berwick...

Am I right in thinking that back in 1993 Leeds-London was part of the 'Intercity Shuttle' service and the buffet would be open prior to departure and stay open until arrival at destination? Without getting into the private/public ownership debate the Intercity Shuttle concept seems so much better than what we have today.

(Edit for spelling)

Where were the Buffet crews due to leave the train?

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Catering crews are not always based conveniently at route terminals and their duties sometimes require a cross over to staff a return service.

 

Back in the days when I commuted between Hayle and Manor Park (!!) on a weeky basis my normal down train from Paddington would have a buffet service only as far as Taunton. The crew then swapped at Exeter to man an up working.

 

Those of us who regularly use trains through Cornwall are accustomed to the buffet opening around Camborne on the up and sometimes upon departure from Penzance. But it invariably closes by Truro at the latest on the down to allow for cash-up, clean-up, stock check and the crew alighting from the train upon arrival at Penzance. All of which is much better than Cross Country offer - the trolley gets on or off at Plymouth so for two hours through Cornwall there is no catering at all.

 

SWR Waterloo -Exeter trains also have no catering west of Axminster because their catering operator is based at that station

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  • 3 years later...
30 minutes ago, russellwar said:

hi all,

 

some great info here, thanks to all.


Am I right in thinking a TRSB in Swallow is yet to be produced by Hornby. 
any ideas what options are open, so far I only found a blue grey 3 car pack

 

thanks

 

Russell

Strictly speaking Hornby have never made a TRSB. They have made an RFM and given it a TRSB number (in blue and grey) but the kitchen windows are different and they put Restaurant Buffet 125 instead of Buffet Bar 125 on the side. The corridor side windows are correct but I can't see any photos of the Hornby roof so that may be a work of fiction.

Edited by Flood
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1 minute ago, Flood said:

Strictly speaking Hornby have never made a TRSB. They have made an RFM and given it a TRSB number (in blue and grey) but the kitchen windows are different and they put Restaurant Buffet 125 instead of Buffet Bar 125 on the side. The corridor side windows are correct but I can't see any photos of the Hornby roof so that may be a work of fiction.


so the Hurst option or bashing are still the only options...

 

thanks for the info

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On 26/01/2021 at 21:25, russellwar said:


so the Hurst option or bashing are still the only options...

 

thanks for the info

Page 37 of the topic "Hornby 2021 Hopes" refers to this but you will have to go right back through and seek it out as whomever set up this site never considered the possibility of hyperlinking another topic. It's on the same page as the one linked below anyway...

 

But in summary I tried three methods, Hurst overlays (far and away the worst, it's impossible to bend a thin flat metal sheet to the profile of a Mk3 over a near 12" length), hacking about a Limby Mk3 RFM (OK but some difficulty because the moudling is so shot to bits to start with) or hacking about with a proper Lima Mk3 TRUB or TRFB (which on balance was the best option!)

 

 

 

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