Cambrian coast express formation.

[paullad1984]

Would like to know typical formation for an a mid to late 30s AND an early to mid 50s cambrian coast express and what type of coaches, ie toplight, Hawksworth, BR mk 1.

[chrisf]

From the carriage working programme for summer 1954:

 

Saturdays excepted, 10.10 am Paddington to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli.  Brake third and composite for Pwllheli.  Brake composite, third, dining car, composite, brake third for Aberystwyth.

 

Saturdays only, 10.50 am Paddington to Pwllheli and Aberystwyth.  Brake third, composite, brake composite, third, dining car for Aberystwyth.  Composite, brake third, four thirds, brake composite for Pwllheli.

 

Only photographs can tell us what designs of coaches were used.   By 1954 the Western Region had but a sprinkling of BR Mk 1s.  The carriage working programme specified the trains in which they were to be used and the CCE was not one of them.  It was not until after the reintroduction of chocolate and cream in mid 1956 that the CCE received its Mk 1s and for a named train it was rather low down in the pecking order.

 

Chris 

[John_Hughes]

The Aber dining car sticks in my memory for some reason. I recall it as having daffodils on the tables, but that must have only been in the springtime! Ah, a proper cooked breakfast as we swept through Ynyslas and along the Dyfi without stopping! What a delight never to be enjoyed on Earth again!

 

There was a Cordon gas tanker in the siding off the arrival platform run-round loop at Aber which presumably was used to top up the supplies in the dining car and possibly in any remaining gaslit stock as well; the station itself used the town supply, of course.

[tanatvalley]

For the B R period 'From the Footplate Cambrian Coast Express' by Stephen Austin might be of interest. For the mid to late 30s the picture is more complex. From 27th September 1937 there was a 11.5 am departure from Paddington to Birkenhead which contained through coaches for Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. The Aberystwyth coaches (compo and van third brake end trailing) were detached at Shrewsbury and forwarded at 2.30pm. The Pwllheli coaches (compo and van third) were detached at Ruabon and forwarded by 3.5 pm.