Restaurant & Dining Coaches

[ruan1925]

Does anyone have any information on restaurant and dining coaches used on the Pines Express during the (mid) 1950s?  CWNs designate a restaurant car and an open composite next to it.  Anybody got any more specific data on them?  Was the open coach used as a diner?

[Combe Martin]

In the 50's the Pines restaurant car was a Stanier 12 wheel coach though not unfortunately the RTR model currently available from Hornby (the ex Airfix/Dapol model).  I don't know which diagram it was but someone more expert than me on here will know.  I do believe there are Comet sides for it.  Photos in Ivo Peters and Norman Lockett books show it being the 4th vehicle on the down Pines.  Photos show it was still a Stanier 12 wheeler in mid 1961 though my understanding is that it changed to a BR Mk1 around this time.  I've no info about the open (diner ?) attached to it.

 

I'm not expert on Stanier coaches and most Pines photos concentrate on the loco so because of the photo angle it can be difficult to recognise the coach types being used.  When I have been able to do so they don't tie up with the CWN.   

 

The Pines was the only service over the S&D which conveyed a restaurant car though I don't know about the 'Pines relief'.

 

Gresley restaurant cars were never used on the Pines because (my understanding is) it didn't originate on the former LNER which had electric charging points for re-charging and most Gresley restaurant cars had electric cooking.  There were a few (3 I think) Anthracite Gresley restaurant cars plus a few gas powered for those restaurant services that started on the ER but finished away from it.