Use for Maunsell Coaches ex Hornby 1957 set

[RateTheFreight]

Evening all,

 

I successfully bid on the three coaches contained within the Hornby 1957 suburban set (minus schools loco) which look great, but I know little about their prototypical use (they seemed a bargain).

 

The three coaches look like a 3rd class, a composite and a brake all built by Maunsell.

 

So, a few questions if I may;

 

1) apart from a schools class, are there any other RTR Southern Region locos I could run with them?

 

2) would you ever have found such coaches on express (say Merchant Navy) hauled services

 

3) would these types of coaches have been found on rural services too?

 

4) presuming these coaches were built pre 1937, when did they get the BR (Southern Region) green?

 

5) did they last until the end of steam?

 

Apologies for all the questions.

 

Greg

[Mallard60022]

Answers in brief:

1. Yes, quite a lot really including LMS and Standard Class 2.6.2. Tanks (SR allocated).

Others  e.g. T9s, Ns, M7s, Bulleids, Arthurs, maybe a Q1; I've probably forgotten something!  (There is the old Triang L1 for pre 1960 trains.....maybe?)

2. Yes on the West of England main line up until 62 maybe 63.

3. Deffo. Lots of info on the SEMG Groups website. 

4. About 1958/9/60

5. SR steam ended in July 1967. There were some Maunsells remaining in Departmental service but although I'm unsure without checking my reference books (in the loft at the moment) I think they had mostly gone by 1964 however I'd be interested to hear info on this too.

 

Also, don't apologise for asking questions! This Forum is a great place to get info....ask away.

Phil

[TheSignalEngineer]

Maunsell stock also appeared on inter-regional trains, particularly in the summer. The Warwickshire Railways site has some behind a Black 5 at Stechford in 1959.

[Oldddudders]

If these are the coaches from R2815, they were formed into 6 coach Set 273 in BR coach green, the R4379 add-on set being the other three coaches. The BCK is low-window, being one of the 10 built in 1926 for West Of England services. SR green began to be applied from 1956, most Maunsells probably being crimson-and-cream by then, and as this set was formed in 1958, that is the likely repainting date.

 

Until WW2, these were the best coaches the Southern Railway could muster, but they were really a bit old-fashioned even then. Thus Bulleid commenced his own designs, which continued to be built until 1950-ish, and these increasingly supplanted the Maunsells from the best trains. A cascade of coaches was thus occurring in the early '50s, with the Maunsells increasingly being seen on secondary services and branches, where they displaced elderly designs from Pre-Grouping days. Electrification of railways in Kent in 1960-2 displaced a huge number of steam-hauled coaches, including Maunsells, which, being among the oldest vehicles, faced withdrawal, while Bulleid vehicles from Kent were used in their stead on the SW Division, so enabling withdrawal of Maunsells there, too.

 

EDIT : All three vehicles in R2815 were withdrawn in August 1959 (source Gould). It should also be noted that while set 273 was formed in 1958, 5 of the vehicles had run together since 1945 with the same set number, including the three in R2815. The Southern was very committed to running vehicles in sets, and this practice continued into BR days.

[RateTheFreight]

Thanks for the info gents, not only informative but interesting too! Coaching stock seems a veritable minefield for those in pursuit of authenticity.

 

I've always liked/found fascinating, older stock (be it loco's, coaches or wagons) in their later life. In some cases the livery applied to older stock under BR seems to really suit. The T9's in lined BR black are a case in point and I found a great colour video on YouTube of two of them working somewhere in the South West (Oakhampton??). It left such an impression that I'd probably look to purchase such a liveried T9 to match these coaches although appreciate some modellers license may be required.

 

Greg