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Excellent shop, great amounts of stock - Jim the owner is a great guy and the prices are quite reasonable too.

Did any Mk2Bs or Mk2Cs make it into Regional Railways livery? (I mean Regional Railways rather than Transpenine.)

Wow excellent stuff! I'm an eastern region modeller so these MGR wagons are a fairly essential part of my fleet but I've never much liked the look of them so I went for HEAs instead. Your conversion has really got me wanting a set now though!

http://www.miac.org.uk/worcs1985.html 9th photo down - credited to Pete Wilcox

Any updates please?

That would explain why Hornby released an RFM with the unbranded Virgin Mk3s - I'm guessing they wanted it to represent a TRSB like the blue/grey one does

Thanks again Flood for such a comprehensive answer. I'm modelling 1988ish to 1992ish so my XC rake would be allocated to Laira or NH. Would coaches that had not been resprayed still have had their region prefixes removed? I have seen a picture of an XC set in 1989 which is made up of an Exec DMB, Swallow DMB and all blue/grey coaches (with the exception of one of the TSOs, which is either in Exec or Swallow - can't tell from the photo). There's something about the patchwork livery that appeals to me so I was thinking of modelling something similar. I am acquiring some Hornby blue/grey Mk3s with WR prefixes to add a little variety to my ER stock. However if it doesn't particularly matter then I'll just get whichever coaches I find cheap rather than looking for WR ones. Also what was the typical composition of an XC HST fleet? Did they vary between depots and the destinations they served? Edit: I think it's DMB/TGS/TSO/TSO/TSO/TSO/TRSB/TFO/DMB

Hi again guys I had presumed from the discussion and my research that the TRSBs had ended their days in the Eastern Region in the 80s but I've come across a photo of an East Coast branded TRSB! http://shed83a.smugmug.com/CoachingStock/Mk3-HST/Mk3-TRSB/18325547_nq25H5/1411040129_9jbSMNP Many thanks to the contributor. Is this coach a TRB that has come from the WR after privatisation, or did ER continue using TRSBs after the introduction of the TRFB?

Preferably something suitable for the late 80s and early 90s please!

I went to Edinburgh for the first time on Valentine's Day with the wife. Got a chance to see Waverley in person and it makes me appreciate just how good your layout is. Truly stunning work, well done! Where did you get your flush glazing for your Mk3s please?

Does anyone know why so many of the 3 packs of ER blue/grey Mk3s without lights are appearing on eBay? I got lucky and picked up one for just under £60 delivered but that seller and another one just keep listing one after the other!

When I asked at Warley 2014 I was told that they are basically indefinitely on hold. I was also told they are a lot more likely to be produced than the BBA. 'Tis a shame because I wanted a few of both!

Ipswich is like that too I think

Brilliant keefer, thank you. I'm probably going to follow Jim Smith-Wright's method of filing down the window frames but preserving most of the livery, adding new Shawplan frames and then just respraying the grey band. This way it should be a fairly simple conversion and I'm able to get rid of those moulded door lock lights at the same time. I don't suppose anyone has compared the Shawplan frames vs the Southern Pride ones and could give me some advice on which to go for?

I thought only first class was tinted?

Thanks for everyone's input. This is turning into a really useful and informative thread. Does anyone have a clear shot of the roof of the TRSB? I don't think Hornby's vents are right either! Also does anyone know if the windows were tinted or not on the TRSB? It's difficult to tell from the photos

Funnily enough I was thinking that maybe this would be an XC set. I have made a buffered HST from a Grand Central chassis and cutting the valance off a Swallow power car. It's been renumbered to 43123. I just need to paint the buffer beam red and it'll be finished. When this isn't running with my 91 and Mk3s, it'll be on the XC service because I believe they transferred to XC duties once their days as a surrogate DVT were over?

Thanks again Flood. Before you replied I actually referred to photos of the TRSB and it looks like that's the one with the error. I'm impressed that Hornby (or what is Lima?) went through the effort of making different mouldings for the underframe tho. Shame they couldn't get the bogies right as well.

That's brilliant! Thanks so much again Flood. Looks like the easiest thing to do would be to use this coach as the basis for the TRSB - it's only the counter/kitchen area that's wrong. I could cut this area out and replace it with the same from a TRFB and that looks like it'll get me a true TRSB. Looks like I'll have to find another Hornby 4 window buffet for my RFM then - or just wait until Hornby release one in Swallow which, if Hornby have any sense, can't be too long now given that Bachmann are doing a Class 90. Just out of interest, why were the rakes organised such that the underframes all faced the same way? Was there any reason or did the powers that be have OCD? I've just noticed as well that when I try and do as you suggest in my rake and have all the underframes facing the same way, the seating area on the "TRSB" is facing standard class... one of the chassis must be the wrong way around! (Edit: from referring to the photos you've kindly linked above, it looks like the chassis on the "TRSB" is the wrong way around. Given how much of a pig Lima Mk3s are to take apart I'm not looking forward to sorting that out!)

Hmm the differences are quite large then. That's disappointing. Oh well I wanted a coach to repaint into Swallow livery so i had an RFM so I might use this one. I'll use one of my Lima TRFBs to turn into a TRSB. So did the seating area in a TRSB face standard class then? Finally does anyone have any drawings of the coach please so I have dimensions for its conversion? Thanks for your help!

As always, your coaching knowledge astounds me Flood! So what do I have to do to my bastardised RFM to make it closer to a TRSB? So were there no 3 window TRSBs then? What is the coach that Hornby have released as part of the new Executive livery coaches?

Hi guys, I asked a similar question regarding LHCS buffets back in Nov 14. I am an Eastern Region modeller, focusing on c1990. I am wanting some further information regarding the different buffets available on HSTs and their uses. As I understand it, there are at least 6 different kitchen/buffet coaches available: 4 large window TRUB TRFK TRUK TRSB (?) 3 large window TRSB TRFB I have recently acquired Hornby's R4676 as I have seen an XC set from 1989 which had Swallow power cars but with a rake of blue/grey coaches (except one of the TFOs) so I thought this would introduce some variation to the remainder of my HST fleet, which are all Lima Swallow and Exec coaches. (The TGS and buffet - called a "TRSB" by Hornby are from the old Lima tooling anyway.) I thought all the TRSBs were the 3 window variety. Does this mean the coach that Hornby have produced is a TRUB? What are the external differences between the TRUB and the TRUK/TRFK? Finally, if it is an unclassified coach, does the seating area face towards first class or standard class or was there no convention? Thanks

Really like the new locations of the Turners depot and the cement works

Lucky so-and-so! Up until the recent announcement of a new batch you couldn't even get one for £50! I did get some TSOs in 2013 for around £14 tho, which I was happy with. Don't think we'll ever see those sorts of prices again unfortunately!

Well I've got a few Bachmann Mk2 FKs that I bought on the cheap that will be lending their chassis, roof and probably their glazing as well. Can't believe bogies are £12! Managed to get a whole FK on clearance at a local model shop for £13!