Gresley coaches in the late 70's

[R. pike]

I've just built and Ian Kirk Gresley buffet car and a full brake. The buffet car is painted in blue/grey and the full brake in rail blue as they would of appeared in the late 70's. What colour would the gangway doors have been painted? The buffet car is going to spend a lot of it's time lurking in the carriage sidings on my layout so the gangway doors will be on view. MK1 and MK2 vehicles had some sort of colour code on the doors to help staff identify the type of coach. I was wondering if something similar applied to older vehicles?

[richard]

I've heard stories of a number of full brakes surviving into the 1970s - used for storage, by work crews, etc. What were the buffets used for?

Sorry - I didn't answer your question, just asked my own!

Richard

[R. pike]

The buffets were used as buffets. The 1979 coaching stock pocket book lists two Thompson buffets SC1705E and SC1706E as still in service. W9135E was still kicking around in 1977 and i remember seeing one in the formation of the Cambridge buffet not long before the service finished. It may have been the same vehicle i noted also in the carriage sidings at Holloway in the mid to late 70's.

http://gallery6801.fotopic.net/p54556227.html

Shows a full brake in preservation in rail blue.

[Wavey]

I own Gresley Buffet 641 (E9129E) on the NYMR. The vestibule doors were flush panelled plywood faced with fomica which was a light grey colour.
During restoration the formica and ply was removed to uncover the original doors.

[R. pike]

Light grey was going to be my guess. When was E9129E withdrawn by BR? Is it in traffic now at the NYMR?

[Caledonian]

The February 2008 issue of Model Rail has a photo (p65) of a Gresley BG in filthy rail blue on a Fort William to Glasgow service on 11 April 1970 - ie; still in revenue rather than departmental service

[Wavey]

E9129 (alias 641) has been in traffic on NYMR since 1994.
It was withdrawn from BR in about 1973. I was sent a colour photo of it out of use in carriage sidings at York in 1973.
Cosmetically restored into teak faced ply at Swindon in the mid 70's, then onto Dart Valley Railway. Purchased for use on NYMR in 1983 and is now part of LNERCA teak set.

[R. pike]

All power to you guys that look after these vehicles. It must be a never ending job. I stick to signalling in 12 inch to the foot scale and a few OO scale models.. Thanks for the information. Could it really have been 1973 when i saw (and was able to recognise) a Gresley buffet at Holloway? I would have been 7 years old..

[jwealleans]

The last Gresley coach only went from those sidings at York last year, though and there's still an LMS CCT sitting there. Some of this stock hangs around far longer than you'd think.

[Caledonian]

Still on the subject of York, David Adair's Modellers Guide to the LNER has an August 1965 photo of a Gresley BG on a parcels train at York on p41. It's an interesting photo because the Gresley is coupled to a Stanier BG which is in turn attached to an ex Southern BY

[Bryan]

The last Gresley coach only went from those sidings at York last year

I was part of the stripping party Jan 2007 working with LNERCA members recovering as much as possible from the bodywork.
The underframe went to VSOE.
The LMS CCT is still there as of last week. Usual problem being how to extricate anything from Leeman Rd by road with the low bridges.

http://www.departmentals.com/photo/320645b

[robertcwp]

I agree with previous posts that the last Gresley buffets were withdrawn from passenger service in 1977. The survivors were the ones that had rebuilds in the 1950s. This mainly affected the interior and the equipment but it also led to some window removal on the kitchen side. Hence, the Kirk and Hornby models are not correct for the blue/grey version without altering one side.

Here's a photo from John Turner's collection:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/53amodels/pic ... 150576.jpg

The two Thompson vehicles were also rebuilt and lasted until 1979. Here are some photos on the Eastbank Model Railway Club site:

http://www.eastbank.btinternet.co.uk/im ... S0225s.jpg
http://www.eastbank.btinternet.co.uk/im ... S0227s.jpg
http://www.eastbank.btinternet.co.uk/im ... S0229s.jpg

At least one Gresley sleeper first made it into blue/grey, E1211E if I recall correctly. I don't know whether it made it into the 1970s though - it had been withdrawn by 31 December 1971.