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Coaches selection, need help

15K views 31 replies 10 participants last post by  Ravenser 
Only one restuarent/buffet type car would be required.

And only one brake coach.

Ratio of say 2 2nd clsss for every 1st class coach.

I may be wrong here but compartmented corridor coaches may have been more common in the 50's and open coaches in the 1960's.

So thats 1 brake, 1 restuarent, 2 2nd and 1 1st for a 5 coach rake.

And 1 brake, 1 restaurent, 4 2nd and 2 1st for an 8 coach rake.

If you are running 6 or 7 coach rakes you may need some composites to get the balance right of the 2 to 1 ratio of 2nd to 1st.

Long distance trains might require a full brake on certain services.

If I was the BR Director in charge of setting the coach consist for my BR trains in the 1950's that is pretty much how my thinking would be to get the balance right!

Would I have been fired Alan Sugar style?


Happy modelling
Gary

PS Bachmann and Hornby have to be very astute about this when they calculate production numbers to get the balance and mix right. Nobody wants to be left with restuarent coaches and brakes that they can't sell! Hornby Dublo were hopeless at this. How many of you went into the shops in the 1960's during the great Hornby Dublo sale of 1965 and beyond to find only brake and restuarent coaches on offer for 5/- (25p)? I ended up with more restaurant cars than I needed but was I that bothered? Not really as they were cheap and I had not hauled so many coaches before!
 
If you are running the train as a preservation excursion special you really could plonk anything including teak Gresleys and Pullmans mixed behind the locos together with MK1s and 2s. You would need to check out which coaches are regularly used on such excursion trains. The version of the Flying Scotsman in the image could not run on a prototypical 1950's layout as it never appeared in the LNER livery during its life in service as a BR loco. However its your layout and you can do what you want! I for one would not be bothered what you did as long as you enjoyed the hobby and had some fun along the way!


The challenge of creating a 1950's prototypical rake of coaches is one that appeals to a lot of modellers including those who may not be using a prototypical 1950's loco and we should not forget this.

The coach information above is very useful and any future members with questions about coach mixes could definitely be pointed to this topic!

Happy modelling
Gary
 
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