Born out of necessity and constructed in a time of skill and material shortage the BR Mk 1 coach was one of the outstanding success stories of the nationalisation era. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks back on its history.
Above: The British Railways Mk 1 carriage fleet travelled system wide transporting everyone from holiday makers to businessmen. In 1960 ‘Warship’ D805 Benbow passes through Dawlish with an up express formed of chocolate and cream liveried Mk 1s. Cecil Ord/Rail Archive Stephenson.
When the ‘Big Four’ were brought together in 1948 the newly formed British Railways found itself the proud owner of a system that was very run down. Many of the coaches in use were very old indeed and some had been run into the ground by the intensive use they had received during the war years. A replacement programme was the only answer with so many vehicles required.
It was not, however, just as simple as sending out an order form to one or other of the works and building some new vehicles. The biggest issue was that there was a shortage of raw materials. Steel was still rationed and was only available in a range of standard sizes and shapes; timber was in short supply and light alloys such as aluminium were virtually unobtainable. There w…
