This time, I have decided to try something a little different. Rather than just report on the progress of the vehicles currently under restoration, I thought that I would try and give you an overview of precisely what it is the Department is trying to achieve.

Excluding Elegant Excursions coaches, we currently have a total of 22 ex-Br Mark 1 coaches in service, of which 18 are incorporated into our three rakes. The immediate plan is to try and establish the three rakes with largely identical coaches in the same basic formation as follows (from the south):

BSK (Brake Corridor Second), TSO (Tourist Open Second), RMB or RBr (Buffet / Restaurant Car), SO (Open Second), SK (Corridor Second), FK (Corridor First) 

We believe that that maximises seating whilst retaining a mix of Open and Compartment stock.

The chocolate & cream rake has this formation, but the other two do not yet. The carmine & cream rake has been running with an extra SK (25451), which is about to be withdrawn as soon as the TSO we have been working on (4763) is finished. That coach is nearly finished, meaning that the carmine & cream set should be complete for the start of next season.

The maroon rake has been running with a Ck (16195) for many years. Our current project in the shed is the restoration of TSO 5042 which is going into maroon, and will join the maroon rake to replace 16195. Again, all being well, this coach should be available for use by the start of the new season.

That will complete the basic formations, and will make operations easier. You may wonder why that is. Well, operational staff should be able to allocate groups of passengers to certain areas of the train, as the need arises. For example, coach parties want to sit together. Also, when the Fish & Chip trains run, seats are sold on the basis of the layout of the Open carriages, and it makes sense to be able to interchange trains. The First Class is at the rear (at Toddington) to avoid standard class passengers sitting in that coach.

Experience shows that the buffet needs to be near to the middle of the train, but sufficiently close to the front that passengers take the trouble to visit it. Location of the buffet can greatly affect takings on the day. Also, of course guards and TTI's become used to the layout of the train, and it makes it easier for them to service the needs of passengers.

So the restoration works which have been reported in the past are now hopefully seen to fall into a pattern. You may have wondered why we are bothering to restore 4763 and 5042 from non-running condition, when we have other service coaches which need restoration.

Once these three rakes are complete, that will leave four coaches - BG 81039, SK 25451, CK 16195 and RMB 1811 - not in fixed formations. With the exception of the BG, all these need to be refurbished before they can run again. They will be refurbished, and will be swapped with other similar coaches as the need arises.

The CK deserves a special mention. We have three of these vehicles altogether. Experience has shown that they are probably the least useful vehicle type we have. As we are limited to six coach rakes by the length of our platforms, to run a CK would mean eliminating one of the coaches already in the rake. If the CK runs with an FK, that is too much first class accommodation. If it runs instead of the FK, it is too little.

So that sets the scene for what we have been doing over the past months. TSO 4763 is now about 4 weeks away from completion. The carmine & cream rake has just been taken out of use for a few weeks, so that coach can be inserted into it before it goes back into service. Some of the coaches in that rake need some fairly urgent remedial work.

TSO 5042 is in our shed. It has been completely stripped internally, and work on refurbishing the outside is well underway. As it is one of the later build coaches, it is largely melamine internally, rather than veneer. That has the bonus that to put it back into good condition, we can give it a good wash down with sugar soap, rather than have to sand down and varnish the veneer. We have a replacement set of seating in good condition, which was purchased from the Orient Express company a couple of years ago.

Outside, work has picked up on the BR Brakevan which we started on over a year ago. This was found to be contaminated with asbestos, so work came to a halt for some months whilst it was removed. A vast amount of rotten timber has been replaced, and it is now well on the way to completion. We have also started work on the S R 'Queen Mary' Brakevan 56305. The brakes on that are defective and require attention by the removal and overhaul of one of the two brake cylinders; the entire floor is rotten and is being replaced and the van is being repainted. Hopefully, it will be available for Brakevan rides during the Christmas diesel gala.