Preferred Mark 1 livery

Thought I'd get a poll going.

 

No option for Chocolate & Cream which suited Mk1's very well.

 

IMHO no colour does anything for Mk1's. Might just as well be khaki.

P.H.

 

Paul, that's just rude to the hundreds of volunteers who take pride in the work that they do on Mk1s, we take great care with our work and we are proud of what we do with Mk1s. It's simply another "wouldn't it be nice" - "wouldn't it he nice to have something other than Mk1s." yes it would be, but there aren't, so we do our best, (and I think we do) with what we have. And I thought you were against "wouldn't it be nice" comments...

 

That's a bit touchy I fear. Nothing at all to do with the admirable work people do . For example, a Ford Transit may be splendidly sign written but it is still a Ford Transit and not a Foden C. type.

You have to work with the supposed easy option which my generation took to go for; the dreariest coaching vehicles around.

Paul H

 

Pilkington Glass was always by favourite, but in its absence, maroon will do nicely as second best,

 

Much of the perceived problems with the MK 1 are the lack of period feel. I have been is some MK1s where all the period details have been taken out EG luggage racks, side lights, armrests, modern moquette, antimacassar clips, seats numbers etc. leaving just a bare shell. The of these details absence in many MK1s destroys any chance of a period feel. How many are aware that the earlier SK compartments are almost pure LMS?
Dirty and threadbare seats, cracked and lifting lino, filthy and dull veneered panels that hide wonderful grain patterns also do nothing to endear our cause to the paying punter. It almost feels to me that some have no pride whatsoever in their coaches.
It is up to each railway to make the best they possibly can by presenting the coaching stock in the best possible way, it can be done but it needs just a couple of people with a sense of period and the passion to persevere with what to others may be a pointless exercise. It is very much appreciated by the passengers (customers) it all adds to the full package that we offer.

 

You're absolutely right. Such care is taken with the restoration of main line steam locos, and it seems a real shame they are so often attached to coaches that haven't received a fraction of the same care and attention. This for me highlights another one of the strengths of preserved railways in the Heritage Railway Vs Main Line Steam debate, the coaching stock is more likely, and definitely on the SVR, a joy to travel in, and as much an attraction as the motive power itself IMO.

I seem to remember talk of pre Mark One rolling stock being allowed on Network Rail in the future. Does anybody know if this is still on the cards ?

 

Hello,
Rust colour?

Nick

 

The fact that I used to be the deputy Carriage and Wagon manager at the SVR has had a good influence to the way I approach the subject

 

The question was favorite - not the colour that non-wooden coaches all to readily choose for themselves!

Steven

 

Ah yes, I see, well I'm sure many will be appreciating the fine efforts of yourself in the past and those of your successor and colleagues at the SVR in the coming months,

 

Hello,
GWSR favourite colour for their Mk1s Is 'Filler'!


Nick

 

Trying to imagine a heritage railway world without Mark 1s is just as much cloud-cuckoo land as imaging the reopening of the Meon Valley though!

What's the total seating capacity of operational Mark 1s based on heritage lines? It easily runs into five figures, possibly even six. Translate that into the number of non-Mark 1s that would be needed to replace them and it runs to many hundreds of vehicles. That number of vehicles simply doesn't exist; the underframes don't exist and the capacity and skills to restore them don't exist, even if you did suddenly find a wooden-bodied strategic reserve.

It's nice to dream about a world that stopped on December 31st 1947, but that's all it is, a dream. Far better to hope that those lines that have to operate with predominantly Mark 1 stock heed Gary's advice about trying to do good-quality work inside rather than ripping out all the period features, and at the same time encourage those lines such as Swanage and the MHR that are beginning to take steps to a more vintage future. But imagining that suddenly many hundreds of Mark 1s can be replaced by equivalent numbers of vintage carriages is just whimsy.

Tom

 

Spot on, and another case where the phrase, "Make the most of it while it's here, and when it's gone it's gone" is wholly appropriate !

 

Indeed. Some of the poor decisions were taken 30 years ago.

PH

 

i have agree with what Gary said, the problem is that to many railways MK1's are ignored and just patched up, a mk1 actualy has a lot of woodern interiour fitment, cleaned up, rubbed down and varnished, they can be made to look very nice inside, but just how often do you get the chance to do a proper job, if your railway has only just enough operational coaches to keep going, you can't just take a mk1 out of traffic to overhaul it, so very often its a case of clean it up best you can, slap a new coat of paint, grease up everything, put it back out. i can remember seeing as newly painted coach, that may have looked good on the outside, but still had chelsea rules scratched on the seat ends and were so ingrained that they looked black, yet you would never turn out one of the vintage rake in such a condition on the Kesr, once Pedros our disabled coach was done, we had the chance to take a ride in it, now that coach had been done inside and out, and was immaculate, now through out that restoration, we were under pressure from the them GM to rush it out, but we were able to do it properly, and the comparison between it and the next coach was embarrassing to put it mildly sso it shows , a mk 1 can be done to a very high standard, but you have to accept that you lose a vehicle for 12 months minimum,

 

Where were the lines of pre-1940s stock in the 1980s then, that the SVRR and similar had access to in the '60s and early '70s? IMO there wasn't really an option at that time, it was either Mk1s and get trains running with revenue going, or have a nice collection of vehicles rotting away as no money coming in. the IoWSR, although commendable, I don't think is a brilliant example for ther heritage railways as they were always under different circumstances.

Nowt wrong with a bit of filler. Coaches have been known to absorb up to a whole larthe tin on certain occasions... We do lots of metal work as well now, no baked bean tins any more (we still occasionally find evidence of some of these much earlier patches!). I genuinely think for Mk 1s we must be one of the best railways in the country - even the SVR's are a bit grubby, the maroon rake in particular. (I know this is due to be sorted soon)

 

Whaaaaaat...... I thought this was about to happen?? Its got (or had) a website/facebook group and everything


Actually having spent a very enjoyable Saturday this last weekend, walking from Wickham to West Meon I might start the anti campaign!

 

They had some in use (including a couple of gaslit ex Taff Vale ones; what happened to those)? Every line is different or, at least, should be. One of my objections to universal Mark 1 use is that it imposes a very boring uniformity. The NYMR , for example, shows that different stuff did in fact exist which, given time, could be put back into service. I recall a posting thought, which said that the management of the time was Mk.1 obsessed and it was necessary to form a separate group to look after the teak stock. Present management is more enlightened. Pity there was not a bit more enlightenment about thirty or forty years ago.

PH