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374-820BR Mk1 FO First Open BR InterCity Charter (Executive)
The British Railways Mk1 was the designation given to BR’s first standard design of main line coaching stock, and one of its most successful. Built from 1951 until the early 1960s to augment and replace the array of ‘Big Four’ and earlier ‘pre-grouping’ designs inherited from the LMS, LNER, GWR and SR, BR took the best features from several of these types to produce the new steel-bodied design. As a result, the Mk1 was stronger and safer than any of the inherited types that came before it.
Vehicles providing standard accommodation, with first- or second-class seating, or a composite mix of the two, were built in their thousands, along with many specialist types each with their own dedicated purpose. Numerous different catering vehicles were built, offering as little as a counter service right through to a full restaurant dining experience, whilst vehicles which incorporated an area for the Guard were combined with passenger accommodation and varying spaces for the conveyance of luggage, newspapers and parcels. Sleeping cars were also included, along with various general merchandise and specialised Post Office vans – some of which were equipped with apparatus to allow mail to be collected and set down on the move. Such was their success that following withdrawal from BR service, Mk1 coaches have become the mainstay of preservation operations and hundreds of vehicles remain in service today with heritage railways, whilst several still run on the main line in charter formations.
374-820ABR Mk1 FO First Open BR InterCity Charter (Executive)
The British Railways Mk1 was the designation given to BR’s first standard design of main line coaching stock, and one of its most successful. Built from 1951 until the early 1960s to augment and replace the array of ‘Big Four’ and earlier ‘pre-grouping’ designs inherited from the LMS, LNER, GWR and SR, BR took the best features from several of these types to produce the new steel-bodied design. As a result, the Mk1 was stronger and safer than any of the inherited types that came before it.
Vehicles providing standard accommodation, with first- or second-class seating, or a composite mix of the two, were built in their thousands, along with many specialist types each with their own dedicated purpose. Numerous different catering vehicles were built, offering as little as a counter service right through to a full restaurant dining experience, whilst vehicles which incorporated an area for the Guard were combined with passenger accommodation and varying spaces for the conveyance of luggage, newspapers and parcels. Sleeping cars were also included, along with various general merchandise and specialised Post Office vans – some of which were equipped with apparatus to allow mail to be collected and set down on the move. Such was their success that following withdrawal from BR service, Mk1 coaches have become the mainstay of preservation operations and hundreds of vehicles remain in service today with heritage railways, whilst several still run on the main line in charter formations.
377-731ABR SPA Open Wagon Network Rail Yellow [W]
377-730BBR ZAA 'Pike' Open Wagon BR Engineers Grey & Yellow [W]
372-910LMS 10000 LMS Black & Silver
The LMS ‘Twins’ – Nos. 10000 and 10001 – were the very first mainline diesel locomotives built in the UK and now, this pioneering pair is available in N scale for the first time thanks to Graham Farish.
This model of No. 10000 depicts the first of the ‘Twins’ which entered service with the LMS just days before Nationalisation in December 1947, and so carries ‘LMS’ in large chrome letters on the bodyside – the locomotive would carry these during its early years of BR-ownership and was so adorned until 1951. In this original condition, No. 10000 operated on the Midland Region hauling trains both alone and as a pair with its twin, providing additional haulage power and rang
372-910SFLMS 10000 LMS Black & Silver With DCC Sound Fitted
The LMS ‘Twins’ Nos. 10000 and 10001 were the first mainline diesel locomotives built in Great Britain. A joint venture between the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) and English Electric, the pair were first conceived in 1946. The body and chassis design was undertaken by the LMS’s Chief Mechanical Engineer H. G. Ivatt, and English Electric provided the engine, electric systems and machinery. Construction of No. 10000 began at Derby Works in 1947 and the locomotive was outshopped in December of that year, days before Nationalisation of Britain’s railways.
Both locomotives entered traffic in an eye-catching black and silver livery, with large chrome numbers fitted at each end of the bodysides, below the cab windows. The letters LMS were also applied in chrome to No. 10000, however No. 10001 did not enter service until mid-1948, with British Railways completing its construction, and so it entered traffic with neither LMS nor BR markings.
The locomotives worked both singularly and as a pair on the Midland Main Line and West Coast Main Line, hauling named expresses and lower key services, and venturing north of the border into Scotland. Interconnecting doors were fitted within the noses of each engine, allowing crew and personnel to move between the two in motion, but this feature was seldom used.
In 1953 the Twins were sent to the Southern Region, being fitted with an additional pair of marker lights and lamp brackets beforehand which made them compatible with the SR’s practice of using headcodes to denote both train types and routes. During a two year period on the Southern Region the Twins worked alongside the Southern’s own diesel prototypes before returning to the Midland Region in 1955.
As prototypes, changes and modifications were made to the locomotives during the years and this included the fitting of water scoops to allow water for the steam heat boiler to be collected from troughs located between the rails ‘on the move’. Ironically, in common with many early diesels, the performance of the steam heat boilers was woeful, and in colder months the pair were often relegated to freight workings where steam heat provision was not required.
By the late-1950s new, production series diesel locomotives were arriving en-masse and whilst their time in service had been highly educational and helped to shape the BR diesel fleet, the writing was on the wall for this pair on non-standard prototypes. No. 10000 was officially withdrawn in December 1963, whilst No. 10001 lasted to March 1966, kept going with components salvaged from its Twin. Sadly, neither was saved and both were subsequently scrapped, but their legacy carried on in the Class 40s, 50s and 56s which all used versions of the English Electric 16SVT engine and today, works is ongoing to build a replica of No. 10000.
372-911LMS/BR 10001 Black & Silver
The LMS ‘Twins’ Nos. 10000 and 10001 were the first mainline diesel locomotives built in Great Britain. A joint venture between the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) and English Electric, the pair were first conceived in 1946. The body and chassis design was undertaken by the LMS’s Chief Mechanical Engineer H. G. Ivatt, and English Electric provided the engine, electric systems and machinery. Construction of No. 10000 began at Derby Works in 1947 and the locomotive was outshopped in December of that year, days before Nationalisation of Britain’s railways.
Both locomotives entered traffic in an eye-catching black and silver livery, with large chrome numbers fitted at each end of the bodysides, below the cab windows. The letters LMS were also applied in chrome to No. 10000, however No. 10001 did not enter service until mid-1948, with British Railways completing its construction, and so it entered traffic with neither LMS nor BR markings.
The locomotives worked both singularly and as a pair on the Midland Main Line and West Coast Main Line, hauling named expresses and lower key services, and venturing north of the border into Scotland. Interconnecting doors were fitted within the noses of each engine, allowing crew and personnel to move between the two in motion, but this feature was seldom used.
In 1953 the Twins were sent to the Southern Region, being fitted with an additional pair of marker lights and lamp brackets beforehand which made them compatible with the SR’s practice of using headcodes to denote both train types and routes. During a two year period on the Southern Region the Twins worked alongside the Southern’s own diesel prototypes before returning to the Midland Region in 1955.
As prototypes, changes and modifications were made to the locomotives during the years and this included the fitting of water scoops to allow water for the steam heat boiler to be collected from troughs located between the rails ‘on the move’. Ironically, in common with many early diesels, the performance of the steam heat boilers was woeful, and in colder months the pair were often relegated to freight workings where steam heat provision was not required.
By the late-1950s new, production series diesel locomotives were arriving en-masse and whilst their time in service had been highly educational and helped to shape the BR diesel fleet, the writing was on the wall for this pair on non-standard prototypes. No. 10000 was officially withdrawn in December 1963, whilst No. 10001 lasted to March 1966, kept going with components salvaged from its Twin. Sadly, neither was saved and both were subsequently scrapped, but their legacy carried on in the Class 40s, 50s and 56s which all used versions of the English Electric 16SVT engine and today, works is ongoing to build a replica of No. 10000.
372-911SFLMS/BR 10001 Black & Silver With DCC Sound Fitted
The LMS ‘Twins’ Nos. 10000 and 10001 were the first mainline diesel locomotives built in Great Britain. A joint venture between the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) and English Electric, the pair were first conceived in 1946. The body and chassis design was undertaken by the LMS’s Chief Mechanical Engineer H. G. Ivatt, and English Electric provided the engine, electric systems and machinery. Construction of No. 10000 began at Derby Works in 1947 and the locomotive was outshopped in December of that year, days before Nationalisation of Britain’s railways.
Both locomotives entered traffic in an eye-catching black and silver livery, with large chrome numbers fitted at each end of the bodysides, below the cab windows. The letters LMS were also applied in chrome to No. 10000, however No. 10001 did not enter service until mid-1948, with British Railways completing its construction, and so it entered traffic with neither LMS nor BR markings.
The locomotives worked both singularly and as a pair on the Midland Main Line and West Coast Main Line, hauling named expresses and lower key services, and venturing north of the border into Scotland. Interconnecting doors were fitted within the noses of each engine, allowing crew and personnel to move between the two in motion, but this feature was seldom used.
In 1953 the Twins were sent to the Southern Region, being fitted with an additional pair of marker lights and lamp brackets beforehand which made them compatible with the SR’s practice of using headcodes to denote both train types and routes. During a two year period on the Southern Region the Twins worked alongside the Southern’s own diesel prototypes before returning to the Midland Region in 1955.
As prototypes, changes and modifications were made to the locomotives during the years and this included the fitting of water scoops to allow water for the steam heat boiler to be collected from troughs located between the rails ‘on the move’. Ironically, in common with many early diesels, the performance of the steam heat boilers was woeful, and in colder months the pair were often relegated to freight workings where steam heat provision was not required.
By the late-1950s new, production series diesel locomotives were arriving en-masse and whilst their time in service had been highly educational and helped to shape the BR diesel fleet, the writing was on the wall for this pair on non-standard prototypes. No. 10000 was officially withdrawn in December 1963, whilst No. 10001 lasted to March 1966, kept going with components salvaged from its Twin. Sadly, neither was saved and both were subsequently scrapped, but their legacy carried on in the Class 40s, 50s and 56s which all used versions of the English Electric 16SVT engine and today, works is ongoing to build a replica of No. 10000.
R30195RailRoad Plus Network Rail, Class 960, Bo-Bo, 901002 'Iris 2'
Constructed in Birmingham, the Class 101 DMU was one of the longest lasting DMUs to ever see service in the UK. 527 of the class would be built across many orders from BR between 1956 and 1960. The first units would enter BR service in 1956 in the BR green livery.
Class 101 units at the height of their use could be seen in all corners of the UK, at the onset of privatisation in the 1990s the units would appear in all manner of colourful liveries such as the Network South East colours and First North Western. Throughout their life, Class 101 units would occasionally appear as a three car sets where demand dictated.
Beginning life as the BR Class 101 unit 50338 On its entry into departmental service the unit would be reclassified as a class 960 and renumbered 901002, it would also gain the name Iris 2 which would be displayed in place of a destination on its destination boards.
Iris 2 functioned as a lab for Network Rail undertaking tests around the UK. As Iris 2, the DMU appeared in a Serco Railtrack livery, Network Rail livery and a unique grey Lab 19 livery. Iris 2 is currently preserved on the Barry Tourist Railway in a BR Green livery.
R30348L&MR, No. 58 'Tiger'
Number 58 'Tiger' was the sister engine to 'Lion', one of a plethora of locomotives named after animals as became the norm for the fledgling L&MR. Like its sister engine, 'Tiger' was designed as a luggage engine and was delivered from Todd, Kitson, and Laird alongside 'Lion', having been constructed at the same time as part of the same order. These were the first two locomotives to be built at the Railway Foundry in Leeds.
Information regarding 'Tiger' is scant, but as it was built to the same specifications, it is a reasonable assumption that the engine would have served the same duties as its more notable sister. It is also likely that the engine was also rebuilt at Edge Hill in 1841.
Likely still in service when the L&MR was absorbed into Grand Junction Railway and then the London and North Western Railway, 'Tiger' would have also been renumbered under its new operator. As it is not in preservation, it is assumed that at the time 'Lion' was withdrawn and converted into a stationary pump, 'Tiger' was also withdrawn and scrapped.

















