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.
Crowned as Model of the Year when they were first introduced, the Graham Farish Mk1 Coaches continue to provide N scale modellers with a masterpiece in miniature, carrying all the hallmarks of this iconic design. The distinctive profile of the Mk1 coach is captured to a tee and on the roof, the finely moulded ventilators are complemented by separately fitted metal handrails and, where appropriate, toilet filler pipes. On the bodysides each door is complete with hinges, handles and even door bumper details, whilst even the sliding window ventilators are discernible. Footboards are present on the solebars below each door whilst the underframe sports a full complement of equipment, with the truss rod frames modelled in all their glory and flanked by battery boxes, vacuum cylinders, dynamo and, where appropriate, other auxiliary equipment.
The bogies are fitted with metal wheelsets, whilst the standard N scale coupling is attached via a NEM coupling pocket to the close coupling mechanism that is fitted to the carriage floor, which operates in tandem with the bogie. Inside each model is an interior featuring the prototypical layout of tables and chairs, whilst the icing on the cake is the livery application, using authentic colours, logos and fonts to give every model an exquisite appearance.
This Limited Edition Bachmann Collectors Club model depicts the BR Mk1 Brake Composite Corridor (BCK) coach in the attractive Pullman Umber and Cream livery as Car No. 356 that operated as part of the SLOA charter rake from the early 1980s onwards. The SLOA charter rake was formed of Parlour Second (SP) vehicles as-well as Bar Second (BSP) ‘The Hadrian Bar’, and two Mark 1 BCKs – these were painted into Pullman Umber & Cream livery and numbered ‘Car No. 355’ and ‘Car No. 356’. Both types of Pullman vehicle have featured in the Graham Farish range over the years, and in 2015 a model of BCK ‘Car No. 355’ was also produced for the Bachmann Collectors Club. Therefore, the introduction of this new brake coach allows modellers to create an complete and authentic SLOA rake using ready to run models for the first time.
Based on the Graham Farish N scale Mk1 BCK, our model is highly detailed and carries a wonderful rendition of this popular colour scheme. Fitted with Commonwealth bogies, the model includes NEM coupling pockets mounted on a close coupling mechanism.
MODEL FEATURES:
- Graham Farish N Scale
- Era 8
- Pristine Pullman Umber & Cream livery
- Running No. ‘Car No. 356’
- NEM Coupling Pockets
- Length 136mm
- Bachmann Collectors Club Limited Edition - 504 Certificated Pieces