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LNER Tourist Train Sets

Introduction

Excursion traffic was big business for the railways and a huge subject to try to describe. A brief look at some aspects may help.

Before the Grouping only the GCR and NER had built carriages dedicated to this traffic (see separate topic about the GCR "Barnums"). Elsewhere a great variety of stock was used. A major development on the LNER came in 1933 when the company introduced the renowned Tourist stock in Buffet Tourist Trains (BTT for short). Not only was the livery a striking green & cream, each train was composed of two identical halves, each with its own buffet car:

BTO

3rd open brake

  TO-TO

3rd open (twin)

RB

buffet car

  TO-TO

3rd open (twin)

The sets, each with two halves, were built thus:

1933 GN Section (5)
1934 NE Area (2)
1935 NE Area (2) and NB Section (2)
1939 NB Section (1) (BTO and TO twins only)

The first sets of 1933 built for the GN Section had a BTO with 52 seats and a modest van space. From 1934 for the sets built for the NE Area and and NB Section, the BTO was revised with fewer seats (48) and a slightly larger van space in which more beer could be carried.

As far as I can tell, the GE never used them but the GC Section did, by borrowing from the GN Section.

The sets were disbanded after WWII - I can't help thinking in order to release the buffet cars! Here are some service pictures, to be followed by Diagrams and pictures of the stock in LNER and BR days, and finally, operational details which were more varied than is generally realised.

The Diagrams

A notable feature of these designs was that there were no domed ends and the TO and BTO had no end vestibule access. More significantly, each carriage had a single door on each side midway along the body: getting 50-odd passengers in or out of the carriage would not have been quick. It was, in part, a throwback to GNR designs from before the Great War. Seating was 2-a-side (2:2) in the well-established format for excursion carriages.

However, it's not as simple as it may seem because, as described above, the first 5 sets built for the GN Section (and used by the GC) - about half of the eventual total - were the prototype designs. Successive construction was refined slightly, but I'm going to start with the GN ones.

1933 for the GN and GC Sections

BTO to D.169

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This first BTO design was 61'6" long and seated 52 passengers with the usual leg room (6'2" per compartment) and a half, or coupe, arrangement at the van end.

The van itself was quite compact. Two perfunctory hinged shelves were provided and the usual access door for the guard, and passengers by arrangement. In later batches the van was made longer and two beer cupboards were installed. Note how there were no domed ends, nor in the twins or buffet cars.

The running numbers were:

LNER

43500-19

  BR

16467-76

The note along the bottom states: "Vehicle No.43509 fitted with pressure heating and ventilation". It was the last of this Diagram and forerunner of subsequent designs. Diagram: Author's collection.

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A lovely picture taken on a sunny day of the first brake-end. author's collection.

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TO twins to D.171

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These carriages were slightly shorter at 52' 0 1/16" and in articulated twins (TO-TO). The bogies are shown similar in appearance but with heavy journals in the articulating bogie: photographs show that it was in fact a heavy bogie with deeper side frames.

The running numbers shown in the pairs as built were:

LNER

45001/2, 11/2, 21/2, 31/2, 41/2, 51/2, 61/2, 71/2, 81/2, 91/2

  BR

13142-61

LNER

45101/2, 11/2, 21/2, 31/2, 41/2, 51/2, 61/2, 71/2, 81/2, 91/2

  BR

13162-81

Diagram: Author's collection.

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Seen at Nottingham Victoria in June 1956 is twin Nos E13158/9E, built as Nos 45081/2. With Thompson carriages on either side. The shallow triple-toplights contrast with the later 4-square pattern.

1934-5 for the NEA and SSA (NB Section)

BTO to D.179

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When more buffet tourist train sets were built in 1934-35 for the NEA and SSA (NB Section) the design was adjusted to give a larger van space with beer cupboards. Passenger accommodation was thus reduced by doing away with the half-bay and the total number of seats from 52 > 48. The slightly different brake end was quite distinctive.

Other changes were addition of a strip along the waist and slightly deeper toplights, precursor to the 4-square design, although this is not shown on the Diagram (but can be seen in the photograph below): the precise date of this change is not known.

Running numbers were:

1934

LNER

22267-70

  BR

16532-5

1935

LNER

2127/9/20/1

  BR

16528-31

1935

LNER

31096/9, 31100/11

  BR

16536-8

Diagram: author's collection.

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A lovely view from LNER days which shows Raven C7 "Atlantic" No 2164 in 1937 on shed at York, probably captured on the same day as A1 Galtee More. It was a York loco for several decades, from the 1920s until 1945.

This time the background interest is a sparkling green & cream Tourist carriage, actually 3rd Open Brake No 22270, from one of the sets delivered to the NEA in 1934. It may look ex-works but these carriages were washed regularly with soap and water to keep them looking this good. Photo: Another repaired CCQ slide, author's collection.

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Built in 1935 as No 21217 and seen in 1958 at Appledore as No E16528E (between a Gresley teak carriage and an ex-GWR one). The different brake end is clear to see, along with the deeper toplights and beading along the waist. Photo: H.C. Casserley.

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TO twins to D.180

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The twins were as before plus addition of a waist strip. The Diagram shows the same shallow toplights as the 1933 build and lacking illustration of an actual carriage, I cannot say if or when the deeper version began to be fitted - and should add that this change in LNER carriages was routinely not deemed important enough for an updated Diagram to be issued.

The running numbers shown in the pairs as built were:

1934

LNER

21261/2, 3/4, 5/6, 67/8, 69/70, 71/2, 73/4, 75/6

  BR

13142-61

1935

LNER

31101/2, 4/5, 6/7, 9/10, 12/3, 4/5, 6/7, 8/9

  BR

13182-97

Diagram: author's collection.

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1939 for the SSA (NB Section)

This final batch comprised a small number of the two basic types:

D.307 TO-TO
D.308 BTO

No buffet cars were provided and this addition can be viewed as enough for an RB-free set but it was a topping-up exercise really, with the vehicles in Scotland being used more flexibly than in England. Once again, there were some detail changes.

TO twin D.307

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In this final Diagram of TTO twin - built at York - the general layout was as before (D.180). The 4-square sliding toplights, now a well-established feature, were repeated but beading along the waist, which seems to have been a peculiarity of the immediately preceding Diagrams, was dropped, as was steel beading around the windows. Diagram: author's collection.

Running numbers were:

LNER

32770-77

  BR

13782-9

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BTO to D.308

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The layout of the BTTO was also similar to the previous Diagram (D.179) with detail differences as described above for D.307. Diagram: author's collection.

Running numbers were:

LNER

31864-5

  BR

16845-6

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The only picture to hand of these two final Diagrams was taken on 31-3-62 on the GE Section at Foulsham and shows E16846E (ex-31865). Although rather dark and carrying BR maroon livery, the absence of beading strips can be seen. The single access door per side in all these Tourist designs is painfully obvious!

A small quirk is conversion of the E-prefix to "GE" by placing the letter "G" above the "E". The ex-GER 0-6-0 may be shunting an excursion formation as the next carriage is a D.186 TO. Photo: H.C. Casserley.

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New info:

Simon James has identified this picture as having been taken during the RCTS Great Eastern Commemorative Railtour which visited a remarkable number of secondary lines Liverpool St.-Norwich Victoria-Thorpe-Foulsham-Swaffenham-Thetford-Ely-Cambridge-Liverpool St. using "Britannia" No 70003 John Bunyan and J17 No 65567 - which is seen here.

Interestingly, "six Gresleys" were deployed.

Buffet Car to D.168

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The 61'6" buffet car to D.168 was contemporary with the general service design to D.167 and the interiors were the same. Only the external body panelling differed. The same type was built for all the Tourist train sets but there were detail differences which the Diagram did not record, see below. Diagram: author's collection.

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Running numbers were:

1933

LNER

43510-9

  BR

9144-53

1934

LNER

21604-7

  BR

9136-9

1935

LNER

21612, 31097-8, 31103/8

  BR

-, 9140-3

The first batch of 1933 was built at York, all further construction was by BRC&WCo.

Photographs of the first batch show 3-shallow toplights. The type fitted in the second batch (1934) I cannot say at the moment but the final batch of 1935 appears to have received the next generation pattern with 3-deep toplights. Such variations were not deemed important enough for a new Diagram to be issued - I describe a similar same story with Gresley restaurant cars.

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The very first TRB, built at York, No 43510, and photographed there by the LNER. This is the counter side and it tallies with the Diagram which shows toplights of the 3-shallow kind. Note the positioning of the battery boxes so that gas cylinders for the cooking could be placed between them (more clearly visible in the next picture), and of course the gas gauge on the solebar.

This carriage was given an identification "D", a practice which was soon dropped. The black & white images don't alas do justice to the exuberant livery chosen for the Tourist stock. Photo: LNER Dwg Office, author's collection.

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For reasons unknown, the other side was recorded on No 43511. Photo: LNER Press Section, author's collection.

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An interior view shows the well-known layout with tubular steel chairs with padded seats and backs. They are reputed not to have been very popular and one wonders if comfort had been reduced deliberately in order to foster a decent turnover? Photo: Felix Fonteyn, London, author's collection.

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This service view from the BR maroon era at Glasgow Queen Street station shows an example built in 1935 for the Southern Scottish Area as 31097, now carrying SC9140E. The 3-deep toplights can be seen.

The loco was not recorded and the TRB appears to be an ECS working. Date of the photograph was 5th June 1963, evidently after overhaul. It was to be withdrawn to departmental service in April the following year. Interestingly, it was one of two which had been used in the Television Train. Unlike the Gresley RBs to D.167, ten of which lasted into the 1970s, all the TRBs were taken out of revenue-earning service between 1962-64 along with the non-catering Opens. The interiors of the TRBs had been refurbished and it may be that the bodies had not lasted too well and modernisation with steel panelling was not justified. Hence they were part of the 1960s general cull of wooden-bodied carriages. Photo: H.C. Casserley.

Mention should be made that after WWII when the Tourist train sets were dispersed, the TRBs went into general service on a par with other buffet cars, in Scotland and the Cambridge "Beer Trains", for example.

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In service

The BTTs from the first series built in 1933 and allocated to the GN Section were photographed almost equally there and on the GC Section; the later sets, less frequently.

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Gresley A3 No 2747 Coronach (DON) is passing Greenwood box with an Up excursion made up with one of the original Buffet Tourist Train sets for the GN and GC Sections The quality is so-so but it's good to see a Doncaster Pacific approaching London. It's likely that the train had started in the West Riding where the sets were often divided with separate starting points and, for London, combination at Wakefield, for example. With thanks to Stephen White for correcting the location.

The picture is undated but the carriages are so clean that they may have been recently built. Photo: Author's collection.

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The first set built in 1933 for the GN Section, led by BTO No 43500, was captured near Potters Bar with A1 No 4477 Gay Crusader in charge. Photo: H.C. Doyle.

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The third set built for the GN Section, led by BTO No 43505, is captured in a Down excursion behind W1 No 10000 on the 4-track near Hatfield. Photo: Colling Turner.

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Heading south out of York behind K3 No 4000 is a GN BTT. The BTO to D.169 is easy to see with its shorter van space and extra square window. Photo: Cecil Ord Collection.

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The GC Section would borrow a BTT from the GN, as seen here at Nottingham Victoria behind K3 No 1164.

To the right can be seen a "Barnum" BTO and two locos, B17 No 2824 Lumley Castle and an unidentified "Director". Photo: T.G.Hepburn.

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Another GN Section BTT borrowed by the GC stands at Skegness behind B8 No 5280 (ANN), about to return to Bulwell Common/Nottingham. The date was 3rd April 1934. Photo: Locomotive Club of Great Britain.

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B17 No 2851 Derby County has a Buffet Tourist excursion in 1936 on the ascent to Woodhead. The back of the print states "Neepsend" but the location was Wardsend, midway between Neepsend and Wadsley Bridge, on the gradient of 1:120.

It's mid-morning and the train is believed to have started from Leicester (behind a Leicester "Footballer"), the stock having been borrowed from the GN Section. Tablet No 115 was being carried. If only this had been a colour picture! Photo: A.G. Ellis, author's collection.

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I have had this picture for some time and struggled to identify what it shows. The main feature is a complete BTT set and the caption on the back states "Empty Tourist train going into Wembley sidings B7 No 5466". The sun angle suggests around 3pm.

There are several puzzles here because the B7 was a Neasden loco, a tank engine can be seen on the far end, and I cannot square the photo with the 25" OS map for 1935-37. It looks like the stretch between Wembley Park station and the sidings but the layout does not tally on this side of the running lines. I might also add that the carriages have excursion stickers on the windows and the end carriage is carrying a number "50" but the loco, from Neasden, does not and in any case seems to be heading away from the sidings or simply being shunted? Could the B7 have been provided by Neasden to assist with loads too heavy for one of its 0-6-2T N5 pilots given the local gradients? Sorry, but I'm stumped! Photo: author's collection.

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Part of the OS 25" map for 1935-7 showing the top of the Wembley loop and the signal box picked out in yellow. Wembley sidings are to the lower right. Note how Wealdstone Brook runs close to the signal box and the sidings on the left of the photograph are not shown.

To the NE are the two GC running lines towards the north, and the Metropolitan's complex. Beyond them lies a housing estate with long gardens running down to the railway. Source: National Library of Scotland.

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Update

I have resolved some of the problems. The location is the point shown on the OS map on which the signal box and signals tally. The difficulty is caused by an optical illusion and the rise and fall of the ground. The two tracks to the left rise slightly, the LH one being part of the Wembley Loop while the RH one dips towards a medium size building and siding outside the Loop. The ground falls away and the change in height makes it look as if the tracks continue towards the signal box whereas in fact, they turn away and conceal part of the view.

Even harder to discern is Wealdstone Brook which was diverted to the SE when the railway was built and runs at the bottom of a cutting, which was protected all round by railings cum fences which can be made out quite clearly.

The signal box was built by the Metropolitan (hence the gabled roof ends) as part of its double-track "Extension" which eventually became part of the GCLE and LNER, and guarded the junction for: the sidings at Wembley, the yards at Neasden, the carriage sidings, and the engine shed. On WTTs per the GCR, LNER and BR it was called Brent North. The Signalling Record Society, however, lists it as Brent North Junction which is either confused with Neasden North Junction, or maybe it was the original name given by the Metropolitan and changed when the GCR took over to avoid confusion?

The signals are easier to determine. In the distance is the southbound splitting signal for the goods junction. The nearer one is a home signal for northbound departures. All are on and it is impossible to tell if the Buffet Tourist Train is being drawn into the sidings or is being taken out prior to such a repositioning move.

I can add a little about the locos for the tank engine in the distance has a high elliptical roof, unlike the N5s on Neasden shed, but like a Robinson L1 which are known to have served as Wembley pilots.

A final point concerns a possible date and the occasion. Not all the trees are in leaf - some are still bare - which accords with mid-spring and late April. In the period 1933-39 when the BTTs were available, the FA cup final was held at Wembley in the last week of April, and it is possible that a photographer came to this fairly remote spot with a picture like this in mind. One of the pieces in the jig-saw puzzle is a small pencilled note on the back of the card of "ERW". This may have stood for E.R. Wethersett who was no slouch in getting to promising locations. I am, however, unable to confirm this.

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D49 No 307 Kincardineshire is at an unknown location with a second- or third-generation BTT, albeit only a half-set with a non-Tourist carriage added near the far end. Alas, details cannot be made out because the print was made using textured paper and not glazed. The loco was allocated to Dundee so this may have been one of the sets built for the NB Section in 1935 or 1939. Photo: E.R. Wethersett.

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The final period - BR days

When the Buffet Tourist Trains were dispersed after WWII the stock appeared in a surprising variety of places. Here are some examples, in chronological order:

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This view from 1949 shows ex-NBR N14 No 69120 in recently acquired BR livery shunting ECS at Cowlairs Bank. A relatively modern secondary 5-set of gangwayed Gresleys, a trend started in the late 1930s, has had a former Tourist buffet car attached, not uncommonly outside the 5-set for ease of transfer between trains. Its livery is hard to identify but looks like plain brown with LNER-lettering for "BUFFET CAR" and "E9141" on the RH side. Photo: E.R. Wethersett.

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Another view from 1949, with Cambridge's B17 No 61638 Melton Hall at Marshmoor with a Cambridge buffet express. It's a Saturday and the train has been strengthened by two TKs behind the tender. The buffet car is an ex-Tourist one. Photo: E.R. Wethersett.

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A detail view of the TRB in the picture above is over-enlarged, really, but it was still carrying brown livery plus BR lettering. Photo: E.R. Wethersett.

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A nice post-WW2 view at Chaloners Whin with newly built A2 No 60514 Chamossaire resplendent in BR apple green livery rounding the curve with an express. It looks like a relief or an excursion and the third carriage along is a Tourist BTO. An ideal example for modellers who'd like to assemble a long train with almost anything in it! Photo: author's collection.

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An unidentified B16 crosses Crimple Viaduct in the early 1950s en route for Leeds Central with a Harrogate portion for King's Cross. The formation (TO-TO, BTK, FK, TO) contains a former Tourist twin behind the tender, now in BR standard carmine & cream livery. More details of the service were quoted on p.81 under Through Coaches and Portions. Photo: Armstrong Railway Photographic Trust.

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A weekend relief for the Newcastle-Bournemouth service in 1957 is on the GC London Extension near Rugby Central behind 8F No 48508 (Canklow). All the visible carriages, a mixture of Gresleys and Thompsons, are in BR b&c livery but the former Tourist twin (TO-TO) stands out in its recently received maroon livery. Behind it is a Gresley 52'6" TK. Photo: Rev. A.W.V. Mace.

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This picture is dated from 1959 on the Banbury Branch on the GC London Extension and shows the Sunday York-Swindon express behind B1 No 61271. The formation varied a good deal and appears to have had "made up" status. Photo: Mike Mitchell.

On this occasion the train contained three Open carriages for which BR Mk.1 TSOs could have been used but its status was not high enough and ex-LNER Gresleys were used throughout:

BTK

3rd brake

  TO

3rd open

  TO-TO

3rd open twin

Ex-Tourist stock

  CK

1st/3rd composite

Possibly (but unlikely) an FK?

BTK?

3rd brake?

Inside out.

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The final picture is from 1961 and shows another Cambridge B1, No 61287, near Brookmans Park with a Cambridge Buffet train. Diesel haulage was now the norm and the B1 was probably deputising for a failure. Five of the carriages were BR Mk.1 plus for the 1st class, a Thompson FK, and for the catering, an even older carriage: a former Tourist RB in BR maroon livery. During most of the BR period and steam haulage the RB was either an ex-GNR conversion or a former TRB as seen here. Modernisation finally came with diesel haulage and from 1962, an LNER "standard" RB and a BR Mk.1 RMB in opposing sets. Photo: Real Photographs.

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GCR excursion carriages - Barnums: are here.

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