The Coronation
Introduced two years after the "Silver Jubilee" on 3rd July 1937, Clive and I described how this express evolved in the book but could only offer a limited number of illustrations. There were not, after all, many variations. Here, however, are some fresh views which will be presented in several parts and will build up gradually:
A - Before the service started B - The service commences C - Restaurant car menu D - The Observation Car E - The spare set
Part C Restaurant car menu added:
C - Restaurant car menu
These menus were was printed on card, folded in half, and were for the 3rd Restaurant, of which there were two in the train (there was no RF). This example was for Tuesday 19th April 1938:
You have to admire the quality for it is quite superb, with English and Scottish heraldry on the front and a blue A4 on the back. No wonder that quite a few have survived!
Click on the image for an enlargement
The Wine List - is extraordinary for it begins with 12 aperitifs and is followed by 25 wines and champagnes. Among the wines were four Australian ones, which many people today think are a new invention!
Classic spirits follow - but also a range of 7 beers and the same number of lagers. The list concludes with ten non-alcoholic drinks. I find this part of the menu mind-boggling.
The Menu - is interesting for it is relatively uncomplicated and despite the odd bit of French jargon, it is unashamedly British. All the meat is described as "English or Scotch". A highlight is the fish dish, turbot, a coastal waters flatfish sometimes described as "the king of fish" and served with oyster sauce. That would have been my choice! Followed by Gooseberry Charlotte... The fish dish would be called poached today and was in season when this menu was printed, the gooseberries, rather early. 1938 was in fact described as an annus memorabilis with April especially dry and warm. Amazing what a railway menu can reveal in the days when nearly all our food was home-grown and fresh.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Additional info
Two things have been flagged up:
1 - There is a misspelling of "Courvoisier".
2 - "Cyder" in the menu is neither a misspelling nor ye olde English. They are different things!
- Cyder is made from a single pressing of vintage fruit, rather like “extra virgin” olive oil. As with fine wines, Cyder does mature in cask and bottle, which the connoisseur can appreciate. Cyder is made with love and dedication, rather than resorting to the apothecaryst's bag of tricks.
- Cider, given to agricultural labourers well into living memory, was made from the cyder pulp being re-pressed at the rate of 10 gallons of water to 1 cwt of pulp. This “long drink” was conspicuously different, not only in its alcoholic value, but also its taste. This type of cider could never mature in cask or bottle and was meant for general consumption, at a time when water was not always safe to drink. “Industrial” cider and Perry can hardly be expected to be laid down to mature. However, it enjoys a wide following in the UK.
Source: Minchew's Real Cyder & Perry.
A - Before the service started
I only know of a handful of pre-service pictures of the train:
This Doncaster Drawing Office print is not dated but shows a complete "Coronation" train posing for its formal photograph. Seen from the carriage "A" end with the Observation Car at the far end. The twins in view are:
BTO-RT FO-FO TO-RT TO-BTO OBS
This is the other way round to the listing we gave in the book which was based on two pictures and a further three unpublished ones of northbound workings, which suggests that the above picture shows the south end of the train with carriage "A" at the London buffers end, in other words in the right order for sending to Edinburgh Waverley for an Up working to London. The chrome-plated carriage numbers are alas unreadable, even the leading BTO. Photo: LNER. author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
This is a mildly sepia postcard produced by the Locomotive Publishing Co. Ltd. (LPC for short) and because there are two views in the same place on the four-track on the slow line, it's possible to tell that they were "official" photographs taken with the train stationary. Alas, I cannot identify the location as there are few clues.
A4 No 4492 Dominion of New Zealand is in charge and the crew has been told to keep out of sight although a blurred head can be made out inside the cab. Compare with a pre-service view of the Silver Jubilee in which the crew hung out of the cab and had to be made to disappear by burning-in the side of the cab; it wasn't very elegant and this is far better. Technically speaking the train was an ECS working but clean new lights have been placed over the buffers signifying an Express. The print, showing white roofs and near-white upper panelling, has been doctored in the darkroom (long before Photoshop was invented) and this being hard to do evenly, I have tried to repair the unevenness so that it looks better. Photo: LPF, author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The second picture was taken from the rear alongside the Observation Car and it is visible empty. Note the two unused lamp irons. On an ECS train there would have been a single tail lamp but this has clearly been removed for the picture. In service in LNER days, two lamps were carried. Personally, I think that the rear of the train looked better like this! Photo: LPF, author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
A few days before the public service started, a press trip was laid on, on 30th June 1937 between King's Cross and Barkston, and here it is near Potters Bar behind A4 No 4489 Dominion of Canada. The complete train can be seen with the Observation Car on the rear. Photo: Ken Nunn, LCGB.
Click on the image for an enlargement
B - In service
Cover of a rather basic pamphlet for the "Coronation" when it was introduced in 1937.
Click on the image for an enlargement
In brief, five A4s were built for the "Coronation":
4488 Union of South Africa 4489 Dominion of Canada 4490 Empire of India 4491 Commonwealth of Australia 4492 Dominion of New Zealand
The Down train left King's Cross at 4pm and the Up train, Waverley at 4.30pm.
An undated view of the Down "Coronation" passing Ganwick behind A4 No 4489 Dominion of Canada. This is the northern, 3rd class end of the train led by a BTO-TO and TO-RT twins. The 1st class is near the London buffers end. Photo: LNER Press Section.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Also undated but a little further north at Harringay, the Down train is hauled by 4490 Empire of India. Photo: Real Photographs.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Yet another undated view but of the Up train at Cockburnspath headed by 4491 Commonwealth of Australia. This is the King's Cross buffers end of the train with the catering twin BTO-RT behind the tender. Photo: Photomatic.
Click on the image for an enlargement
An August 1937 view also shows the Up train at Cockburnspath headed by 4491 Commonwealth of Australia. This picture by Wethersett was to form the basis of an LNER poster. Peter Lund used to have a framed copy behind his desk at work. Quite a sight! Photo: ER Wethersett.
Click on the image for an enlargement
An undated view of the Down "Coronation" as it accelerates on the 4-track across the North York plain through Overton, a mile or two north of York. Overton Grange and Overton Wood are out of sight to the right, the nearest villages being to the south, Nether Poppleton and Skelton. The observation car is being carried. Unusually (in photographic terms), the loco in charge was 4482 Golden Eagle which had been built in December 1936 in LNER green livery and repainted blue in January 1938, which it is now carrying, so the date would have been summer 1938 or '39. Photo: Possibly Cecil Ord; his collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
D - The observation cars
Two were built when the train was introduced in 1937, Nos 1719/29.
An undated LNER official view taken at King's Cross with the "Coronation" getting ready for its 4pm departure, the observation car gleaming. This is No 1719. It's a long exposure and people who moved are blurred. Photo: LNER/BR(ER), author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
This LNER view, rarely seen in its entirety, was printed so as to emphasize the majesty of the observation car on the rear, which it nicknamed the "beaver tail". Clicking on the image shows an enlargement of the train which is how it has tended to be reproduced: technically better, perhaps, but not quite as pleasing aesthetically. The blue A4 was not identified.
Close examination reveals that the twin ahead of the observation cars is from the spare set for either the "Coronation" or "West Riding Limited" with no branding on the body and empty destination boards on the roof. Photo: LNER-ADCO Photo Service, author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
A 1937 handbill for use of the observation car. As can be seen, one-hour sessions were available with a 15-minute break in between. Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The interior of the car was unchanged when this photograph was taken in 1956. Photo: A.G. Ellis (CJBS), author's collection.
By 1952 the observation cars were being used between Glasgow-Fort William and Fort William-Mallaig and this one was captured in BR carmine & cream livery, number E1729E, standing at the buffers at Fort William station. August 1952. Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
On 16th April 1955, E1729E was used on the rear of an Ian Allan Special "The Lickey Limited". Photo: T.J. Edginton.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The BR rebuild of 1959
BR eventually rebuilt the observation cars to improve the visibility. This was no simple matter and trials were carried out on a normal Gresley carriage before deciding on the best compromise. Here is the result with E1719E photographed in May 1959 in BR maroon livery. Unusually, the BR roundel was placed on the end. Note how all the curved glazing was eliminated and plain glass fitted instead. The appearance was more angular where before there had been elegant curves, dictated to an extent by the need for better visibility and to keep the cost down. The heavy bogies were retained. Photo: BR Scottish Region, author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The interior was revamped extensively with more modern seats. At the far end there had been a luggage compartment (not a "mail locker") which was part of the original design to help cope with passengers' luggage when loadings were high in summer: this was removed, allowing a useful increase in the seating. Note the large framed painting to help break up the far wall. Photo: BR Scottish Region, author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
To be continued...
