Back in the 1970s I would have said fixed rakes of all Mk 2d, e & f stock were the rule rather than the exception on most main routes into London……….
I remember the mixed Mk2 rakes on the WCML in the 1970s and travelled on them quite a bit.
After electrification through to Glasgow in 1974, the daytime InterCity services on the southern WCML were revised into a reasonably standard hourly pattern (which was very different to today’s arrangements, as might be expected). The standard of the rolling stock allocated to various routes seemed to fall into these categories:-
1) Euston – Manchester/Liverpool/Glasgow
These were the WCML’s premier services and had the newest rolling stock – the first to get the airconditioned Mk2 and subsequently the first with loco-hauled Mk3s.
As I recall, these formations were generally the most consistent and homogeneous – so once the Mk2d-f appeared, these trains were made up with almost all of the same type.
Euston – Birmingham/Wolves trains most probably were included in this category too, but I’m not sure whether or not these interworked with Liverpool/Manchester/Glasgow sets back in the 1970s.
2) Euston – North Wales/Blackpool/Carlisle
These were second-tier InterCity services, serving more intermediate stops along the WCML and equipped with slightly older rolling stock. As the airconditioned Mk2 and later the Mk3 were delivered for the flagship routes, the previous generations of carriages were cascaded down to the “Lancashire” trains (and probably also went to other routes like the MML).
3) Birmingham/Liverpool/Manchester – Glasgow/Edinburgh
Many of these trains divided or combined at Carstairs and Preston. After the 1974 electrification they were formed of mixtures of Mk1 and early Mk2a-c, evolving over time into mixtures of any type of Mk2 (aircon or non-aircon).
David Flitcroft’s website has photos showing typical examples of these workings on the northern WCML during the 1970s. Obviously the "portion" sets never worked into Euston.
The stock for trains which divided and combined en route could look a bit of a dog’s breakfast on account of the need to provide guard’s vans and First Class in each portion. For example there might be a BFK stuck right in the middle of the train with another First Class carriage somewhere else (rather than all together neatly at the London end), or a Buffet Car away from its normal position in the centre of the train – I remember once seeing a Manchester portion with the Buffet as the last vehicle, which looked quite odd.
4) Oddballs, relief trains, summer Saturdays etc.
These operated outside the standard daytime clockface pattern and stock could be an unpredictable combination of Mk1 and early Mk2.
Maybe it was category (2), the Euston–Blackpool/Carlisle/North Wales trains which prompted the OP’s question.
I travelled on these quite a lot in the mid to late 1970s, as they provided the regular London services from places like Lancaster, Wigan or Warrington (most of the London/Glasgow “Electric Scots” only stopped at Preston & Carlisle).
I recall the Blackpool and Carlisle trains could be made up from quite a mixture of stock – some aircon Mk2, some non-aircon Mk2, combined with the inevitable Mk1 BG and Buffet Car – as seen in
this example.
The overall external appearance of the carriages could look a hotch-potch of old and new, because of the combination of different bodyside profiles of Mk1 and Mk2 and opening and sealed/tinted windows. At least everything was painted a consistent blue and grey in those days.
After the Mk3s appeared in force from the late 1970s and into the 80s, the Euston – North West rakes became almost all Mk2d-f, but it was not unusual to find an older Mk2 or two stuck somewhere in the formation. For example this picture, where the 5th coach is a non-aircon version.
87020 Carlisle [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], by Phil Sangwell (87020 Carlisle), from Wikimedia Commons
Sometimes an extra non-aircon BSO was added at one end of a train of otherwise airconditioned Mk2s – presumably when extra van space was needed, which meant a 13-coach load in Mk2 days.
If the extra BSO was marshalled the “wrong way” (with the van half facing the main body of the train, as in the examples
here and
here) it could work to one’s advantage in getting a seat on a busy service, or a bay of four to yourself at quieter times. “Normals” tended to look at the guard’s van and not realise there was an extra half-coach of seating available beyond it.
Similarly, once on board, if passengers were walking through a busy train trying to find a seat, they would give up when they got to the first guard’s van. It was always worth walking up to the front of a northbound train at Euston, as you were usually guaranteed a peaceful and uncrowded trip if you were lucky and this had occurred.
