Last Compartment (Corridor) trains in service

[Tetragon213]

After the rather horrific murder of Debbie Linsley, I'm not surprised compartments went the way of the dodo with the speed they did towards the end. I tend to agree with @The exile and @NER1621 in the sense that there is a bit too much nostalgia for old compartments. Being trapped and isolated in what is essentially a perfect kill-room with no witnesses would be frightening to say the least, and this is coming from a near 30 year old man.

As a side note, I've always wondered if Linsley's murderer simply opened the door mid-journey to make his escape.

 

[GusB]

I can't remember exact dates but I have memories of travelling home from Inverness (having returned north on the Clansman) in compartment stock. I assume these were Mk1s, but I'm not sure. This would probably have been early 80s.

 

[yorksrob]

I think we need to take a breath and remember that compartments with a side corridor were very different to the full width type, which were potentially dangerous to lone travellers (as well as potentially advantageous to canoodling couples).

 

[Welly]

I remember the Mk1 SKs on the loco hauled Oxford/Newbury Network expresses in the late 1980s - all gone by 1993.

 

[Taunton]

On the matter of rose-tinting, someone will know for certain, but IIRC, circa 1969, WR Motorail services were made up of Mark 1 FKs, with a compartment allocated to each car carrying a driver accompanied by two or more passengers. There was a family holiday which benefited from this. May have cost an arm and a leg for all we kids knew, but what a treat to have guaranteed on-train privacy for a whole trip! None of that moaning "Are we nearly there yet" from the back seat of the car!

Yes, our family took it, and the separate compartment each was made a feature of in the marketing material. Actually, small children from adjacent compartments quite soon got to playing with one another in the corridor. Not just WR but all, as the Motorail material was national. Our LMR set was based at Newton-le-Willows, alternate days it either went to Newton Abbot (with us) or went the other way, to Stirling. The dining car charged standard BR prices.

 

[hexagon789]

I can't remember exact dates but I have memories of travelling home from Inverness (having returned north on the Clansman) in compartment stock. I assume these were Mk1s, but I'm not sure. This would probably have been early 80s.

Compartments remained until Sprinterisation of the HML.

The typical mid-80s to 1990 formation being load 5 of:

TSO-BSO-TSO / CK*-TSOT

*Originally a Mk2C FK, in 1985 five of these vehicles had four Compartments downgraded to Second Class.

In the earlier 80s, sets were usually vacuum braked Mk2Z with Mk1 catering and the odd Mk1 interloper. From 1982 onwards, air-braked Mk2s appeared - the last regularly diagrammed vacuum braked Mk2 set on Highland line services lasted until 1985.

 

[Helvellyn]

Compartment stock just became less efficient space wise, or didn't offer what most passengers wanted.

The MR, ER and ScR all favoured the six seat standard class compartment. Whilst the armrests folded down I wonder how many people willing folded them up to let a fourth person sit down? The SR and WR favoured the eight seat compartment with no armrests, but again it was probably snug with eight people at a time. Whilst an eight seat compartment SK would seat the same as a TSO (64), it was only 48 in a six-seat compartment SK. A TSO usually had tables in every seating bay, which again passengers came to prefer.

For First Class there was no difference in seating capacity, but the move away from designated restaurant cars meant the open First was better than a corridor First because a table was there for dining. On longer distance trains business travellers who wanted to work would obviously appreciate a table as well. On commuter services I can actually see why a compartment was popular if you had lots of passengers walking through looking for seats, or even when trains were full and standing. Pop your briefcase and coat on the overhead rack and read your copy of the Telegraph/Times in the morning and Evening Standard in the evening. But the trend towards 2+2 seating in open First Class multiple units when 3+2 seating was used in Standard started with the original 317s and the refurbishment of the 30x units in the early 1980s, whereas previously even in suburban units First Class had been the standard wider seats (compartments in the 30x EMUs for example, and even Class 115/117 suburban DMUs had 2+1 First Class - only the lightweights had 2+2). Always interesting that Standard Class seats were used in 2+2 First Class - IC70 in the 317s/refurbished 30x EMUs; Class 442 style Standard Class seats in First Class on the 319/1 and 321 units.

 

[DJ_K666]

CIGs, VEPs and CEPs. Lasted until around 2004 or 2005ish with compartments in the DTCs or the TBCK in the CEPs

I absolutely hated the Connex Open plan layout on the 3COP units.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

I remember the Mk1 SKs on the loco hauled Oxford/Newbury Network expresses in the late 1980s - all gone by 1993.

The NSE loco hauled services out of Paddington were replaced by the 165/166 Turbo fleet in that era.

 

[Rescars]

Yes, our family took it, and the separate compartment each was made a feature of in the marketing material. Actually, small children from adjacent compartments quite soon got to playing with one another in the corridor. Not just WR but all, as the Motorail material was national. Our LMR set was based at Newton-le-Willows, alternate days it either went to Newton Abbot (with us) or went the other way, to Stirling. The dining car charged standard BR prices.

Good to know my memory wasn't playing tricks! My recollections relate to the Olympia - St Austell service. The only open seating on the train was the designated dining space in the restaurant car. There was no buffet counter of course - I remember buying cans of Pepsi from doorway of the service pantry.

 

[norbitonflyer]

As a side note, I've always wondered if Linsley's murderer simply opened the door mid-journey to make his escape.

Plenty of stations between Petts Wood and Victoria. He could have boarded, and left the train, at any of them. With, apparently, only about 70 on board the train the chances of discovery were very small (an 8-EPB formation would have 72 compartments and seating bays, and at quiet times people would generally avoid a compartment that was already occupied)

 

[ChiefPlanner]

The 501's on the Watford - Euston line had some full compartments and they were often best avoided , ridiculous internal vandalism featuring slashed seats , no lighting and the odd ceiling panel kicked in. Some very unsavoury characters lurked there , not just archetypal football supporters , no wonder the LUL trains were deemed preferable ! - 1970's "chic" it was not !

 

[JonathanH]

I remember the Mk1 SKs on the loco hauled Oxford/Newbury Network expresses in the late 1980s - all gone by 1993.

The NSE loco hauled services out of Paddington were replaced by the 165/166 Turbo fleet in that era.

The all corridor formations on Oxford / Newbury with standard class SKs were gone by 1990, when the open layout coaches from the Northampton and Cambridge lines were moved over. What remained was a BSK in the centre of the Mark 1 formations, composite CKs, and first class FKs. It was those which continued through to the end.

 

[Tetragon213]

Plenty of stations between Petts Wood and Victoria. He could have boarded, and left the train, at any of them. With, apparently, only about 70 on board the train the chances of discovery were very small (an 8-EPB formation would have 72 compartments and seating bays, and at quiet times people would generally avoid a compartment that was already occupied)

True, although the sole witness reported screaming after the train left Brixton. If that is the case, it would seem likely the murder took place between Brixton (penultimate stop) and Victoria (final destination). With no stops in between, I consider it possible that the murderer jumped out before reaching Victoria where there would be a greater volume of witnesses.

 

[norbitonflyer]

True, although the sole witness reported screaming after the train left Brixton. If that is the case, it would seem likely the murder took place between Brixton (penultimate stop) and Victoria (final destination). With no stops in between, I consider it possible that the murderer jumped out before reaching Victoria where there would be a greater volume of witnesses.

Possible, but jumping from a moving train in 3rd rail land, (and presumably closing the door behind him, as the body was not discovered until a member of platform staff opened it) would be quite dangerous. Simpler just to leave the train at Victoria (possibly just before the train stopped) and close the door as you do so is less likely to attract attention.
But we are getting off topic. The OP was asking abiut side corridor stock, which lasted for somewhat longer, and can still be found if you know where to look (sleepers, for example)

 

[greyman42]

The MR, ER and ScR all favoured the six seat standard class compartment. Whilst the armrests folded down I wonder how many people willing folded them up to let a fourth person sit down? The SR and WR favoured the eight seat compartment with no armrests, but again it was probably snug with eight people at a time.

In the latter days of compartment stock, the armrest was sometimes sewn into the seat back so that it could not be pulled down.

 

[Sleepy]

Possible, but jumping from a moving train in 3rd rail land, (and presumably closing the door behind him, as the body was not discovered until a member of platform staff opened it) would be quite dangerous. Simpler just to leave the train at Victoria (possibly just before the train stopped) and close the door as you do so is less likely to attract attention.
But we are getting off topic. The OP was asking abiut side corridor stock, which lasted for somewhat longer, and can still be found if you know where to look (sleepers, for example)

Night Riveria late 1980's Weekend First for £3 compartment door shut blinds down, lights off. Why pay for a berth ?

 

[nw1]

There was a Derby to Poole and return train which retained Mk1 compartment carriages during the 1970’s and if I remember correctly may even have continued into the early 1980’s. It left Derby for Poole just after 6am and arrived back into Derby at around 10pm. I had a relative who at that time lived on the Isle of Wight and used to catch the evening up from Soithampton to Derby where I would meet her. Time keeping was terrible on the last part of the journey from Birmingham to Derby and I was often waiting on dark and cold Platform 1 at Derby with no announcements as to when it would eventually arrive. It was quite often Class 31 hauled and often sat around well past the departure time in Birmingham New Street. My Aunty, as a female travelling alone, did not enjoy that last section of the journey in a compartment on a very lightly loaded train.

Can find what must be this service in the 1979 PTM (EDIT: also in 1980 and 1981 but different timings - thanks @jfollows)

1979 has an 0608 Derby to Poole which returns as the 1710 Poole to Nottingham.

The coaches are denoted NEV-3SK-RMB-FK-2SK.

I was a bit puzzled about your "cold" comment at first as this sounds like a classic Summer Saturday service (these often being formed MkI when the all-year services were MkII) - but it did indeed run all year.

Then again, back in the day Summer Saturdays extended to the very end of September so doubtless towards the end of the season some would have been cold at night!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Sep 2025 ==

The all corridor formations on Oxford / Newbury with standard class SKs were gone by 1990, when the open layout coaches from the Northampton and Cambridge lines were moved over. What remained was a BSK in the centre of the Mark 1 formations, composite CKs, and first class FKs. It was those which continued through to the end.

I have the 1989 Paddington departure book and I can't find any SKs on a selection of morning Oxford/Newbury services, mind you some services are just denoted "Vacuum" with no further information about the stock.
(This is also available from the BR Coaching Stock group)

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I have the 1989 Paddington departure book and I can't find any SKs on a selection of morning Oxford/Newbury services, mind you some services are just denoted "Vacuum" with no further information about the stock.
(This is also available from the BR Coaching Stock group)

They were still using side corridor carriages to Newbury to at least September 1991; I took these there on the 19th. There were also two opens in the rake; 5024 and 9391.

 

[JonathanH]

I have the 1989 Paddington departure book and I can't find any SKs on a selection of morning Oxford/Newbury services, mind you some services are just denoted "Vacuum" with no further information about the stock.
(This is also available from the BR Coaching Stock group)

The formations won't have been fixed because by that time some formations were Mark 1 corridor stock and others were unrefurbished early Mark 2 open stock, both types with vacuum brakes.

They were still using side corridor carriages to Newbury to at least September 1991; I took these there on the 19th. There were also two opens in the rake; 5024 and 9391.

Those are composite CKs and brake BSKs The SKs had gone. However, a formation with a disproportionate number of CKs wasn't unknown as I think there were more in the fleet than a 2TSO-CK-BSK-FK-2TSO formation would need. I have 13474-7190-7213-13329-9391-5024-4951 for a train I went on in October 1991 (FK-2CK-FK-BSO-2TSO) with various declassified compartments.

 

[ChrisC]

Can find what must be this service in the 1979 PTM but not the 1980 PTM. (both available from the BR Coaching Stock groups.io group)

1979 has an 0608 Derby to Poole which returns as the 1710 Poole to Nottingham, so looked like it extended into the 80s, just, before disappearing in May 1980.

The coaches are denoted NEV-3SK-RMB-FK-2SK.

I was a bit puzzled about your "cold" comment at first as this sounds like a classic Summer Saturday service (these often being formed MkI when the all-year services were MkII) - but it did indeed run all year.

Then again, back in the day Summer Saturdays extended to the very end of September so doubtless towards the end of the season some would have been cold at night!

The timings are about right as I do remember that it left Southampton for Derby late afternoon. May 1980 could well have been when it it ceased being MkI corridor stock and became MkII. My aunty continued to use it until the mid 1980’s after, much to her relief, it was operated by more modern open stock. I think it remained in the timetable right up until the introduction of Voyagers but it never became an HST working. That return working and the daily Newcastle-Poole train were the only 2 through trains between Derby and Southampton and as my aunty didn’t like changing trains in Birmingham or travelling via London she always used them.

The train was certainly all year and I know it ran Monday to Fridays. I don’t know about Saturdays but I know that there was a Nottingham to Poole train on summer Saturdays. I can never remember the Monday to Fridays evening train running through to Nottingham. That would have required yet another reversal at Derby in addition to Reading and Birmingham. I always thought that the train terminated at Derby. It was over 40 years ago so a lot to remember.

I’ve just had a further thoughts about this. I‘m beginning to think that I may have the timings wrong for the evening Monday to Friday all year Poole to Derby train. It could have been around an hour earlier than I originally thought with an arrival in Derby at around 9pm. My memory of a 10pm arrival in Derby may have been how late it occasionally arrived. What jogged my memory was that after meeting my auntie at Derby it was around a 45 minute drive to my grandparents house south of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire and we often called for some fish and chips just before arriving. A 10pm arrival in Derby would have been a bit late.

 

[jfollows]

1M40 17:10 Poole-Nottingham is still mark 1 in the 1980 timetable, and in 1981.
Mark 2 in the 1982 timetable.

 

[nw1]

1M40 17:10 Poole-Nottingham is still mark 1 in the 1980 timetable, and in 1981.
Mark 2 in the 1982 timetable.

Many apologies - somehow I missed it in the 1980 and 1981 PTMs, probably because it left a bit earlier (e.g. the unearthly hour of 0554 in 1980).
In 1981 the 1710 was simply Poole-Derby.

 

[sh24]

Those are composite CKs and brake BSKs The SKs had gone. However, a formation with a disproportionate number of CKs wasn't unknown as I think there were more in the fleet than a 2TSO-CK-BSK-FK-2TSO formation would need. I have 13474-7190-7213-13329-9391-5024-4951 for a train I went on in October 1991 (FK-2CK-FK-BSO-2TSO) with various declassified compartments.

I think you can even see the declassification stickers in a couple of the CK photos above.

 

[AndrewE]

They were still using side corridor carriages to Newbury to at least September 1991; I took these there on the 19th. There were also two opens in the rake; 5024 and 9391.

I think you can even see the declassification stickers in a couple of the CK photos above.

and in pic 7356 you can see the oddly-spaced doors on the corridor side. I well remember these coaches on the NE-SW services. Those doors gave access across the corridor straight into a compartment for loading/unloading stretchers.

The windows of those particular compartments [in the CKs] hinged up inwards and latched so that a stretcher could be fed in if the platform was on that side. They leaked terribly and contributed to the scruffy end-of-the-world feeling of the stock on that Cinderella route in the '70s.

 

[Clarence Yard]

In the last year of the NSE Thames loco hauled, the CK’s were very useful. With no C3 or C4 repairs forthcoming all the coaches were running out of shopping “life”. This affected the TSO Mk 1 fleet more than it did the others and door lock overhauls became key. I sent a couple of out of time TSO rakes for scrap so we could get spares into the float.

Another factor that affected availability was vacuum cylinders. The NSC started supplying over size rolling rings with overhauled vacuum cylinders which caused no end of bother because we started going through too many wheel sets. The carriage lift shop at OOC was kept very busy! We sorted that particular problem out by sourcing rolling rings from Indian Railways and fitting them ourselves.

When I arrived at OOC in 1987 the sets were mainly unrefurbished SK’s or MK 2 TSO’s. When both the Cobbler and Kings Lynn sets came to replace them, we were very surprised that Reggie Rail took a lot of them on - we thought they were due for scrap!

The Cobbler sets had a small number of refurbished SK amongst their ranks. We took them on but they were the first to go. I sold all but one of them for preservation, the exception being 18863 which I used for spares and one compartment was stripped of window, doors and all fittings for use in a Mr Bean episode.

The Kings Lynn sets were put into traffic without any work needing to be done. Not so the Cobblers. We took the first set into the Pullman Shed at OOC, parted the vehicles and the buckeyes were in a right state, broken support pins being a particular feature. They obviously hadn’t been parted on their No 7 exams (when you do the buckeyes) so every set we received got a No 7 on arrival!

All the Thames Mk1 compartment stock (bar 7213, iirc, another spares donor) that lasted till near the end got sold on for further use. Parcels wanted them all scrapped for their bogies but I did a deal with them that sent about half the vehicles to Cathays for retro-fitting with decent B1 bogies and return to me for sale. The rest they eventually let me sell as-is. I then put a reserve price on them to cover the cost of the bogie changes but, such was the condition of the stock, I easily beat that.

On NSE sub-sectors we had the stock on our own books so the profit I made all went towards giving the OOC staff enhanced redundancy terms - the end of NSE Thames locos/LHCS alone put over 150 OOC staff down the road.

 

[Taunton]

Those doors gave access across the corridor straight into a compartment for loading/unloading stretchers.

The windows of those particular compartments [in the CKs] hinged up inwards and latched so that a stretcher could be fed in if the platform was on that side.

When I've seen this mentioned, I've wondered whether, apart from in publicity shots filmed in Marylebone goods yard, did this ever happen ?

 

[AndrewE]

When I've seen this mentioned, I've wondered whether, apart from in publicity shots filmed in Marylebone goods yard, did this ever happen ?

I assume that it was like the Modernisation plan marshalling yards and small diesel engines: ordered to deal with a need that disappeared. I don't think anybody anticipated the improvement in the abilities or capacity of road traffic after the war, so ambulances took over what trains had previously done.

 

[Rescars]

When I've seen this mentioned, I've wondered whether, apart from in publicity shots filmed in Marylebone goods yard, did this ever happen ?

Good question! I do recall travelling in one of these compartments once and finding the window catches were all unlocked! Pre H&S I guess. Did these CKs carry a stretcher in case of need I wonder, or was the patient expected to provide their own?

 

[Mogz]

Not the very last, but I remember in the late 90s/ very early 2000s the 37-hauled Holyhead to Birmingham New Street Mk 1 and Mk 2 sets always had a few compartments.

Usually Mk 2s with six very comfortable First Class seats but there were one or two Mk 1s with Standard Class compartments too as I recall.

Very cosy when travelling as a family.