Another question for TV drama- Carriage numbers

[Nutmeg]

Hi there, I hope someone there could help me once more. I'm working on a TV drama set in 1937 and need to make the trains we are using look 'right'.

The number on the Carriages we are using is is E43128. We need to cover this up as it is not in a 'typeface' suitable for the period. I'm not sure if the number is suitable either.
Can you suggest a suitable carriage number that I should change it too?

We actually need 2 numbers as we are using the carriages for 2 different set ups.
The first is on our long distance passenger service that travels from Glasgow to Yorkshire.
The second time it is supposed to be a local service in the Yorkshire Dales.

My deadline for this is probably tomorrow lunchtime so don’t worry if this doesn’t provide enough time.I greatly appreciate all the advise you could give me.

I have emailed the LMS carriage association but this is quite an urgent query so I'm doubling up in the hope I can get an answer in time.

Many thanks,
Mary

 

[krus_aragon]

For the most appropriate kind of carriage number, it might be useful to have a photo (or details) of the carriage in question.

This page may be of use, as it lists the number ranges given to various types of carriage when the LMS renumbered them in the early 1930s.

 

[30907]

E43128 is a BR standard BS - purists will know that it is a totally unsuitable vehicle for a long distance train anyway, and the droplight windows in the doors are an instant giveaway!
By contrast, hardly anyone will notice if the coach number is wrong - a number in the right font, the waistline lettering LMS and the "3" on each door would give a good impression.

 

[Taunton]

Just cover the number up. Wrong number will upset the purists here, no number at all less so! The same applies to window stickers for No Smoking etc, which changed pattern from time to time, although the owners may be less happy with taking these off as it's difficult to get original-style replacements afterwards.

A more blatant concern might be the upholstery moquette if you are doing interior shots. What colour is it? If it's two shades of blue (as used when it was withdrawn in the 1970s) I suggest you get Wardrobe to cover it over with old curtains etc pinned down tight. Dark red with a subtle floral pattern would suit the 1930s.

The vehicle itself is now painted dark red, isn't it, and not blue?

 

[edwin_m]

E43128 is a BR standard BS - purists will know that it is a totally unsuitable vehicle for a long distance train anyway, and the droplight windows in the doors are an instant giveaway!
By contrast, hardly anyone will notice if the coach number is wrong - a number in the right font, the waistline lettering LMS and the "3" on each door would give a good impression.

I couldn't find the number series on line but I assume it's a suburban BS like this one with a similar number:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Railways_Mark_1#/media/File:BR_Mk1_Brake_Suburban_E43190.jpg (photo of a Mk1 brake suburban at Quainton Road)

To be fair the Mk1 types date from the 1950s and included many of the best features of earlier designs, so pre-war coaches wouldn't have looked a lot different. Something fairly similar to this would have been seen on many rural branch lines at the time, so not a bad fit for the OP's second requirement. It's unlikely though that a coach with a door to every seating bay would have appeared on an express as late as 1937, unless it was a very "secondary" sort of express! If you can find a Mk1 corridor coach it would be better as it has roughly the same layout as the LMS would have been using in 1937, although anyone with specific knowledge would notice the distinctive features of the Mk1 such as the window design. Nearly every preserved railway has several of this type, though not always in the maroon livery which is closest to the LMS colour.

This shot shows the general type, although it's a modern take on a livery from the 1960s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briti...e:British_Rail_Mk1_coach_number_21266_(1).jpg (Mk1 Brake Composite Corridor)

 

[Cowley]

I couldn't find the number series on line but I assume it's a suburban BS like this one with a similar number:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Railways_Mark_1#/media/File:BR_Mk1_Brake_Suburban_E43190.jpg (photo of a Mk1 brake suburban at Quainton Road)

To be fair the Mk1 types date from the 1950s and included many of the best features of earlier designs, so pre-war coaches wouldn't have looked a lot different. Something fairly similar to this would have been seen on many rural branch lines at the time, so not a bad fit for the OP's second requirement. It's unlikely though that a coach with a door to every seating bay would have appeared on an express as late as 1937, unless it was a very "secondary" sort of express! If you can find a Mk1 corridor coach it would be better as it has roughly the same layout as the LMS would have been using in 1937, although anyone with specific knowledge would notice the distinctive features of the Mk1 such as the window design. Nearly every preserved railway has several of this type, though not always in the maroon livery which is closest to the LMS colour.

This shot shows the general type, although it's a modern take on a livery from the 1960s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briti...e:British_Rail_Mk1_coach_number_21266_(1).jpg (Mk1 Brake Composite Corridor)

Watching a Stanier corridor coach coming into Highley the other night with the compartments lit up really took me back in time.
There’s something about those pre BR coaches that exude an atmosphere that you just can’t quite get with a mk1.
I inevitably found myself thinking of Brief Encounter...

 

[30907]

I couldn't find the number series on line but I assume it's a suburban BS like this one with a similar number:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Railways_Mark_1#/media/File:BR_Mk1_Brake_Suburban_E43190.jpg (photo of a Mk1 brake suburban at Quainton Road)

It's unlikely though that a coach with a door to every seating bay would have appeared on an express as late as 1937, unless it was a very "secondary" sort of express! If you can find a Mk1 corridor coach it would be better as it has roughly the same layout as the LMS would have been using in 1937, although anyone with specific knowledge would notice the distinctive features of the Mk1 such as the window design. Nearly every preserved railway has several of this type, though not always in the maroon livery which is closest to the LMS colour.

Yes, a BS is a non-corridor coach. Google images placed it on the KWVR and it is definitely in lined maroon.

Side door to each seating bay was common on corridor coaches built before about 1930, and they were still in use on class A services well into the 50s, so I think the film company can get away with that (with care). I imagine the hire cost of an additional coach could not be justified.

 

[Taunton]

Side door to each seating bay was common on corridor coaches built before about 1930, and they were still in use on class A services well into the 50s, so I think the film company can get away with that (with care). I imagine the hire cost of an additional coach could not be justified.

Quite so. One side of the vehicle, the "compartment side", would commonly have side doors to each compartment, which could be entered directly from the platform, each with droplights and small side windows, and would look little different to stock without corridors, with full width compartments. The "corridor side" would be different, with maybe three or four doors along its length, and larger windows.

There are probably several here bursting to come and act as consultants to the project, although this would normally be supplied by the vehicle owner themselves.