The History
When Regional Railways North West introduced Class 37s to the North Wales coast in May 1993 the coaching stock came from a pool based at Edge Hill, Liverpool. In addition to North Wales duties these coaches also covered services from Liverpool and Manchester to Southport, Preston, Blackpool and Barrow. One rake of coaches was also provided for Regional Railways South Wales and West for use on the Bristol to Weymouth Route.
Many of the coaches for the new service were transferred from the London Waterloo to Exeter route, and soon after arriving at Edge Hill, their Network SouthEast livery was modified by painting the red lower body stripe over with light blue. The brake coaches retained "West of England" route branding. These coaches were repainted into Regional Railways livery at overhaul, the last, 35518, was turned out in October 1995.
During the winter 1993/4, ten vacuum-braked Mk1 coaches were sent to Doncaster Works for fitting with air brakes and repaint into Regional Railways livery. On completion they were allocated to the North West pool at Edge Hill, but initially saw use on excursion trains.
On 1st April 1994 ownership of the coach fleet was transferred to Eversholt Leasing (which later became Forward Trust Rail, and is now known as HSBC Rail). On that date 61 vehicles were in the fleet.
For the Summer 1995 timetable it was decided to concentrate loco-hauled operations on the North Wales Coast route. In the event, a shortage of railcars caused by a collision at Holyhead meant that one loco hauled train between Blackpool and Manchester was retained until May 1996. The fleet of coaches was reduced to 45, as South Wales and West now leased its own stock, based at Bristol.
June 1996 saw an unusual development. RR North West had reduced its leased fleet to 30 coaches, but for the period of the Summer timetable hired in extra coaches from Riviera Trains to strengthen the trains to five coaches. This was again repeated during 1997, but none were needed for 1998 as the number of loco-hauled trains was reduced.
In June 1998 maintenance of the coach fleet was transferred from Edge Hill to Oxley, near Wolverhampton, necessitating long distance empty stock movements. This arrangement lasted until March 1999 when the London and North Western Railway Company of Crewe was awarded a contracted to maintain the fleet until the planned withdrawal date in May 2000.
The leased fleet was reduced to 23 in 1999, but a shortage of railcars saw a loco-hauled train reinstated in June and coaches were again hired in for the summer.
The fleet
The list below includes the Regional Railways-liveried coaches which have been used on the Coast line in the late 1990s. The basic fleet was seven sets of four coaches, and the usual formation would be Mk1 TSO - Mk 2 TSO - BSK - Mk 2 TSO. They modified some TSO vehicles with a wheelchair space, and a widened vestibule door which should have been marshalled next to the van end of the BSK, so the wheelchair could be loaded through the wide doors of the van and then taken through, although latterly this did not always happen, and wheelchair passengers were obliged to ride in the van space.
Mk 1 TSO, diagram AC 201, built 1959-60 lot no. 30525. 64 Seats, two toilets.
4849 4854 4866 4873 4875 4876 4880
Mk 1 TSO diagram AC 201, built 1961, lot no. 30646. 64 Seats, two toilets. Aluminium window frames
4917
Mk 2a TSO diagram AC206, built 1967-68 lot no. 30776/87. Remainder 64 seats. Two toilets.
5276 5278 5309 5322 5331 5335 5345
Mk 2a TSO As above but with 62 seats plus one wheelchair space and modified door to end vestibule.
5381 5386 5389 5412 5419 5420 5433
Mk 1 BSK diagram AB201, built 1963. lot no. 30721. Aluminium window frames. Seats 32 in 4 compartments.
35452
Mk 2a BSK (ex BFK) diagram AB204, built 1967-68 lot nos. 30775/786. 24 seats in four compartment; these nominally ran as First Class vehicles until May 2000.
35512 35513 35514 35515 35516 35517 35518
