The Bullied coach

British Railways number S1469S Completed November 1950 Entered traffic June 1951 Length 67' 1" (20.450 m) Width 9' 3" (2.820 m) Weight 32 tons (32.5 tonnes) Seats 64

 

 

This carriage was built by British Railways, Southern Region, to the design of O V S Bulleid, who was the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway from 1937 and from 1948 of the nationalised railway.

It is the only steel clad coach in the Trust's collection but in contrast to British Railways own design of Mark 1 stock, which were all steel, S1469S has timber framing and a timber roof. Thus, except for a few detail differences, such as mirrors being engraved "BR" instead of "SR", S1469S is a true Bulleid design.

 

Allocated initially to Set 352, along with four other Open Thirds, two Composite Brakes and a Corridor First, S1469S found itself exclusively used on Waterloo-Southampton Docks Ocean Liner Boat Trains. In 1954, however, all the Bulleid Open Thirds were replaced by British Railways standard Open Thirds and the Bulleid vehicles went onto the loose stock list, being mainly reserved for 'special formation' boat trains. S1469S found itself transferred to the Eastern Region in September 1965 and upon withdrawal was purchased for £ 300 by the Vintage Carriages Trust in May 1969 for use on the Worth Valley Railway. Considerable use was made of it and by 1983 it was in need of a major overhaul. It was therefore withdrawn from traffic and is now to be found within our Museum building.

 

During the 1980s, new steel cladding was fitted to this carriage.  However, in 2004 we decided that we were not satisfied with the quality of the cladding, and we took the bold decision to scrap the steel panels which had been fitted and start again from scratch.  Brand new steel panels have been fitted during 2005-06.  The remains of the corridor connector bellows at the Keighley end have been removed.  All six external doors have been re-hung, and new glass has been fitted.  Both bogies have been fully dismantled, overhauled and reassembled, and are back in position under the carriage. Moved from the workshop into the museum, June 2011.

 

SR 1469 Bulleid Third Open built 1950

 

This was how I remember travelling to Illfracombe

 

Many thanks to the VCR for the notes