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|status = Operational
|carno = 643
|othernos = LNER: 9131.<br>BR: E9131, E9131E
|designed = Gresley
|diagram = 167
|events6 =
}}[[File:Bar_area_643.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Interior view of LNER Buffet car 643.]]
643 is a was designed by LNER CME Sir Nigel Gresley buffet car and built at York in 1937 to diagram 167. It was one of six is a 'Vestibule' Corridor Buffet Car and as built had seating for Great Eastern section excursions and cross country expresses, and is believed to have been used on fast five coach Liverpool Street-Cambridge services (known colloquially as "Beer Trains")24. In common with other Gresley buffet cars of the period it had electric cooking facilities powered by large axle driven dynamos <ref>[[Bibliography#Other References|Longworth (or landlines when stationary2018) with an attractive art deco interior finished in Rexine; in this case gold and red]] p. Loose seating was provided in the form of tubular chromed chairs259. Sometime during the late 1950</early 1960s period it was extensively rebuilt with gas cooking, enclosed bar, and MK 1 style grey Formica interior decor, in which form it survived in BR ownership until 1977ref>.
==Service==
643 was one of six built for Great Eastern section excursions and cross country expresses, and is believed to have been used on fast five coach Liverpool Street-Cambridge services (known colloquially as "Beer Trains"). In common with other Gresley buffet cars of the period it had electric cooking facilities powered by large axle driven dynamos (or landlines when stationary) with an attractive art deco interior finished in Rexine; in this case gold and red. Loose seating was provided in the form of tubular chromed chairs.
In November 1943 the LNER renumbered its LNER-built carriage stock and 643 became 9131. At Nationalisation in 1947 BR initially allocated a 'region of origin' E prefix, replaced in the early 1950s by a prefix showing the region of allocation and suffix showing the region of origin, resulting in a final number of E9131E.<ref name=Longworth175>[[Bibliography#Other References|Longworth (2018)]] p.175.</ref> Sometime during the late 1950/early 1960s period it was extensively rebuilt with gas cooking, enclosed bar, and MK 1 style grey Formica interior decor, in which form it survived in BR ownership until 1977.
===643 in preservation===
643 arrived on the SVR shortly after withdrawal by British Rail in 1977 and in their then current livery of blue and grey. It was initially purchased for the SVR by Messrs. Gardner Shaw, a Brierley Hill soft drinks firm.<ref>SVR Stock Book Editions 7 (1980) and 8 (1990)</ref> Following arrival it was quickly restored externally to varnished teak livery, and saw service (with one largely cosmetic intermediate overhaul) until being withdrawn to be comprehensively restored over 4 years by [[LNER Coach Fund]] volunteers to original internal and external condition in 1987. Just before withdrawal, it was one of the coaches used in the filming of the television series [[Hannay]]. It subsequently ran for a short time with the original loose chairs, but proved much more popular with passengers after these were replaced with BR Mk1 second class "2+ 1" seating.
