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[[File: BR_3109_GarethPrice{{Infobox carriage|image = BR_3109_20230407.jpg|thumb|300px|right|caption = BR First Open 3109 (Photo: Gareth Price)]]|construc = BR Mk 1 First Open (FO) No 3109 was built 1961 at Swindon to |status = In use|carno = M3109|livery = BR Maroon|othernos = W3109, 99123, 123 'Grace'|designed = |diagram number = 73 |lot number = 30697. It was initially preserved in 1984 as part of Waterman Railways charter fleet at Bounds Green. It was one of three carriages, together with |cartype = [[Carriages formerly resident on the SVR#Carriages formerly at the SVR but later moved elsewhere :Category: Carriage Type FO| FO 3106]] and |topscode = [[Carriages formerly resident on the SVR#Carriages scrapped while at the SVR :Category: Carriage Type FO| RBR 1678AD11]], which were acquired from there by the SVR in |seats = |built = 1961|years1 = 1984 |events1 = Preserved|years2 = 1996, initially |events2 = Arrived on lease but subsequently purchased by SVR|years3 = 2022|events3 = Declassified to Unclassified Open|years4 = |events4 = |years5 = |events5 = |years6 = |events6 = }}[[File:Seating_bay,_3109.jpg|thumb|300px|right|3109 in use as a Restaurant Car in the Severn Valley Railway Limited.]]'''M3109''' is a '''BR Mark 1 Open First (HoldingsFO) PLC | SVR'''. The Open First's seven central bays provided seating for 42 first class passengers in large armchairs at generously proportioned tables arranged '2+1', with a toilet in each vestibule. Mark 1 first class carriages were produced in both Open and Corridor (Hcompartment)]]versions; in service the Corridor stock was mainly used on long distance trains while the Open Firsts were often used as dining cars or as part of excursion trains. In 2022 it became an Unclassified Open, with First Class branding removed.

It is usually used ==Service and preservation==3109 was built by BR at the SVR former GWR Swindon works in 1962-3 to Diagram 73 (AD103), Lot 30697. It entered service as '''M3109''' in BR's London Midland region in January 1963. In November 1984 it received a restaurant vehiclePrivate Owner number, PULR99123, having seen also being named 'Grace' circa October 1986 as part of Waterman Railways charter fleet at Bounds Green. Its number was later shortened to 123 and it was also identified as FSS99123, relating to a period of use in both the Severn Valley Limited and Severn Valley Venturer dining setsby Flying Scotsman Services.<ref name=Longworth>[[Bibliography#Other References|Longworth (2013)]] pp.44, 244.</ref>

==Sources==3109 (carrying the number 123) was one of three carriages, together with [[Carriages formerly resident on the SVR#Carriages formerly at the SVR but later moved elsewhere | FO 3106]] and [[Carriages formerly resident on the SVR#Carriages scrapped while at the SVR | RBR 1678]], which were acquired from Bounds Green on hire by the SVR in May/June 1996.  The first Open First on the SVR, [[BR 3103 First Open|3103]], had been acquired in 1984 by the [[The SVR (BR) Buffet Car Fund|SVR (BR) Buffet Car Fund]] and used in the [[Severn Valley Venturer]] dining set from inception in 1989.<ref>SVR News 207</ref> While still on hire, '123' replaced 3103 in the Venturer set in 1997 when the latter became due for overhaul.<ref>SVR News 122</ref> Shortly afterwards, 3109 and the other ex-Bounds Green carriages were purchased by [[Severn Valley Railway Heritage Register Carriage Survey(Holdings) PLC | SVR(H)]]. By 1969 3109 had also seen service in the [[Severn Valley Limited]] dining set.<brref>SVR Stock Book Ninth Edition</ref> 3109 was completely reupholstered in 2001, but by 2003 it was out of service awaiting repairs to a gangway which had been ripped off in a shunting accident. At the time it was still numbered 123.<ref>SVR News 142, 145</ref>  In September 2004 '123' moved into Bewdley paint shop for repair and overhaul, including a return to its original number of 3109. Repairs were needed to both ends, requiring the gangways to be removed, rotten metal cut out and new metal welded in. All the windows were also re-bedded in with new moulded rubber seals. The damaged gangway was replaced with one from fellow ex-Waterman Railways RBR 1678 which had just been condemned as beyond repair and scrapped for component recovery. With its use mainly being in the GWR-based Severn Valley Limited set, 3109 was painted in BR(W) Chocolate & Cream livery and renumbered W3109 (a number it never carried in service). With the work completed it was out-shopped in October 2005.<ref>SVR News 152, 163</ref> In December 2013 3109 suffered damage its draw-gear in a minor derailment, requiring [[LMS 7511 Restaurant First Open|LMS Open 7511]] to take its place in the Severn Valley Limited dining set while repairs were carried out. All six door locks were also replaced with reconditioned units around that time.<ref>SVR News 186</ref> During the winter 2015-16 shutdown the original asbestos-covered steam pipes below the floor were removed by specialist contractors and new steam pipes built and fitted to replace them.<ref>SVR News 193</ref> <gallery mode=packed heights=200px style="text-align:left">BR_3109_20190514.jpg | 3109 in BR(W) livery, May 2019</gallery>  Although it has regularly been used by the SVR as a restaurant vehicle, having formed part of both the Severn Valley Limited and Severn Valley Venturer dining sets, 3109 has now been de-classified and transferred into general passenger service. Its BR(W) Chocolate & Cream livery was repainted to BR Maroon in 2022<ref group="note">Curiously, although now in maroon it still carries the non-authentic BR(W) number W3109.</ref> when it became the spare vehicle to [[Carriages#Set_M|set M]]<ref>SVR News 218, Summer 2022, p. 42</ref>. ==See also==*[[Carriages#BR Designed Coaches | List of carriages]]*[[Severn Valley Limited]]*[[Severn Valley Venturer]] ==Notes==<references group="note"/> ==References==<references/>

*[http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrustrhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=1228 3109 on vintagecarriagestrust.orgRailway Heritage Register On-Line]<br>{{CarriageNavbox}}