BR 4545 Tourist Standard Open
| BR 4545 Tourist Standard Open | |
|---|---|
 BR Tourist Standard Open 4545 | |
| Built By | BR York |
| Status | In service |
| Number | E4545 |
| Livery | BR Crimson & Cream |
| Other numbers | NE4545 |
| History | |
| Built | 1956 |
| Diagram | 93 |
| Lot | 30243 |
| Type | TSO |
| TOPS code | AC21 |
| Seats | 64 standard |
| 1983 | Preserved on SVR |
| 1985 | Repainted in maroon livery |
| 2001 | Repainted in crimson and cream livery |
The 'Open Second' includes 8 'bays', each with two tables seating 4 people, giving a total capacity of 64. One end of the coach has a larger cross-vestibule than the other in order to incorporate two toilets, with the external doors at that end being inset from the end of the coach to accommodate these. A third cross-vestibule was included midway down the coach to enable speedier loading and unloading of passengers.
Contents
Service
4545 was built at York in 1956 to diagram number 93 (AC204), lot number 30243. It entered service on the North Eastern Region in March 1957. Carriages in that region initially shared the Eastern Region E prefix, receiving their own "NE" prefix during the 1960s, before reverting to the "E" prefix when the North Eastern and Eastern Regions were amalgamated in 1968. E4545 became NE4545 between January 1966 and January 1968. It was eventually withdrawn from service in 1982[1] at Neville Hill, Leeds[2].
Preservation
During 1982-83 the SVR acquired six TSOs in anticipation of the extra traffic which would be generated by the Kidderminster extension.[3][note 2]. E4545 was the fourth of the six, arriving on the SVR from Neville Hill on 14 March 1983. All six TSOs were in working order and needed only minimal attention before entering service, still carrying their BR blue and grey livery.[4]
Three of the TSOs including E4545 were all repainted into BR maroon livery during September 1985. All were finished in the late 1960s version of that livery with red ends and gutters and cream end doors, although they did not immediately receive the BR 'cycling lion' badge, the C&W Department having run out of the transfers at the time.[5] The following year 4555 was one of three coaches in the maroon set to be given a full complement of tables (recovered from 4550) to help cope with the increasing dining party use that the BR maroon set was seeing that year.[6] In Autumn 1988 4545 was noted as being "remarkable for being unremarkable with no distinguishing rust problems yet".[7]
During 1992 the gangways of LMS 27218 and 4545 were damaged during a shunting accident. A new gangway for 4545 was made at Kidderminster by modifying a spare gangway using parts taken from a scrapped RBR at Rugby.[8]
By late 1993 4545 was still in service but had 'faded to pink' with the interior also being in a 'shocking state'. It entered Bewdley paint shop in summer 1994 for an overhaul which included repairs to both gangways, the end framework, and re-skinning of the ends and corners. Work was then sidelined on October while a contract job was carried out on the DMU, the revenue from which would allow 4545 to be completely re-upholstered. Other contract work on GWR Inspection Saloon 80969 and Union of South Africa's support coach BSK 35486 (TOPS code 99405) also took precedence. 4545 finally re-entered the paint shop on 13 March 1995 for painting to be completed over the following four weeks.[9]
In spring 2001 4545 was withdrawn from the maroon set to be re-liveried in crimson and cream (which it had carried when first entering service in the 1950s). It had 'lost' its tables a few years earlier which had been used to equip a Gresley open, so 14 of them were replaced leaving one bay at each end empty for catering trolleys, buggies and fold-up wheelchairs. Other mechanical work and repairs were also carried out, and after three unbroken weeks of painting, 4545 emerged two weeks before the 1940's weekend.[10]
Over winter 2005-06 4545 was temporarily transferred onto a good set of bogies from stored 4399 while its own bogies received an overhaul including a new set of wheels due to wheel flats and wear. It also received a full repaint at Bewdley in April 2006.[11]
After a further seven years in service, 4545 next began an overhaul at Kidderminster in April 2013. The seats, which were 'worn down to the canvas', were re-upholstered by a combination of a contractor upholsterer and volunteers at a total cost of £6,000. The linoleum floors were also renewed. The coach had also suffered from an issue first noted in some of the LMS carriages with sliding windows dropping out due to wear. The solution which had been developed involved removing and re-shimming the top guide rail and this was duly carried out on 4545. The overhaul was expected to take around four months but a high level of running repairs on other vehicles meant it was eventually completed on Friday 20 September 2013, with 4545 once again entering service in crimson and cream livery.[12]
In early 2017 4545 was five coaches requiring vacuum cylinder repairs.[13] Later that year 4545 was withdrawn with wheel flats in early October and placed on accommodation bogies while its own set were sent to Bristol St. Philips Marsh Depot for turning; these were returned a few days later and refitted.[14]
4545 is used in Set C, the BR Crimson & Cream running set, and is owned by SVR(H).
See also
Notes
References
Links
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