BR 94157 General Utility Van

BRBritish Rail or British Railways 94157 General Utility Van
BRBritish Rail or British Railways General Utility Van 94157
Built By	BRBritish Rail or British Railways St Rollox
Status	Static use
Number	94157
Livery	BRBritish Rail or British Railways Maroon
Other numbers	M86523, M93523, 95157
History
Built	1958
Diagram	811
Lot	30402
Type	GUV
TOPS code	NKJ/NKA
Seats	None
2006	Preserved
Carriages

94157 is a BRBritish Rail or British Railways Mark 1 General Utility Van. These vehicles were built for use on express passenger services as well as parcels and freight trains, and were classed as Non Passenger Carrying Coaching Stock. The side doors allowed loading of containerised mail and parcels and newspapers. The GUVs were 'through piped' for use on steam heated services, although they were not themselves steam heated.

Service

General Utility Van (GUVGeneral Utility Van, formerly used to transport mail and parcels) 94157 was originally numbered 86523 when built by BRBritish Rail or British Railways in 1958 at St Rollox. It entered service in December 1958 as part of a batch of standard GUVs shared between York and Glasgow, for which it carried the number M86523. It had a TOPSTotal Operations Processing System, an American computer system adopted by BR from the late 1960s to number and manage rolling stock. classification of NJV, 'V' indicating that it was vacuum braked and 'J' fitted for electrical train heating.

Rolling stock in the 86nnn range was renumbered under TOPSTotal Operations Processing System, an American computer system adopted by BR from the late 1960s to number and manage rolling stock. in the 1980s, possibly to prevent confusion by clerical staff with numbers issued to Class 86 electric locomotives, and M86523 became M93523 in March 1984. A rebuild for use as a containerised mail van (100 mph) resulted in a further renumbering as 95157 in June 1992, later renumbered as 94157 in September 1994. This configuration included roller shutter doors, steel floors and plated over windows; the TOPSTotal Operations Processing System, an American computer system adopted by BR from the late 1960s to number and manage rolling stock. code NKA also indicating fitting with air brakes only It is equipped with commonwealth bogies.

Preservation

94157 and 94200 (earlier 86207) were declared surplus to requirements by EWSEnglish, Welsh & Scottish Railway, a rail freight company Railways at Old Oak Common in 2006. They were delivered to Kidderminster on 13 March 2006, having been acquired by SR 34027 Taw Valley owner Phil Swallow to keep parts secure during the locomotive’s overhaul.

The photograph below shows 94157 in March 2015 at Bridgnorth MPD where it is used by the Department as a storage vehicle. In 2016 it received an overhaul and repaint into BRBritish Rail or British Railways maroon livery.

• 

  94157 in 2015 prior to overhaul

See also

• List of carriages

References

Links

• 94157 (86523) on Railway Heritage Register On-Line