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{{Infobox carriage|image = LNER 643 20190723.jpg|caption = 643 at Highley in July 2019|construc = LNER York|status = Operational|carno = 643|othernos = LNER: 9131, BR: E9131E|designed = Gresley|diagram = 167|lot = 761|cartype = [[:Category: Carriage Type RB / RBR|RB]]|length = 61ft 6in|weight = 33t 0cwt|seats = |built = 1937|years1 = 1976|events1 = Withdrawn|years2 = 1977|events2 = Preserved on SVR|years3 = 1987-92|events3 = Restoration|years4 = 1997, 2002, 2014|events4 = Overhauls|years5 = |events5 = |years6 = |events6 = }}[[File:643HYBar_area_643.jpg|400px300px|right|thumb|Interior view of LNER Buffet car 643 at Highley in July 2011.]]'''LNER Buffet Car 643 is a ''' was built during Sir Nigel Gresley's tenure as CME of the LNER. At the time the 'Gresley buffet car built at York teaks' were designed, Oliver Bulleid (later appointed CME of the Southern Railway in 1937 to diagram 167. It ) was one in charge of six built for Great Eastern section excursions LNER Carriage and cross country expressesWagon activities.<ref group="note">Bulleid served as Personal Assistant to Gresley at the GNR before World War 1, becoming Manager of the GNR Wagon and Carriage Works after the War. When Gresley became LNER CME at grouping, he again appointed Bulleid as assistant. With Bulleid's carriage background, it is likely he had significant input into the carriage designs.</ref> Bulleid believed in up-to have been used on fast five coach Liverpool Street-Cambridge services (known colloquially as the-minute, "Beer Trainsfashionable")interiors for his special vehicles. In common with other Gresley buffet cars of the period it 643 had electric cooking facilities powered by large axle driven dynamos (or landlines when stationary) with an attractive art deko deco interior finished in Rexine; in this case gold and red. Loose <ref>SVR News 91, LNER (SVR) Coach Fund Notes, Richard Gunning</ref> In addition to the galley and bar, loose seating was provided for 24 passengers in the form of tubular chromed chairs. Sometime during the The Gresley Buffet Cars outlasted his other passenger carriages, with some continuing in service as late 1950/early 1960s period it was extensively rebuilt with gas cookingas 1977, enclosed bar, and MK 1 style grey Formica interior decor, in which form it survived in being the last wooden bodied coaches on BR ownership until 1977<ref name=Longworth>[[Bibliography#Other References|Longworth (2018)]] p. 259.</ref><ref>[http://www.srpsmuseum.org.uk/10029.htm The Scottish Railway Preservation Society website] (Retrieved 30 August 2021)</ref>.

==Service==643 arrived on the SVR shortly after withdrawal by British Rail was one of a batch of 15 built at York in 1977 and in their then current livery of blue and grey1937 as Lot 761 to LNER Diagram 167. It was initially purchased for the SVR by Messrs. Gardner Shaw<refname=Longworth/>SVR Stock Book Editions 7 Six of these (1980) numbers 641-44 and 8 (199049-50)</ref>, a Brierley Hill soft drinks firm. Following arrival it was quickly restored externally were allocated to varnished teak liverythe Great Eastern Division for use on excursions and cross country expresses, and saw service including the then new fast five coach Liverpool Street-Cambridge services (with one largely cosmetic intermediate overhaulknown colloquially as "Beer Trains") until being withdrawn to be comprehensively restored over 4 years by LNER Fund volunteers to original internal and external condition in 1987. Just before withdrawal, it was one In common with other Gresley buffet cars of the coaches used in the filming of the television series [[Hannay]]. It subsequently ran for a short time with the original loose chairsperiod it had electric cooking facilities powered by two large 9KVa axle driven dynamos (or landlines when stationary), but proved much more popular along with passengers after these were replaced with BR Mk1 second class "around 2+ 1" seatingtons of batteries which also powered the fans and carriage lighting.<ref name=SVR104>SVR News 104</ref>

By 1998In 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, ownership had been passed to 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>[[Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC Bibliography#Other References| SVRLongworth (H2018)]]<Ref>SVR Stock Book 9th edition</ref>p.175. 643 returned to service in April 2014, following a 4 month visit to the paint shop<ref>SVR News Winter 2014 - Kidderminster Carriage Notes</ref>. In early 2016 ownership was transferred to the SVR Charitable Trust, and 643 regularly forms part of Set N, the LNER & GNR Teak carriages.

At some time during the late 1950s or early 1960s, E9131E was extensively rebuilt internally, the result being similar in appearance to a BR Mark 1 Buffet Car such as [[BR 1682 Restaurant Buffet|1682]]. The electric cooker was replaced by a large gas cooker with grill, 4 rings and an oven, supplied from two 32lb propane cylinders. This allowed two thirds of the batteries to be done away with and the two generators to be replaced by a single generator of 4.5 KVa capacity.<ref name=SVR104/> It also had an enclosed bar, and Mark 1 style grey Formica interior décor. While in BR service the varnished teak exterior was overpainted, initially with 1950s Crimson and Cream livery and later with BR Maroon.<ref name=SB7>SVR Stock Book Editions 7 (1980) and 8 (1990)</ref> It received a third repaint in BR blue and grey livery (first introduced in 1965), in which form it continued in use on passenger services until around the end of 1976<ref name=Longworth175/>. =Sources=Preservation==Shortly after withdrawal by BR, E9139E was purchased for the SVR by Messrs. Gardner Shaw, a Brierley Hill soft drinks firm. It arrived on the SVR from York on 16 November 1977.<ref name=SB7/> The restoration work which was required before it could enter service was undertaken at [[Bewdley]], largely by the [[Manpower Services Commission]] team. Stripping the layers of paint revealed the original 'BUFFET CAR' legend still visible in the wood underneath. Missing parts of the running gear were replaced, a broken upright and broken door were attended to and several other panels replaced.<ref>SVR News 48</ref> 643 (as it had become) entered service at the 1978 '[[Christmas services|Mince Pie Specials]]', being the first of the SVR's Gresley carriages to be restored into varnished teak livery.<ref>SVR News 49, 50</ref>  643 was initially plagued by a number of 'teething problems' attributed at the time to its rushed restoration.<ref>SVR News 52</ref><ref group="note">The quality of other M.S.C. restorations around that time was also later found to be less than ideal.</ref> During 1981 it was in use in the GWR set, although already looking 'very tatty'.<ref>SVR News 64</ref> It received heavy bodywork repairs at Bewdley in 1983-4, at which time the roof was re-canvassed.<ref>SVR News 71, 73</ref> It also received a 'face lift' at Bewdley in early 1976 when it was re-lined. During that year the LNER (SVR) Coach Fund obtained and installed a set of original LNER chromed buffet chairs which had been acquired via the North Norfolk Railway and National Railway Museum. Some attention was also required to the steam heat system after an 'in-service' failure resulted in the passengers receiving an unwanted sauna!<ref>SVR News 79, 80, 81</ref> 643 was withdrawn from passenger services after the October 1987 diesel weekend, some nine years after first entering SVR service. On the following Monday and Tuesday it was used to film the railway scenes for the 1988 television series [[Hannay]]. This was probably the first occasion that four restored LNER Teaks had worked together as a set for at least 30 years, although the occasion was somewhat marred by the producer having "LBSCR" stickers applied to the carriages. With filming finished, work began the following day on a comprehensive overhaul and restoration to original internal and external condition, which would be carried out by [[LNER Coach Fund]] volunteers, although by that time the carriage was owned by [[Severn Valley Railway Heritage Register (Holdings) PLC | SVR(H)]].<ref>SVR News 87</ref> It was originally thought that having had recent body work carried out, and having a relatively simple interior, the work would only take around 12 months to complete.<ref name=SVR91>SVR News 91</ref>  When the restoration of 643 began, only one other Gresley Buffet Car had been restored to original condition. 51769 (later E9128E) had been completed to an exceptionally high standard by Steve Allen on the North Norfolk Railway, and the Coach Fund intended to use it as the model for their own restoration. However the strip-down revealed a number of significant internal differences. Many contemporary photographs of Buffet Car interiors were available, although not attributable to individual carriages, which suggested a common 'theme' but with some variations. Significant extra research work was therefore undertaken in an attempt to restore 643 as closely as possible to its actual original condition rather than just as a 'generic' Buffet Car. One of the features found during the strip-down was remnants of the red and gold rexine, a finish previously unknown to the restoration team but subsequently found in a contemporary artist's impression.<ref group="note">Richard Gunnings' restoration notes in SVR News later suggested that only Diagram 167 Buffet Cars built before 1937 had features such as pelmets and curtains as per 51769's restoration. Both were part of Lot 643 and 51769 although they were allocated to different LNER Regions, evidenced by their different original numbers (GER and GCR respectively).</ref><ref name=SVR91/> At the same time the bodywork turned out to be in worse condition than anticipated, requiring substantial repairs to the frames and replacement of all the exterior panels. By summer 1990 a new ceiling had been fitted and painted, the new counter had been installed and work on fitting new teak panels on the first side was in progress, using new teak purchased on the SVR's behalf by the NYMR-based LNER Coach Association from Myanmar (formerly Burma), via Thailand.<ref>SVR News 96</ref> The carriage then spent 15 weeks at [[Carriage SurveyRepair Works#Kidderminster_Carriage_Repair_Works|Kidderminster]] while the bogies received attention and the exterior work completed on the other side.<brref>SVR News 101</ref> Use of gas for cooking was discontinued, electricity being supplied by a small 10KVa diesel generator more suited to the slow speeds of a heritage railway than the original system of axle-mounted generators and batteries (this system proved unreliable in day-to-day service and was eventually replaced with the standard gas system used on all the other SVR buffet cars). The four year restoration was eventually completed in the first half of 1992.<ref name=SVR104/>  643 subsequently ran for a short time with the original loose chairs, but these were found to be a deterrent to passengers and were replaced with BR Mk1 second class "2+1" seats for the 1995 season.<ref>SVR News 122</ref><ref group="note">The chairs were then borrowed by the DMU Group for their dining service, where they were found to be perfectly acceptable. They have since left the SVR for another heritage railway.</ref> In 1997-98 643 spent 18 months on bogies borrowed from [[LNER 7960 Kitchen Composite|Composite Diner 7960]] while its own bogies were refurbished.<ref>SVR News 127</ref><ref group="note">Catering vehicles are mounted on "heavy" bogies to accommodate the extra weight of kitchen equipment.</ref> 643 underwent a quick overhaul in 2002, and the seats were re-upholstered in 2006.<ref>SVR News 142, 153</ref> In April 2014 it returned to service after a four month overhaul and visit to the paint shop.<ref>SVR News 188</ref> In early 2016 ownership was transferred to the [[Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust Ltd|SVR Charitable Trust]]. 643 regularly forms part of [[Carriages#Set_N|Set N]], the LNER & GNR Teak carriages. ==See also==[[Carriages| List of carriages]] ==Notes==<references group="note"/> ==References==

*[http://svrtrust.org.uk/ Charitable Trust website]*[http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrustrhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=924 643 on www.vintagecarriagestrust.orgRailway Heritage Register On-Line]<br>*[http://www.lnersvrcoachfund.org.uk//teak_set.html#LNER 643 on lnersvrcoachfund.org.uk]{{CarriageNavbox}}