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Red Rose 1951 - Rolling Stock

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Titfield

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Please can someone advise me what rolling stock (Carriages) was used on The Red Rose (Euston to Liverpool Lime Street) when the service was inaugurated in 1951 at the time of the Festival of Britain?

I am trying to ascertain if it was equipped with new BR Mk 1 in carmine and cream?

TIA
 
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6Gman

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Please can someone advise me what rolling stock (Carriages) was used on The Red Rose (Euston to Liverpool Lime Street) when the service was inaugurated in 1951 at the time of the Festival of Britain?

I am trying to ascertain if it was equipped with new BR Mk 1 in carmine and cream?

TIA
Unlikely to have been Mk Is I would have thought given how few there would have been at that date.
 

D6130

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I am trying to ascertain if it was equipped with new BR Mk 1 in carmine and cream?
Try the BR Loco-hauled Coaching Stock Forum (brcoachingstock.groups.io). You have to join the group, but there will almost certainly be someone on there who will know the answer to your question.
 

Taunton

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A lot of the Company-design stock (actually the most recent ones were built by BR in 1948-51) was redone in red/cream as well. Yes, there was an effort to put the prestige named trains into this livery as part of the Festival. For certain prominent trains this was more likely than Mk 1 stock, which only first appeared about the same time.
 

hexagon789

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Unlikely to have been Mk Is I would have thought given how few there would have been at that date.
There were several new trains inaugurated for the festival, each receiving brand new Mk1 trainsets. The Heart of Midlothian was one and probably the best known receiving a 13 coach set of spanking new blood and custard Mk1s. The Red Rose was another such train, introduced as part of 'festival' celebrations and you also had the Merchant Venturer, Royal Wessex and William Shakespeare as well.
 

Gloster

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Keith Parkin’s book on Mark 1 coaches also says that the Mark 1 were introduced to service on a number of these ‘Festival of Britain’ trains, together with a few existing ones such as the Royal Scot and Norfolkman. The sets were normally entirely formed of Mark 1s.
 

hexagon789

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Keith Parkin’s book on Mark 1 coaches also says that the Mark 1 were introduced to service on a number of these ‘Festival of Britain’ trains, together with a few existing ones such as the Royal Scot and Norfolkman. The sets were normally entirely formed of Mark 1s.
Yes enough had been built by early/mid-1951 to allow this to happen.

The first prototypes appeared for public display in 1950.
 

Dr Hoo

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Cecil J Allen was a great recorder of 'titled trains'. His definitive work Titled Trains of Great Britain was kept up to date in five editions from 1946 to 1967, so pretty good for ironing out any inaccuracies. CJA says quite specifically that the new Red Rose in 1951 had "new standard stock throughout".

Quite a bit about the new Mark Is in Railway Magazines for 1951. Post war shortages of materials were finally easing and no fewer than 1,189 vehicles were planned for construction that year with special emphasis on use on Festival of Britain services.
 

Gloster

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One pointer to it being 1953 (or later) is that the first lot of thirty BG was not completed until April 1953; a BG is the first vehicle. Unfortunately, Keith Parkin’s book does not indicate when delivery of this lot started. Also, when the train was introduced one would expect it to be hauled by a ‘prestige’ loco such as a Coronation.
 

Bevan Price

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One pointer to it being 1953 (or later) is that the first lot of thirty BG was not completed until April 1953; a BG is the first vehicle. Unfortunately, Keith Parkin’s book does not indicate when delivery of this lot started. Also, when the train was introduced one would expect it to be hauled by a ‘prestige’ loco such as a Coronation.
Edge Hill did use Royal Scots and Rebuilt Patriots on some of its WCML "prestige" trains, in addition to Princess Royal class.
Coronations / Duchesses only spent brief times allocated to Edge Hill in the 1950s.
Hugh Longworth's book shows that 45521 spent much of its BR life at Edge Hill, but for some reason was at Warrington (8B) between September 1950 & June 1954.
 
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