Masboroughlad
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When I was a student in the late 80s and early 90s, I had a Sunday job working a trolley.from Sheffield to Ely and back. Was always a 2 car 156.
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When were refreshment trolleys first introduced and on which routes?
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Smethwickian
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Yes - I remember those from around 1980-81 travelling from Birmingham to Ely, changing at March, to visit family, out Friday evening and back Sunday afternoon. Seemed such a slow and irregular schedule then. A cuppa was very welcome.
whitrope69
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The ECML semi fast timetable from May 81 saw the introduction of micro buffets in place of the more typical MK1 full buffet vehicle. This change led to the classic Deltic plus 8 being reduced to an even more sprightly Deltic plus 7.
Bletchleyite
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Remembering that self same programme, didn't she come round selling the cups with no water then someone else came round with a separate conventional metal hot water jug?
Bletchleyite
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Interesting that they felt it was safer for passengers to be wandering round with cups of boiling water (not in a bag in those days)!
In those days we had cups and saucers and real tea from a pot to which cold milk was added so it wasn't boiling. However carrying 2 back to another coach with hand-opened corridor doors was always fraught, especially when the mixture spilled from the cup to the saucer. It was part of the experience of train travel.
randyrippley
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just came across this film which briefly shows the microbuffet on a class 120 DMU
around two thirds through
delt1c
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Is actually a Swindon Intercity unit
randyrippley
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are you sure - the immediate preceeding shot is a Swindon cross country unit?
In the Netherlands on board catering is done from a tray and rucksack combination as can be seen in this clip.
The new "Midland Electrics" (class 317) shortly after their full introduction had a trolley service between Bedford, Luton, St. Albans and London St. Pancras which started around 1983.
In the peak hours it was on the express services that called at Luton and Leagrave only that had the service. The trolley service was never available on those trains that ran to King's Cross Midland City, Farringdon, Barbican and Moorgate.
The trolley done some good business but then costs rose and the service finished when the first Thameslink services started running through.
In the peak hours it was on the express services that called at Luton and Leagrave only that had the service. The trolley service was never available on those trains that ran to King's Cross Midland City, Farringdon, Barbican and Moorgate.
The trolley done some good business but then costs rose and the service finished when the first Thameslink services started running through.
delt1c
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very sure, the preceeding clip shows an end driving power car of the Swindon Intertcity units 7xxxx series. `The Cross countery units either had full 4 digit headcode boxes or marker lights. This unit has a stencil. Also on the cross country units the buffets were very small and the counter was on the opposite side. They were true micro buffets
Indeed, that single letter slotted in at the front was a feature of the early Scottish 79xxx Inter-City units on the Glasgow-Edinburgh line. Having said that, I don't recognise the station as any one along that line - anyone care to identify it? The freight wagons alongside look unusual.
In fairness the front end looks similar and the 120s directly followed these units off the Swindon assembly line. There were though significant mechanical and construction differences between them.
I'm sure I've seen that steward with the 1950s Elvis hairstyle doing the serving in other rail publicity material of the time, it's just bits edited together, it may not even be a dmu buffet.
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delt1c
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It was on a service in the Birmingham area as they also operated there initialy
Ash Bridge
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That's interesting, never knew that, having just viewed the clip a giveaway was the lower quadrant signalling, also the commentary mention Birmingham to Cardiff route. Just going OT for a moment, did you or anyone notice the class 77 being referred to as a diesel loco?
This arrangement must limit the amount of stock which can be carried, and presumably would be viewed quite dimly in this country from a manual handling (i.e. health and safety) perspective.
With the old BR system, I have it in my mind that the steward would sell the coffee cups, with instant coffee in them, on one pass through the carriage, then make a second pass with hot water in a suitable container.
Journeyman
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Journeyman
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In a book I have about the history of the Southern Electric system, there's a detailed description of the 6-PAN EMU's pantry cars, which weren't very well designed and didn't allow much in the way of food to be prepared and served. Apparently, the Pullman Car Company designed a trolley to be used to provide an at-seat service, and one of them was knocked up for trials, but nothing ever came of it. This was in the late thirties.
delt1c
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The diesel is behind the 77, the 77 quickly got in shot before the shutter due to vanity. Information received from Thomas the Tank secret society , lol
Ash Bridge
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That's a fantastically obscure thing to have preserved.
Indeed. Quite handy though as they sell their souvenirs off of it.
That's a fantastically obscure thing to have preserved.
I still have an early 1980s InterCity Kenco plastic cup from a trolley.
I was slightly alarmed to find that an exactly identical one is now part of an exhibit at the National Railway Museum.
Trolleys of the Burco Boiler urn style were also still operating in 1990 on CrossCountry routes. I remember at least one journey on a Poole service with a distinctly-burred Dorset accented steward, his tunic a stained expression of everything he’d sold that week.
His sales patter would probably not survive being shared on social media these days.
As I would have been onboard only North and East of Birmingham, I assume that the crews turned at Derby, or he had emigrated North.
ChiefPlanner
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Some buffet car crews worked gruelling shifts , - Swansea to Newcastle and back for example.
Anyway , as management trainees we were advised to watch some crews carefully , as there was a tendancy in some places for Maxpack cups to be collected and re-sold with non official product. One particular zealous manager told us to spike the empty cups with a pen. Foul drink in any case. Much better was to come.
Brand new HST's on the South Wales in 1976 had a TRUK and a TRUB , and a very good at seat trolley service in all classes. Not really seen before that. Excellent it was too.
Highlandspring
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There were a few scams going on in catering and the sleepers... was there not a big scandal on the ECML at one point to do with alcohol being bought wholesale and sold over the buffet counter with the money going straight into the pockets of the stewards involved?
ChiefPlanner
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There were instances of entire crews being summarily dismissed for "entrepreneurial" reasons , taking own stock in to serve was a very common thing. P G Rayner quoted an appeal for a steward who was caught with about 6 pounds of cheese in his carry on bag. On being challenged he said it was his mother;s shopping he had taken to work , and as a diligent employee dipped in to serve the hungry public. The management response was "Your mother likes cheese I take it" - due process followed.
But then the pub trade is / was just as bad.
Tom B
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There was a tale, I think on this forum, possibly apocryphal, about a trolley steward selling bacon sandwiches unofficially - on the appearance of a supervisor unexpectedly, several packs of bacon rashers were rapidly chucked out of the window.
Couldn't happen now - no opening windows!
Doesn't look like it was the earliest occurrence, but the first time I noticed trollies in timtetables was in the South Eastern Division around 1986, on fast and semi-fast trains out of Charing Cross, presumably because the SE division had no buffet units. (Fast services were run by pure CEP formations).
Did the SE division ever use 4BEPs incidentally? My only memory of BEPs is the refurbished 2301-2307 which were used exclusively on the Portsmouth Direct, plus possibly the occasional Poole in later years (after the BIGs 7051-58 were sent east to the Central Division in 1983), but presumably BEPs originally ran with CEPs on the SE division. Or were BEPs used on the Central Division with CIGs
Did the SE division ever use 4BEPs incidentally? My only memory of BEPs is the refurbished 2301-2307 which were used exclusively on the Portsmouth Direct, plus possibly the occasional Poole in later years (after the BIGs 7051-58 were sent east to the Central Division in 1983), but presumably BEPs originally ran with CEPs on the SE division. Or were BEPs used on the Central Division with CIGs
They had the BEP's built for them. I read that buffet cars were discontinued on the South Eastern in 1983.
A bit earlier than that, I thought, about 1980/81, after which the SE Division had no on-train catering at all (despite having some journeys of up to 2 hours whereas the neighbouring Central Division then still had buffet cars even on some journeys of only an hour such as London-Brighton) until trolleys were introduced on the SE in about 1986.
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