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Bygone catering on the far north line
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When I rode the early morning train from Inverness ('The Orcadian') in about 1965 it was a micro-buffet in a Mk 1 car. In steam days (1950s) I think there was a dining car on an equivalent working that was detached at The Mound junction and attached to a southbound train about an hour later or so.
I guess so!
Journeyman
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The way the Mark 1s were designed was pretty clever in that regard - both classes of seat, catering and van space (albeit a bit limited) in just two coaches.
A godsend for modellers without much room.
hexagon789
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Looks like:
Early 60s (1962) - two of the four services had catering, one a full restaurant, the other a buffet. The Kyle line had 3 trains, one with buffet and observation car, one with buffet, restaurant car and observation car and the other with no catering.
Late 60s-early 80s: RMB miniature buffet service. Kyle line: seemingly no catering, no catering vehicles appear to be booked and until 1981 no catering seems to be listed in the timetable. From 1981 seems to be seasonal on two services and I assume a trolley service.
Early/mid-80s-Sprinters: BSOT micro-buffet (in practice a trolley service). Kyle line: trolley service.
Journeyman
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What sort of food would typically be served out of an RMB when they were common? My experience using them on the main line is very limited, and they'd been fitted with microwaves by then. I assume in pre-microwave days, they couldn't serve much in the way of hot food.
Dr Hoo
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My hazy recollection of the RMB in the 1970s was that the only hot 'food' was Heinz tomato soup heated from a tiny 'individual' can (which I never saw in the shops).
In Provincial/Regional Railways days (post-1986) the trolley contract for the North Highland lines was operated by a tiny concern that I think was called the Inveroykel Catering Company or similar.
In Provincial/Regional Railways days (post-1986) the trolley contract for the North Highland lines was operated by a tiny concern that I think was called the Inveroykel Catering Company or similar.
Were there micro-buffets as early as 1965? I didn't think they came in until the 1980s or so; certainly in the 1968-1969 marshalling book the morning train was booked for an RMB. In 1961 the restaurant car (described as RC (12-18), so presumably something pre-nationalisation) made it as far north as Helmsdale before heading south, presumably because The Mound had closed. A later service carried an RB, again only to Helmsdale northbound and picking it up southbound.
As built, RMBs had a refrigerator, a boiler, and some shelves, so the food offer wouldn't be much different than what a trolley could offer, except that there'd be more of it, and things that needed to be kept hot or cold could be. Hot food without the expense of a full restaurant car was what griddle cars were built for.
Journeyman
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Right, so tea, coffee, cold drinks, soup and sarnies type of thing? The RMB was quite a good concept, really, it provided reasonable catering capacity without taking out loads of seats. Heritage railways are certainly grateful for them these days!
The griddle car was an interesting idea, and clearly quite popular, but I think let down by the fact that there were only a tiny handful of them, so you couldn't guarantee getting them on particular trains in many cases.
hexagon789
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Certainly in the early 1960s, the most important Kyle line train used an ex-LMS12-wheel Restaurant Car.
As for micro-buffet cars the earliest were converted about 1980, certainly by 1982 Mk2d TSOT were in use on the Scottish Region on Glasgow-Aberdeen services; Mk1 BSOT appearing on Inverness-Aberdeen about the same time.
Here's a sample buffet menu from 1971; whilst it's not clear whether this is a miniature buffet or the buffet counter in a restaurant car, I suspect that in practice they were fairly similar - the restaurant car would still have been expecting to serve hot food to seated customers in the dining car. Looking at the layouts, the buffet counter seems to be set up very much like an RMB, though with more drinks storage to act as a bar for the restaurant car.
Interesting to see the prices as well - Bovril as a premium hot drink, for instance!
It's interesting that BR had enough confidence in the idea to order quite a few - the six Mark 1 griddles that all migrated to Scotland, but also on various multiple units - but never quite enough to make them reliably available. I'd argue that the modern concept of a buffet/bistro car is actually closer to a griddle than it is to dining cars or to a miniature buffet.
hexagon789
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Generally BR called an RB a buffet car and an RMB a miniature buffet but I've seen DMU buffets referred to as the former in timetables, so perhaps it's not as cut and dry as that.
I believe "buffet" services did offer hot meals served in the buffet car, so from that menu I'd guess it was a miniature buffet car.
Highlandspring
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Well remembered! It was Inveroykel Catering, as seen in this pic by Neale Elder -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/taysider64/15519568060/
Journeyman
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Brilliant! Thanks for sharing - I think it's fair to say that tastes have got a bit more discerning and sophisticated since then, although I wonder if the BR sandwich was a joke by then?
It was a time when you got what you were given, usually after queueing for ages, and you didn't complain about it! "I was in a war, you know..."
It was a long time ago, and I was quite young! My recollection is of a small buffet, certainly not a restaurant car.
hexagon789
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Maybe an RMB then, plenty on the Scottish Region.
Quite likely. Not too sure on the difference between miniature and micro, so maybe my wrong word.
hexagon789
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Best I can think of is showing you the layout differences:
Mk1 RMB, also a 48-seat variant
Mk1 BSOT, also a Mk2c variant
Mk2d TSOT, also a Mk2c variantThe RMB would be the most comprehensive of the 3 types, the last two were essentially the same in terms of catering but simply added into different vehicles. In the Mk2d TSOT you'll notice a gap in the buffet counter, a trolley would slot into this and that was basically the catering facility - a trolley.
On ScotRail within a few years the buffets were disused and the trolley loaded into the brake van instead.
GrimShady
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Have look at the size of the cans of Lilt! Looks like huge cans of Tennents below too!
The WR did an experimental one in 1962 which was completely unattended, an SK with one compartment stripped out and coin-operated vending machines installed (but no seats) for pre-prepared sandwiches, various confectionery, drink cans, and even a hot tea/coffee machine. There was also what looks bizarre now, a cigarette vending machine. It ran on the Cambrian Coast Express from Aberystwyth to Shrewsbury and back, the part that didn't have the restaurant car from Paddington, and was presumably stocked in Aber.
That's a good memory. No cooker but there was a water boiler so eggs were loaded and offered as boiled or poached, but not fried. Also a ham salad (expensive) so the makings for that, which I guess included a sliced-up boiled egg. I bet if someone ordered four of them for their family the sole steward would be cursing. Now those BR ham salads were also the standard (in fact only) fare on the extra Up restaurant cars run from Cornwall on 1950s-60s summer Saturdays. Several here have heard of the all-restaurant car ECS that used to be run down on summer Fridays from Old Oak Common to Penzance (I remember seeing it once at Taunton with a County in charge, equally unusual there by about 1961), but what did they serve on their Saturday return trips - apparently it was no choice, just ham salad, with fruit and ice cream to follow. Apparently pretty cheap though. Whacked through in 30 minutes, and then the next sitting in.
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hexagon789
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I forgot about the WR 'Auto-Buffet', though I'm not sure I would consider it to be a micro-buffet as it was un-staffed and not really a buffet car either.
I actually used that - not on the CCE, but on an overnight train in the West Country. (I was very young and can't remember the exact details.)
What I do remember was that by the time we visited it had run out of everything!
Steamysandy
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I believe in LMS and early BR days catering was an ex Caledonian Pullman which was as suggested turned back at the Mound.
The Ham Salad is remembered from Late 1960s Scottish Grand Tours which lasted into the early 1970s.
On one occasion the Restaurant Car ran two hotboxes between York and Rotherham and had to be removed which meant emptying the stock into the two adjacent open seconds.With passenger assistance this was done expeditiously and from stopping before the coach was checked until the train moved off minus Restaurant Car was something like 30 minutes!
Further delay occurred because we arrived at the next crew change long before we were expected!
The Ham Salad is remembered from Late 1960s Scottish Grand Tours which lasted into the early 1970s.
On one occasion the Restaurant Car ran two hotboxes between York and Rotherham and had to be removed which meant emptying the stock into the two adjacent open seconds.With passenger assistance this was done expeditiously and from stopping before the coach was checked until the train moved off minus Restaurant Car was something like 30 minutes!
Further delay occurred because we arrived at the next crew change long before we were expected!
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