Which coaches ?
I have ordered the new Graham Farish set... Seaside Excursion 370-180. I'd like to increase the number of coaches by an additional 2 or 3. Being new to railway modelling and noticing coaches use some obscure, to the newcomer, abbreviations I really haven't a clue what coaches / part numbers to buy ?
This is what the set comes with...
Class 4F No.44044 BR black late crest livery
BR MK1 BCK coach maroon
BR MK1 SO coach maroon
Can anyone recommend appropriate additional coaches currently available to add ( Ideally with part numbers and the order you'd add them 1,2,3 etc)
Thanks in advance
If you want coaches that will match those in the set I'd recommend trying to get your hands on one or two more SO coaches (374-012 or 374-012A) the unweathered ones so they match the ones in the set, and a BSK (374-187) again unweathered.
If you want something a bit more authentic I'd recommend getting Stanier Open Thirds (374-841/A/B or 374-842/A) and a Stanier Brake Third (374-826/A/B or 374-827/A) in a mix of liveries as these were far more commonly used on excursions from the BR(M) as depicted by the set.
As for what order to put them in, I'd arrange them Brake/Open/Open/Open/Brake with it not really mattering which end the BCK or BSK goes at.
Just about anything could turn up on an excursion, including mixtures of types, so just about any coach in the maroon livery would be plausible. I'd suggest if you make the train much longer you would need another brake coach of some sort, because in the "maroon era" anythign other than a very short train would usually have a brake coach at each end.
Let's start by looking at what you've got.
BCK = Brake Composite Corridor, meaning it has a mix of first and second class compartments plus accommodation for the guard and luggage/parcels.
SO = Second Open, no compartments and all seats are second class.
I would add the following:
SK = Second Corridor (second class seating with the seats in individual compartments)
BSK = Brake Second Corridor (as above plus accommodation for the guard and luggage/parcels.)
Alternatively a composite coach could be used instead of the SK.
There aren't many suitable Mk1 coaches listed on Bachmann's web site (although some shops may have them in stock) but you could substitute the maroon "Stanier" coaches; these are ex-LMS designs and arguably more likely to be seen with the 4F loco (which is also ex-LMS).
Some part numbers for you are 374-827A (Stanier BSK) and 374-852A (Stanier composite) although the composite isn't in the shops yet.
Thanks guys for all the useful advice.
If you're not being region specific with future steam loco purchases, you could stick to mk1s and have them behind any number of lovely late-crest locos (A3s, A4s, Black 5s, Jubilees, Duchesses, Deltics etc) to work towards a prototypical train but if you're going to model the ex-LMS region then some Stanier coaches would make a nice addition.
SO and SKs are the thing to get first and maybe add in a FO/FK after that for a bit more first class accomodation; you could also look out for a maroon BG (full brake) as these turn up in longer rakes of carriages...