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British Rail Mark 1
Mark 1 Open First on Commonwealth bogies at Tyne Yard in March 2009
Interior of a Mark 1 SO (Second Open) Colne Valley Railway
In service
1951–present
Manufacturer
British Railways Cravens Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company
Built at
Derby Doncaster Eastleigh Swindon Wolverton York
Constructed
1951–1963
Operators
British Railways
Specifications
Car body construction
Steel Body-on-frame, non-integral
Car length
57 ft 0 in (17.37 m) or 63 ft 6 in (19.35 m)
Doors
Slam
Maximum speed
90 or 100 mph 140 or 160 km/h
HVAC
Steam or electric or both
Bogies
BR1, BR2, Commonwealth or B4
Braking system(s)
automatic vacuum, air, or dual
Coupling system
Drawhook or retractable knuckle coupler resting on drawhook
Track gauge
4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Mark 1 Brake Suburban E43190 at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre This type was shorter than standard and has no corridor
British Rail Mark 1 is the family designation for the first standardised designs of railway carriages built by British Railways (BR) from 1951 until 1974, now used only for charter services on the main lines or on preserved railways.
Following nationalisation in 1948, BR had continued to build carriages to the designs of the "Big Four" companies (the Great Western, Southern, London, Midland and Scottish and London and North Eastern railways), and the Mark 1 was intended to be the standard carriage design for use across all lines, incorporating the best features of each of the former companies' designs. It was also designed to be much stronger than previous designs, to provide better protection for passengers in the event of a collision or derailment.
The Mark 1 coaches were built in two distinct tranches: the early vehicles (1951–1960) and, from 1961 onwards, the "Commonwealth" stock – so named on account of their bogies, which were a variant of the bogie designed by the General Steel Castings Corporation (formerly named the Commonwealth Steel Company) of Granite City, United States of America.
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