The start of another journey...
Rail-Blue Charters offers some of the youngest passenger coaches for your charter train. The type of vehicles are known as the Mark 3 (MkIII), being the third generation of British Rail passenger carrying coach. The first class vehicles were built as recently as 1985!
We own the following carriages:
Inside view of a 1st class MkIII carriage
The MkIII first class vehicles each have 48 seats in bays of 2 and 4.
Each carriage seats 48 people.
We also have two first class vehicles with partitions which can be used to offer two types of first class services within one carriage.
The vehicle numbers are 11031, 11064, 11065, 11071, 11083, 11084, 11086, 11089 and 11097. All the vehicles apart from 11031 are the later MkIII 'b' build that were constructed in 1985.
Inside view of a standard class MkIII carriage
The standard class vehicles have 72 seats arranged in 16 bays of four and 4 pairs of airline seats.
Each carriage can seat 72 people.
The vehicle numbers are 12014, 12038, 12043, 12053 and 12119.
Buffet counter inside MkIII carriage for charter trains
Each catering vehicle has the following kitchen equipment:
Hot and cold food and drinks can be served from the buffet counter if required or by dispensing trolley.
Bespoke menus are available according to your requirement: full breakfast, brunch, lunch and/or evening meals can be catered for - see section catering.
There are also 18 first class seats available in this carriage.
The vehicle numbers are 10202, 10215, 10233 and 10246.
MkIII sleeping car
The sleeping car is not strictly passenger accommodation, but it serves well as a staff accommodation carriage on those really long journeys. The vehicle has 12 berths that can sleep two, but normally the top bunk is folded away to create one berth per staff member. Each berth comes with hangars, storage space, sink with hot and cold water and heating and air conditioning controls.
At the end of the vehicle is a 'kitchenette' room with facilities for the crews. At the other end of the vehicle are two staff toilets.
The vehicle we have is 10588, a variant that was built with a 'kitchenette' to service the berths. It operated between Paddington and Penzance on the 'Night Riviera' sleeper before being retired in 2005. Beautifully sprung and quiet, they offer a great environment for staff to rest.
You will be pleased to know that there are many MkIII sleepers in service on overnight sleeper trains. The 'Night Riviera' still runs and there are services from London to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William.
Cargo-D has obtained a sizeable number of MkII vehicles. Air-conditioned and capable of 100mph, they will form a useful addition to the MkIII stock we already utilise. The vehicles are a mixture of standard class, first class and catering vehicles.
The recommissioning of these useful vehicles is now taking place at Long Marston. They will of course be painted Rail-Blue and Grey!
© Rail-Blue Charters 2008