Great Western Railway Coaches - Collett Articulated Sets

On the GNR Gresley had started using articulated coach sets in 1907. First by converting existing coaches, but in 1911 he produced a new articulated twin set. By nationalisation Gresley had outshopped at least 65 different designs of twin, triplet, quad and quint articulated sets. The rational behind it being that it saved both train length and weight. In 1924 Collett ordered 18 suburban coaches to be formed as 6 coach articulated sets for the Main Line & City. Designed to the 'Metrogauge' (the loading gauge of the Widened Lines between Kings Cross and Moorgate) they were otherwise very similar to the normal suburban coaches of the time. Much of the saving in space and weight came through using straight-backed seats, much to the discomfort of the passenger!

Unusually for the GWR the coaches were numbered in their own sequence. The suburban coaches started at 9801 and the corridor coaches started at 10001. That allowed for a future increase in the suburban coaches to about 9934 which is the lowest numbered GWR Camping Coaches in 1948. Or 22 6 coach sets! Coaches were numbered sequentially in each set.

The suburban coaches were formed into 3 sets coupled: D93, C53, E126, E126, C53, D93; articulated throughout. In 1929 the first set was split into two ½ sets. The composites were mounted on 7' bogies at the outer ends and given normal drawgear; they were moved to diagram E133. All three sets were a sucess and remained in use on the Main Line and City until that service was withdrawn in September 1939. But that was not the end of them and 2 sets lasted until 1957 and the third set lasted until 1960.

Before the suburban sets were out of the workshop Collett ordered 48 corridor coaches to be formed into 8 coach articulated trains, formed of three sets. A Diner triplet formed of a First Class Diner, Kitchen Car and Third Class Diner. A third class triplet formed 2 third class and a brake third. And a first class twin formed of a Brake First and All First. Normal screw couplings were used between the artic-sets.

They were initially used on Paddington to South Wales, Paddington to Birkenhead and Paddington to Weymouth for the Channel Islands expresses. One set was used on the Plymouth to Paddington Ocean Liner Boat Trains but pretty quickly the restaurant triplet was replaced by a single restaurant car. Similarly in other sets the lack of flexiblility in the restaurant meant that those triplets being taken out of the formation and normal coaches were substituted in.

By 1934 the sets were of limited use, so splitting the sets and rebuilding started the following year. First to be altered were 10018 & 10020 which were condemned and taken into stock as new vehicles and surprisingly rebuilt as a twin! By March 1937 all the corridor coaches had been rebuilt by inserting a new section that was at least 10' long. Two of the rebuilt Kitchen Cars and, for a while, four of the rebuilt Diners quickly found use in the second '1935' excursion set which was formed: D119, H52, H49, H52, C68x2, H52, H49, H52, D119

The outer ends coaches of each set were the first coaches to use the new 7' bogie. The inner ends used a unique 8'6 Collett bogie (not to be confused with the Dean 8'6 bogie) that supported both coaches. The lot list suggests that it was intended to fit buckeyes between to sets, but photographing evidence suggested that this did not happen.

Dimensions
	Corridor	Suburban
Width over cornices	8' 11¼	8' 5¼
Width over body at waist	9'	8'6
Width over handles	9' 5¾	8'11¾
Height to gutters	10' 8¼	10' 6¾
Height to top of roof	12' 7¹⁄₁₆	11' 10¹⁄₁₆
Height over ventilators	13' 1¼	12'4¾

Diagram	Dimensions Length x Width Wheelbase		Numbers		Conversions
Corridor Coaches
C53 8 compartment articulated non-corridor third	48' x 8'6 8'6 heavy bogies	6 built in 1925	9802, 9805, 9808, 9811, 9814, 9817		All were condemned between 1957 and 1960.
D93 6 compartment articulated non-corridor brake third	48' x 8'6 8'6 heavy bogie at inner end and 7' bogie at outer end	6 built in 1925	9801, 9806, 9807, 9812, 9813, 9818	Bristol Temple Meads 1956 © HC Casserley 90193, R Spratt collection	All were condemned between 1957 and 1960.
E126 7 compartment articulated non-corridor composite 5 first class and 2 third class compartments	48' x 8'6 8'6 heavy bogies	4 built in 1925	9803, 9804, 9809, 9810, 9815, 9816	Bristol Temple Meads August 1956 © HC Casserley 90194, R Spratt collection	9803, 9804 were converted to E133 in 1929 All were condemned between 1957 and 1960.
E133 7 compartment articulated non-corridor composite 5 first class and 2 third class compartments	48' x 8'6 8'6 heavy bogie at inner end and 7' bogie at outer end	2 converted in 1929	9803, 9804		Originally built as E126, in November 1927 the set was split, fitted with 7' bogies and buffers at the outer end. Condemned in 1957.
Corridor Coaches
A16 5 compartment articulated corridor first 2 lavatories	48'1 x 9' 8'6 heavy bogie at inner end and 7' bogie at outer end	6 built in 1925	10001, 10009, 10017, 10025, 10033, 10041		All were converted to A18 in 1936/7
A17 2 compartment articulated corridor brake first 1 lavatory	50'7 x 9' 8'6 heavy bogie at inner end and 7' bogie at outer end	6 built in 1925	10000, 10008, 10016, 10024, 10032, 10040		All were converted to A19 in 1936/7
C51 7 compartment articulated corridor third 2 lavatories	52'3 x 9' 8'6 heavy bogies	6 built in 1925	10006, 10014, 10022, 10030, 10038, 10046	D92(nearest), C51 & C52 No. 10007/6/5 © GWR	All were converted to C72 in 1936/7
C52 7 compartment articulated corridor third 2 lavatories	52'3 x 9' 8'6 heavy bogie at inner end and 7' bogie at outer end	6 built in 1925	10006, 10014, 10022, 10030, 10038, 10046		All were converted to C72 in 1936/7
D92 3 compartment articulated corridor brake third 2 lavatories	50'7 x 9' 8'6 heavy bogie at inner end and 7' bogie at outer end	6 built in 1925	10007, 10015, 10023, 10031, 10039, 10047		All were converted to D122 in 1936/7.
H30 Corridor First Diner 7 dining tables seating 4 and 7 dining tables seating 2	50'7 x 9' 8'6 heavy bogie at inner end and 7' bogie at outer end	6 built in 1925	10002, 10010, 10018, 10026, 10034, 10042	H32(nearest), H31 & H30 No. 10036/35/34 © GWR H32(nearest), H31 & H30 No. 10004/3/2 © GWR H31 corridor side © HMRS AEL106	10018 & 10034 were converted to H52 in 1936 The remainer were converted to H50 in 1936/7.
H31 Kitchen Car Kitchen, 2 pantries and 3 luggage compartments	46'3 x 9' 8'6 heavy bogies	6 built in 1925	10003, 10011, 10019, 10027, 10035, 10043		All were converted to H49 in 1936/7.
H32 Corridor Third Diner 14 dining tables seating 4	50'7 x 9' 8'6 heavy bogie at inner end and 7' bogie at outer end	6 built in 1925	10004, 10012, 10020, 10028, 10036, 10044		10020 & 10036 were converted to H52 in 1936 The remainer were converted to H51 in 1936/7.
Rebuilt Corridor Coaches
A18 6 compartment corridor first 2 lavatories	55'7 x 9' 7' bogies	6 converted in 1936/7 from A16	8011 to 8016	A18 No. 8014 © GWR	All were condemned between 1957 and 1959.
A19 3 compartment corridor brake first 1 lavatory	58'1 x 9' 7' bogies	6 converted in 1936/7 from A17	8017 to 8022	A19 R.Spratt Collection	All were condemned between 1961 and 1962.
C72 8 compartment corridor third 2 lavatories	59'9 x 9' 7' bogies	6 converted in 1936/7 from C51 6 converted in 1936/7 from C52	4191, 4193, 4195, 4197, 4199, 4201 4190, 4192, 4194, 4196, 4198, 4200	C72 No. 4199 © GWR	All were condemned between 1959 and 1963.
D122 4 compartment corridor brake third 2 lavatories	58'2 x 9' 7' bogies	6 converted in 1936/7 from D92	4202 to 4207	D122 No. 4199 © GWR	All were condemned between 1961 and 1962.
H49 Kitchen, 2 pantries and 3 luggage compartments, staff compartment and lavatory	61'5 x 9' 7' bogies	6 converted in 1936/7 from H31	9657 to 9662		All were condemned between 1961 and 1962.
H50 Corridor First Diner 8 dining tables seating 4 and 8 dining tables seating 2	58'1 x 9' 7' bogies	4 converted in 1936/7 from H30	9645 to 9648	H50 No. 9648 © GWR	All were condemned between 1961 and 1962. 9647 & 9648 fitted with 6 wheel bogies in 1938/9
H51 Corridor Third Diner 16 dining tables seating 4	58'1 x 9' 7' bogies	4 converted in 1936/7 from H32	9649 to 9652	H51 No. 9652 © GWR	All were condemned between 1961 and 1962. 9650 & 9651 fitted with 6 wheel bogies in 1938/9.
H52 Corridor First Diner 14 dining tables seating 4 1 lavatory & 2 luggage compartments	58'1 x 9' 7' bogies	2 converted in 1936 from H30 2 converted in 1936 from H32	9655, 9656 9653, 9654	H52 No. 9653 @ Highley 2012 © Hugh Llewelyn / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)	All were condemned between 1957 and 1962.