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Hornby R40512

BR - MK1 Corridor - S15036 - Composite Coach

Manufacturer catalogue image - please note that pre-release images may be CAD renders or CGI images rather than photographs

Prototype Eras
Era 4 (1948 to 1956) British Railways Early Crest
Era 5 (1956 to 1966) British Railways Late Crest

Manufacturer description

The Mk1 was BR’s first standardised design of railway carriage with thousands built across BR’s carriage works in Derby, Wolverton, Doncaster, York, Eastleigh, and Swindon between 1951 and 1963. The design was also used on first generation Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) until 1974 and for non-passenger stock such as parcel vans and full brake vehicles.

The new coaches gradually replaced older designs inherited from the ‘Big Four’ at nationalisation in 1968 and were used on all British Railways regions. The standard underframe length was 63ft 5in (19.33m) with gangwayed bodies 64ft 6in (19.7m), though suburban coaches and parcel vans were shorter.

Coaches were either fully open or were corridor coaches with seating compartments. Bodywork was of steel panels on wooden frames, with a separate underframe consisting of heavy steel sections braced with steel trusses, originally mounted on ‘BR1’ bogies, though these were superseded by a new cast-steel design from 1958 known as the ‘Commonwealth’ bogie. Later examples utilised a Swindon-designed ‘B4’ bogie which gave a much-improved ride and was adopted for use on Southern Region Mk1 Electric Multiple Units (EMUs).

This is a highly detailed OO scale model of a corridor composite coach from the Southern Region.

Catalogue listing

Model details

Prototype information

Hornby BR - MK1 Corridor - S15036 is a 00 gauge, highly detailed, OO scale model of a Southern Region corridor composite coach. The model carries the manufacturer part number R40512 and represents a British Railways Early Crest carriage, the first standardised design introduced in 1951.

The original Mk1 coaches were built in large numbers at Derby, Wolverton, Doncaster, York, Eastleigh and Swindon between 1951 and 1963, and later appeared on first‑generation diesel multiple units, parcel vans and full brake vehicles. They feature a steel‑panelled body on a wooden frame, a heavy steel underframe, and were originally mounted on BR1 bogies before being fitted with Commonwealth and later Swindon B4 bogies.

This Hornby model reproduces the corridor layout with seating compartments, the gangwayed body length of 64ft 6in and the distinctive external detailing of the Southern Region Mk1 coaches. It is suitable for collectors and railway modellers seeking an accurate representation of the early British Railways carriage fleet.