SLAMMING THE DOOR ON RAILWAY HISTORY

摘要

Mark 1 carriages date back to the earliest years of British Railways. The loco-hauled prototypes were built in 1950 and entered service on some of BR's principal expresses the following year. Featuring an all-steel body welded onto a heavy underframe, they were well-proportioned, sturdy and utilitarian. It was five years after the first such examples entered service that the first Mk1 Southern electric units appeared. The main lines to East Kent were to be electrified and six prototype express units - two including a buffet car - were built two years before the production series. The units were, in effect, Mk1versions of the pre-war 4-COR and 4-BUF units, with electrical equipment similar to that in the suburban 4-EPBs. Indeed, the units' initial classification was 4-COR(EPB), but that was soon abbreviated to 4-CEP. (The buffet units were 4-BEP).