Bulleid Bournemouth Six-Coach Sets no: 290-300

Bulleid sets 290-300 were colloquially known as the ‘Bournemouth six-coach sets’ or alternatively as the ‘Bournemouth dining sets’. Eleven sets of six-carriage fixed-formations (designed to minimise maintenance), used for premier express services, were completed just before railway nationalisation. Built at Southern Railway’s Eastleigh Carriage Works, they entered service on the Waterloo-Bournemouth line (and sometimes on to Weymouth) from early 1948.

Sets 290 and 299 were mostly designated for Waterloo-Bournemouth West handling the day’s first dining working. Bournemouth six-coach sets were occasionally seen on the west of England route which largely remained the province of two- and three-coach sets, the tavern car sets and loose brake composites serving a variety of destinations, Lyme Regis, Seaton Junction and Sidmouth east of Exeter, Plymouth to the west, the rural and coastal idylls of the Withered Arm, and north to Ilfracombe. Shamrock Finescale three coach sets 770-793 were selected with this in mind.

Visually distinctive, the Bournemouth six-coach sets had coach bodysides extending from the gutter down over the carriage solebars, and were often referred to as ‘skirted’ sets. A number of fixed-formations were split up for operational reasons and strengthened with extra loose vehicles within the sets often for busy summertime traffic. Some survived in their original carriage combinations until the 1960s.

Set 293 became a three-coach set consisting of two brakes and composite carriage in 1964, but retaining its skirts, making it unique as the six-coach set offers railway modellers the option of a fixed set of three and the choice of the three other carriages for loose operation with Maunsell and BR Mk1s. None of the Bulleid six-coach sets lost their skirts throughout their operational lives, though in preservation several have had them removed.

Shamrock Finescale Bournemouth six-coach sets will be produced in three livery styles – Southern Railway malachite green, British Railways blood and custard livery (carmine and cream), and British Railways Southern Region green. Bulleid six-coach sets were originally painted in malachite green, but it appears the new British Railways Southern Region was reluctant to use the new standardised blood and custard (livery for all the Bournemouth six-coach sets). Opting to keep some of them in revarnished green finish, research suggests 290, 292, 295 and 296 lasted through the blood and custard era in malachite green, but with British Railways Gill Sans lettering and numbers.

Sets 291, 293, 294, 297, 298 and 300 all received blood and custard livery and all were repainted in BR Southern green between 1956 and 1959.

Set 299 was provided initially with the British Railways experimental livery – old style LNWR plum and off-white (nicknamed plum and spilt milk) – in June 1948 before later being repainted in blood and custard around 1953, and then BR Southern green after 1956.

Phase 1

Malachite green with green ends: Southern Railway lettering and numbers

Customers requiring set no: 300 option must order with a deposit, as all others will be produced with black ends.

Malachite green with black ends: British Railways Gill Sans lettering and numbers

Blood and custard livery: BR Gill Sans lettering and numbers

Should there be sufficient customer interest we will also produce set no: 299 in British Railways experimental livery – old style LNWR plum and off-white (plum and spilt milk).

BR Southern green: BR Gill Sans lettering and numbers

Phase 2

Malachite green with green ends: Southern Railway lettering and numbers

Malachite green with black ends: British Railways Gill Sans lettering and numbers

Blood and custard livery: BR Gill Sans lettering and numbers

Should there be sufficient customer interest we will also produce set no: 299 in British Railways experimental livery – old style LNWR plum and off-white (plum and spilt milk).

BR Southern green: BR Gill Sans lettering and numbers

Carriage specifications

• Meticulously researched using original drawings, image material and examples of preserved and modified stock.
• Beautiful hand-made solid brass fine scale soldered construction ensuring superb body detail.
• Interior LED carriage lighting.
• Finished in long-lasting and robust oven-baked satin paint.
• Ball bearing mounted axel boxes for free running bogies.
• Solid stainless steel disc wheels with back-to-back set at 29 mm.
• Conversion pack for standard/coarse scale Hi Rail wheels set at 27.5 mm.
• Removeable carriage body so the interior can be accessed for the fitting of figures.
• Roof coach boards commemorating famous express trains run with Bulleid stock.
• Side mounted destination and route carriage boards.
• Manufactured by Art Hobbies, Korea.

Two coupling types are provided: Buckeye couplings will be a standard on Bulleid coaches. A screw (drop) link coupling will be fixed on brake ends to allow connection with most manufacturer locomotive types. Additional conversion packs for screw (drop) link couplings, as well as additional buckeye couplings are available. Note the screw (drop) link coupling is suitable to align with ACE-style drop link couplings where the carriages are run with standard/coarse scale locomotives.