374-901C BR Mk1 POS Post Office Sorting Van Post Office Red No.M80309

The British Railways Mk1 was the designation given to BR’s first standard design of main line coaching stock, and one of its most successful. Built from 1951 until the early 1960s to augment and replace the array of ‘Big Four’ and earlier ‘pre-grouping’ designs inherited from the LMS, LNER, GWR and SR, BR took the best features from several of these types to produce the new steel-bodied design. As a result, the Mk1 was stronger and safer than any of the inherited types that came before it.

There were few vehicle types more specialised within the Mk1 family that the Post Office vans, with Travelling Post Office (TPO) formations featuring POS coaches (Post Office Sorting) where mail was sorted on the move, and POTs (Post Office Tenders – also modelled by Graham Farish) where mail was stowed during the journey. Introduced in the 1960s and in operation until the end of the TPOs in 2004, the POS has been a mainstay of TPO formations during the BR period and into Privatisation when they were operated by EWS.

This Graham Farish model of a POS coach carries all the hallmarks of this iconic design, the distinctive profile of the Mk1 coach is captured to a tee from the bodysides to the roof where finely moulded ventilators can be found. On the bodysides the handles and grab handles surrounding each door are moulded precisely, whilst the handrails aside each loading door are separate metal wire fittings. At either end, the corridor gangway is complete with lamp irons on either side and within, the corridor doors are modelled with the two small windows that is flush glazed – in the same way all of the windows on the model are. Metal grab handles are added to each end individually and metal toilet filler pipes extend to the roof. Footboards are included on the solebars below each door whilst the underframe sports a full complement of equipment, with the truss rod frames modelled in all their glory and flanked by battery boxes, vacuum cylinders and other auxiliary equipment.

The bogies are fitted with metal wheelsets, whilst the standard N scale coupling is attached via a NEM coupling pocket to the close coupling mechanism that is fitted to the carriage floor, operating in tandem with the bogie. The icing on the cake is the livery application, using authentic colours, logos and fonts to give every model an exquisite appearance.

 

MODEL FEATURES:

• Graham Farish N Scale
• Era 5
• Pristine Post Office Red livery
• Running No. M80309
• B1 Bogies
• Shell Roof Ventilators
• Sidelights fitted on the mail loading side (non-functional)
• Accessory Pack
• NEM Coupling Pockets
• Close Coupling Mechanism
• Length 136mm (over couplings)