BR 80300 Post Office Sorting Van
| BR 80300 Post Office Sorting Van | |
|---|---|
 BR 80300 Post Office Sorting Van | |
| Built By | BR Wolverton |
| Status | Static display |
| Number | W80300 |
| Livery | BR Maroon |
| Other numbers | M80300 |
| History | |
| Built | 1959 |
| Diagram | 720 |
| Lot | 30486 |
| Type | POS |
| TOPS code | NSV |
| Seats | None |
| 1997 | Arrived on SVR |
80300 was the prototype BR Mark 1 Post Office Sorting carriage.[1] BR built 96 of such vans between 1959 and 1977 for use in travelling post offices ("TPOs").[2] They were numbered in the range 80300-80395, of which three are resident on the SVR.
The first 19 examples were built at Wolverton and featured large windows.[note 1] After the Great Train Robbery in 1963, the remaining examples (all built at York) were built to a revised design incorporating smaller windows.[2] They incorporated steam heating, being later fitted with dual heating (steam and electric).
The first batch was vacuum braked only, with later examples including built with air braking only. Following the introduction of TOPS in the late 1960s, BR carriages of this class were allocated one of the TOPS codes NSA, NSV or NSX, denoting:
- N: Non-passenger carrying stock
- S: Post Office sorting van
- A: Air brake (including those vehicles 'through piped' for vacuum braked trains, but with no working vacuum brake)
- V: Vacuum brake
- X: Dual vacuum and air brakes, after being retro-fitted with additional air brakes
As built, 80300 was one of those equipped with traductor arms to offload mail and nets to collect it, to allow mail bags to be exchanged at speed,[3] a practice which continued until 1971,[2] with the equipment being removed shortly afterwards.[4]
Withdrawal of the Mark 1 POS stock began in the late 1960s.
Service[edit | edit source]
80300 was built by BR at Wolverton in 1959 to Diagram 720 (NS501), Lot 30486. It entered service in the Western region in October 1959, transferring to the London Midland region in October 1977.[5] In the latter region it was used on the nightly ‘postal special’ which left Euston for Glasgow at 8.30pm. Stops were made at Crewe and Carlisle to transfer mail to and from other TPOs serving different parts of the country. At one time the coach was fitted with a net and apparatus to allow the high speed collection and dropping of mailbags at 34 locations along the route.[6] It was later fitted with dual heating (steam and electric) and brakes (vacuum and air).
Preservation[edit | edit source]
80300 arrived on the SVR on 19 March 1997 from Barton Hill near Bristol, already restored in late 1960s BR maroon livery.[1] It was presented to the railway on indefinite loan by EWS Railways in a ceremony at Kidderminster on 21 March 1997 by Richard Dykes, Managing Director of Royal Mail, and Ed Burkhardt, Chairman of EWS.[7]
80300 was used as the visitor centre at Highley. This visitor centre was officially opened on 2 June 2001.[8]
It is on long term display at The Engine House with the interior accessible to the public. The ‘postal special’ featured in the 1936 GPO film ‘Night Mail’, noted for the poem written by WH Auden and music by Benjamin Britten. Part of this film can be seen in the TPO at Highley.
Exterior detail showing the recess for the mail bag pick up apparatus
Interior view showing mail bag racks
Interior view showing sorting racks
Models[edit | edit source]
- In 2016 Graham Farish produced an N gauge model in post office maroon, catalogue number 370-130.
- Bachmann Branchline produced an OO gauge model, also in post office maroon, catalogue number 39-420Y.
See also[edit | edit source]
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Windows were only provided on one side of the coach, as the other side had the mail sorting racks on the interior.
References[edit | edit source]
Links[edit | edit source]
- 80300 on Railway Heritage Register On-Line
- "Night Mail" on British Film Institute, a 1936 documentary showing practices that changed little over the following 40 years.
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