Maunsell restaurant coach

[HornbyinNC]

Over the years we have seen a stream of excellent Maunsell coach derivatives from Hornby.  While I am sure this has been asked many times before, will we ever see any restaurant variants?

[LCDR]

 I could certainly find a place in my collection for one (or more). If I had a choice I would 'plump' for a diagram 2666, but I would be satisfied with any of the others.

 

I have already scratch built a diagram 2666 car, but I feel my efforts are never going to be a match for Hornby.

[81F]

 I could really do with a few resturant cars particularly GWR and LNER but Southern would not go amiss. Having said that at least Southern and LNER fans have pullmans

[LCDR]

The Southern Railway certainly used Pullmans as resturant cars, before 1947 (and in boat trains and the 6Pul EMUs afterwards) but BR tended to used proper resturant cars in ordinary long distance trains, and OVS Bulleid introduced his notorious Tavern Cars in 1949. Some LNER sleeping cars were converted to buffet cars for use on various regions by Eastleigh works with some going to the Southern. For the Hastings line some former Pullman cars were painted green and relabelled as buffet cars in the 1950s. This was because only a maximum of 8 foot wide cars were permitted between Tunbridge Wells and St Leonards.

 

The Pullman Car Company staffed all SR buffet and resturant cars as a franchise/contractor, but the company and its staff was absorbed into BR at Nationalisation although the full Pullman car trains kept their identity under BR.

 

The LNER and Southern also operated full Pullman trains of course and continued to do so into the 1960s/1970s.

[Euchlides]

Been some time since I looked into this Forum.  The Maunsell restaurant car is a glaring omission from the range.We have the open third which was paired with it in trains with dining car facilities, so we should have the restaurant car.  I would take four of them as they ran in the long distance trains to the far South West - my area of interest.  Hornby have created a market for these vehicles by producing the open third, why not follow through?

[Rule 1 Applies]

The problem with restaurant cars is that only some trains had them and those that did only featured one. So the modeller who might buy several Maunsell seconds, composites, brakes, etc, would likely only buy one or at most perhaps two catering vehicles to run with them.

 

Thus it's very likely that the financial investment Hornby would have to make in terms of design, tooling and manufacture would never be recouped in sales. In which case, it ain't gonna happen.

[richard_allen]

The problem with restaurant cars is that only some trains had them and those that did only featured one. So the modeller who might buy several Maunsell seconds, composites, brakes, etc, would likely only buy one or at most perhaps two catering vehicles to run with them.

 

Thus it's very likely that the financial investment Hornby would have to make in terms of design, tooling and manufacture would never be recouped in sales. In which case, it ain't gonna happen.