BR Mark 1 coaches first went into revenue service in the spring of 1951, the better part of 70 years ago. They outlasted contemporary introductions like the standard steam loco classes, all of the early and many later diesels and even the humble 16 ton mineral wagons, and there can be no comparison whatsoever with their contemporary road vehicles. They were built in various BR workshops and by number of private firms including Cravens, Metropolitan Cammell and the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Co, and construction ceased in the first half of the 1960s. Initially they worked prestige services but were soon to be seen across the UK on all kinds of passenger services. Their longevity has made them an attractive proposition as models and nowadays the fact that they are still in daily use with heritage railway companies surely means there must be few with an interest in railways who haven’t travelled in at least one.

Set 1, reviewed here, contains four coaches that form the basis of typical prototype train makeups. This will be joined later by Set 2 that comprises a restaurant open first, a restaurant open second and a restaurant kitchen. Also coming are sleeping cars, a buffet, corridor first, brake composite, tourist second open and a full brake, the latter on the correct 57 foot underframe. All will be available in a selection of liveries from the original crimson and cream, through maroon, green, chocolate and cream, corporate blue and grey to the very colourful Intercity versions that appeared before privatisation. Coaches are available individually as well as in sets. Brake coaches have detachable, plug in lighted tail lamps.

Weight of model (CK) 1021g

The prototype measurements are as given in Keith Parkin’s book on the story of BR mark 1 coaches published by HMRS/Atlantic.

The BR 1 bogie as fitted is unfortunately somewhat wide across the axleboxes. At 58.3mm this scales out at around 8ft 4in where it should be 7ft 7in. This caused no problems with running past curved platforms of a six foot radius. The appearance might cause offence to some and I am advised that this is a consequence of the models initially being designed as not finescale ones. The Commonwealth style bogies that will be fitted to the blue/grey and Intercity liveried versions will be more accurately dimensioned. The overall height, and some widths, of the model are slightly overscale. The enigmatic crimson and cream livery has been very well caught although I perceive the cream band as being a bit wide. I could not find this dimension for the prototype, but I’d like a fraction more crimson. That said, reds are my favourite colour!

Interior detail includes the corridor screen, seating, red in second class, blue in first, and coloured compartment furnishings such as mirrors, lamps and hat racks. This is achieved with paper overlays and looks effective. The glazing is very secure and grills are printed on the inside of the appropriate windows in above the compartments and as already mentioned, is switchable off and on via one of the bogies.

Disappointingly, there is an absence of SC prefixes and of ‘Load xxTons Distributed’ (for brake vans). There are ‘No Smoking’ signs and two versions of ‘InterCity’ and yellow stripes for the cantrail area on first class sections, along with full instructions on applying the transfers.

To sum up, these Mark 1s are an impressive addition to the ever increasing range of RTR stock. If they’re on your wish list, get them while you can. They look the part, the proportions and shape being excellent both to my eyes, and to a number of other Guild members who had a chance to form an opinion while I had a loan of the models. I think the construction methodology is a tour de force.

The company was founded in Switzerland in 1966 by Marcel Darphin to manufacture replicas of pre-war Marklin coaches. Later they went on to produce a variety of European rolling stock in O gauge finescale. In 1993 the company was purchased by Mr Andries Grabowsky who had been involved in manufacturing HO models in the Netherlands, winning a first prize at the Nuremburg toy fair in both 1991 and 1992. In 1996, following an upsurge of interest in modern vintage style tinplate trains, Darstaed produced their first UK models and in 2016, their 50th anniversary year, it was decide to expand once again to include O gauge, two rail finescale.
A copy of the review was passed to Ellis Clark. Ellis declared that they were happy with the clarity of the review and stated that the Darstaed philosophy is to produce realistic, value for money, models.