Carriage 104

Carriage 104
	Carriage 104 in 2007
Type	Corridor Composite
Seating	16 x 3rd / 4 x 1st (declassified) / 16 x 3rd
Home Railway	FR
Status	In service
History
Built by	FR Co.
Built	1964
Technical
Length	37 ft 5 in
Frames	Steel
	Carriages

Carriage 104 is a declasified composite saloon from the Centenary stock series.

Background[edit]

Carriage 24 (later to become 104) being wheeled out of the erecting shop at Boston Lodge, 1964

This was the prototype for the Centenary Stock and was originally numbered 24 when new. It was renumbered 104 in 1967. The general design was similar to that of No.14. This was the first saloon fitted with ex-Pullman seats. The body was built in Birkenhead and was delivered to Boston Lodge, in sections, in early March 1964. The body was assembled during May and the carriage entered service on 25 August, in varnished teak livery.

It received bogies from the old Van 3 after reconditioning, but was fitted with the new standard FR 4'4" wheelbase plate frame bogies based on ex L&B No 14 soon after.

In 1985 104 was rebuilt with the Pullman seats being removed and a side corridor compartment for First Class being provided.^[1]

At around the same time the louvre windows were replaced by drop windows, with ventilators above, and the frieze rail (between the toplight and the main window) removed between the drop windows. The new larger main windows were fitted in rubber mounts with rounded corners.

During early 2010 Carriage 104 was given an overhaul involving replacing the panelling on the engine side of the carriage and giving the whole carriage a fresh coat of varnish.

In early 2013 104 was partially rebuilt back toward its original form, with new main windows with square corners. However the frieze rails and separate toplights have not been reinstated, so it does not as yet quite match the other three Centenary saloons (105-7) or the Super Barns.

Over the winter of 2016/17, alongside the other corridor composites, the first class was downgraded. The seats remained as before but the door was removed from the compartment and the first stickers removed from the windows. It is planned that the compartment will be removed when possible.