I,m a Bully

[jintynut]

I wan't to put together a 3 set rake of Bullied coaches for a country line, I would expect to see two SK's and a BCK however I've seen no reference to a Bullied BCK did they really make them up as an SK, CK and BSK?

[shipbadger]

What you are proposing is not exactly a typical SR set. A CK flanked by two BSKs would be more typical. As a rough rule of thume most SR sets had brake vehicles at each end of the set and only where a four coach set was split in two for operational reasons did the SR or BR(S) have a set formed with a single brake until toward the end of steam days. I'm sure I've read somewhere that the Kenny Belle set which only had a single brake needed special permission when it was first formed.

If you have not already done so can I suggest http://www.semgonline.com/coach/bullco01.html may be a good starting point to explain how the sets were made up.

Tony Comber

[Rod Cameron]

Off the top of my head BCKs on a country line would most likely arise (and then only on the western section) when single through coaches were dropped off long distance trains at junctions for coastal resorts for onward passage on the end of the branch train. This way both 1st and 2nd class passengers could be accommodated without them having to change coaches, and still allowing for a brake coach on the end of the branch train. Three and four coach sets on the Southern (whether Maunsell, Bulleid or Mk1) would almost invariably be BSK-CK-BSK or BSK-CK-SK-BSK.

[billbedford]

It's Bulleid, by the way....

[bevis]

The SEMG is very helpful on coach sets if you follow the links from the Bulleid page suggested above to the spreadsheet half way down the "Sets" page. I use this as a reference for all my sets as it summarises information from a number of sources.