Hornby-Minitrix - N304 - Passenger Car, British Rail, Mark 1 Coach - British Rail - M 21240

Model Information: This Mk1 Composite Corridor (CK) coach was introduced in 1969 by Minitrix in three different BR liveries. It was later released in an additional livery. It was available up until the mid-1990's when production of this model stopped.
Another type of Mk1 coach was introduced at the same time: BCK (Brake Composite Corridor).
They have been distributed in the UK as Hornby-Minitrix during the '70's for a short period of time, but mostly were available under the Minitrix brand.
Length between buffers: 134 mm

Prototype History: British Railways Mark 1 was the family designation for the first standardised designs of railway carriages built by British Railways. Following nationalisation in 1948, BR had continued to build carriages to the designs of the "Big Four" companies (the Great Western, Southern, London Midland and Scottish and London and North Eastern railways), and the Mark 1 was intended to be the standard carriage design for use across all lines, incorporating the best features of each of the former companies' designs. It was also designed to be much stronger than previous designs, to provide better protection for passengers in the event of a collision or derailment.
The Mk 1 coaches were built in two distinct tranches: the early vehicles (1951–60) and the 'Commonwealth' stock (named from the type of bogie used) from 1961 onwards.
They have been painted in a large variety of liveries and very produced in various types: First, Second or Composite, Coach, Brake/Coach, Restaurant, etc.
The Mk 1 coaches have been in operation until 2005.

From Wikipedia

Road Name History: British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages between 1994 and 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission, it became an independent statutory corporation in 1962 designated as the British Railways Board.

British Rail designed and manufactured rolling stock from 1948 to 1989, at which time its subsidiary British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) was privatised.

1997 marked the end of the privatization effort in which the last assets of British Rail were sold to 31 regional freight and passenger operators as well as Railtrack (which was later brought under public control as Network Rail), which was given the track and infrastructure.

Read more on Wikipedia.

Brand/Importer Information: Hornby-Minitrix was a short-lived association between the two brands in the late 1970s-early 1980s for the distribution of British N gauge rolling stock and accessories / tracks of Minitrix in the UK. The models are the same as the Minitrix ones, only different in packaging and stock number.