Sleeper Either Class
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A Sleeper Either class (SLE) and Sleeper Either class with Pantry (SLEP) are a type of railway
sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the main American innovator and owner of sl ...
used in
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
. Some units were later modified for better wheelchair access as Sleeper Either class Disabled (SLED). A smaller number reused in Denmark were classified as WLABr. A total of 208 vehicles were built at
Derby Litchurch Lane Works Derby Litchurch Lane Works, formerly Derby Carriage and Wagon Works, is a railway rolling stock factory in Derby, England. It is presently owned by the multinational transportation manufacturer Alstom. Derby works originally commenced productio ...
by
British Rail Engineering Limited British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) was the rolling stock manufacturing and maintenance subsidiary of British Rail. It was established on 1 January 1970 by the British Railways Board to operate its 14 rolling stock maintenance centres and ...
between 1982–1984 to the
British Rail Mark 3 The British Rail Mark 3 is a type of passenger railway carriage, carriage developed in response to growing competition from passenger airline, airlines and the automobile, car in the 1970s. A variant of the Mark 3 became the rolling stock for t ...
A profile for
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
. They were introduced to replace an ageing fleet of Mark 1 sleeper cars built to various designs and which dated from the late 1950s to early 1960s. The order consisted of 88 SLE variants, numbered 10646–10733, were constructed with thirteen bedrooms each, and 120 SLEP variants, numbered 10500–10619 constructed with twelve bedrooms with the last compartment used for an attendant. The Mark 3 air-conditioned sleeping cars were introduced including many additional safety features that had been lacking in the
Mark 1 Mark 1 is the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It recounts the proclamation of John the Baptist, the baptism of Jesus Christ, his temptations and the beginning of his ministry in Galilee. Text ...
carriages that had caught fire at
Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...
. The Night Riviera stock was the first on the route fitted with controlled emission toilets. , the only mainline operator of this type of carriages are
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
on the ''
Night Riviera The ''Night Riviera'' () is a sleeping car, sleeper train operated by Great Western Railway (train operating company), Great Western Railway (GWR). It is one of only two sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom (the other being th ...
'', whose fleet was refurbished in 2017. With the decline of overnight sleeper services in the United Kingdom shortly after their introduction at the end of the 1980s, many of the carriages later were moved to
heritage railways A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods ...
to provide sleeping accommodation for heritage staff and volunteers.


Service

Mk3 sleeper vehicles remain in use on the Great Western Railway's ''
Night Riviera The ''Night Riviera'' () is a sleeping car, sleeper train operated by Great Western Railway (train operating company), Great Western Railway (GWR). It is one of only two sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom (the other being th ...
'' from
London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London railway station and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great Western Ra ...
to
Penzance Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...
in Cornwall. All Night Riviera sleeper carriages have been refurbished, and feature keycard locks, new lighting, a wardrobe and under-bed storage. SLED vehicles, with disabled-accessible berth and toilet, were also added. The various Scottish services continue to depart from
London Euston Euston railway station ( ; or London Euston) is a major central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station managed by Network Rail in the London Borough of Camden. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line ...
for final destinations at Glasgow Central,
Edinburgh Waverley Edinburgh Waverley (also known simply as Edinburgh; ) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. The station serves as the northern terminus of the East C ...
,
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
,
Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
and Fort William, but the
Caledonian Sleeper ''Caledonian Sleeper'' is the collective name for overnight Sleeping car, sleeper train services between London and Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It is one of only two currently operating sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom ...
Mark 3 sleeper sets were withdrawn in October 2019. Between 1988 and 1998, ten SLE carriages were leased to
Danish State Railways DSB, an abbreviation of ''Danske Statsbaner'' (, ''Danish State Railways''), is the largest Danish train operating company. It's also the largest train operating company in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on ...
(DSB) for use in Denmark. This lease came to an end following the opening of the
Great Belt Fixed Link The Great Belt Bridge () or Great Belt fixed link () is a multi-element fixed link crossing the Great Belt strait between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen. It consists of a road suspension bridge and a railway tunnel between Zealand and ...
combined bridge and tunnel. During this time, the vehicles were classified as WLABr and each carried a
UIC UIC may refer to: Computing * Uranium Information Centre, a defunct website sponsored by uranium mining companies * User identification code, the user number of the Files-11 file system in the RSX-11 operating system Education * University of Ill ...
number.


Preservation

Following the withdrawal of many overnight sleeper services in the late-1980s, many Mark 3 SLEP sleeper carriages were obtained by
heritage railways A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods ...
in order to provide sleeping accommodation for heritage staff and volunteers. In 2019, some of the former
Caledonian Sleeper ''Caledonian Sleeper'' is the collective name for overnight Sleeping car, sleeper train services between London and Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It is one of only two currently operating sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom ...
carriages were preserved. there were 1 SLED, 15 SLEs and 33 SLEPs in preservation at heritage railways. Since 2016, a sleeper repatriated from Denmark has been operated as a static hostel for members of the public by the
Telford Steam Railway The Telford Steam Railway (TSR) is a heritage railway located at Horsehay, Telford in Shropshire, England, formed in 1976. The railway is operated by volunteers on Sundays and Bank holiday, Bank Holidays from Easter to the end of September, an ...
.


References


Further reading

* {{Authority control British Rail coaching stock BREL products Night trains of the United Kingdom