The Second Corridor (previously Third Corridor) type of railway carriage was one of the standard mid-20th century designs, and was coded SK (previously TK) by the LNER and BR, and CF by the LMS. The layout of the coach was a number of compartments, all of which were second class (known as third class until 1956), linked by a side corridor.
The British Railways Mark 1 SK was the most numerous carriage design ever built in the United Kingdom. The original number series carried was 24000–26217. From 1983, those carriages in the 25xxx and 26xxx series were renumbered 18xxx and 19xxx.
There were two variants, those built for the Midland, Scottish, and Eastern / North Eastern regions had six seats per compartment, with fold-up arm-rests which folded into the seat-back, while those built for the Southern and Western regions, with their heavy commuter loadings into London, had eight seats in each compartment, and no arm-rests. Seating was of the interior sprung bench type. Over time, some SKs and BSKs were re-allocated from other regions to the Western, who tended to try to stitch the arm-rests in the up position.[clarification needed]
In 1985, a number of Mark 2 First Corridor carriages were declassified to become SKs. They were renumbered from 13xxx to 19xxx, putting them after the end of the Mark 1 range (19452–19560).
No carriages of this type are still in daily use on the main line network, since open saloon carriages are now preferred by operating companies. However, some electric multiple units based on Mark 1 coaches have standard class compartments, such as Class 438. Many SKs still operate on preserved UK railway lines.
Designations for second corridor carriages are as follows:
In 1951 the initial livery for Mk1 coaches on British Railways was crimson lake and cream with black and gold lining, and all new Mk1 SK coaches were delivered in this livery up until 1956. In 1956 the standard livery changed to maroon with black and gold lining, except for the Southern region stock which adopted an unlined dark malachite green. Western Region adopted chocolate and cream on sufficient stock to operate its named trains such as the Cornish Riviera Express and the Torbay Express. In 1965 Manastral Blue & Grey livery was introduced as trailed on XP64 stock the year before and was the network standard for over 20 years. In the 1980s the NSE livery of white with blue at window level and red stripe under was introduced for stock in the south east of England.
A second corridor coach with a guard's brake compartment is designated BSK. The Mark 1 BSKs had 4 compartments, built as two variants with or without arm-rests depending on region, as with the SKs.