First (Themiclesian railway)
| First | |
|---|---|
 1889 F carriage by Great Northern | |
 Interior of image above | |
| Constructed | 1859 – 1973 |
| Number built | 50 – 60 |
| Capacity | 16 – 24 |
| Operator(s) | National Rail |
| Specifications | |
| Car length | 50 – 85 ft |
| Width | 9 ft 6 in – 10 ft 6 in |
| Height | 12 ft 6 in – 14 ft 6 in |
| Entry | Two steps |
| Doors | 2 |
| Wheel diameter | 36 in |
First (元, rf ngwan; abbreviated F on most railways) was a common body style on passenger coaches on Themiclesian railways. Towards the very end of the 19th century, they were ecclipsed by the Drawing Room coach (D) in fashionable travel, but were still manufactured and used from time to time, especially on royal and chartered trains.
Nomenclature
By default, F caoches are in the corridor style, whereas one in the compartment style are explicitly specified, since coachs containing only first-class compartments were vanishingly rare. By contrast, a FS or first-second composite was in the compartment style by default.
History
The earliest first-class coaches on Themiclesian railways were compartment coaches, but corridor coaches were introduced in the last quarter of the 19th century enabling passengers to access shared facilities on the train, such as lavatories and dining tables. Lower Coachworks' corridor coaches being popular for long-distance trains in the 1870s, other coachbuilders sought to imitate the feature in their coaches as well, leading to the spread of corridor coaches. Additionally, passengers on corridor coaches did not require long stops for lavatories or meals at stations, increasing average speed of travel; this was especially valuable for express services, and in fact corridor coaches were first found on long-distance, express services for this reason.