By 1900, corridor stock was the norm for main line trains, but non-corridor vehicles like this one carried more people for their size and weight, and continued to be used for local trains into the 1960s. No.467 (the most probable number for this vehicle) is typical of the non-corridor carriages used by all the Scottish companies for branch line and suburban services. Four passenger compartments take up just half the length of the coach, the remainder providing accommodation for the Guard and for the great variety of items which the railway once carried by passenger train. Such items included Royal Mail letters and parcels, railway parcels, newspapers, milk, luggage and bicycles. All these were commercial traffic for the railways, lost eventually to other forms of transport.
After withdrawal from passenger stock, this coach was converted into a messing and stores vehicle for breakdown train use. The original compartments remain, although a corridor was put in to connect them with the van, which was fitted out for carrying tools and equipment. Sufficient original woodwork and fittings remain so that restoration to passenger carrying condition is a practical proposition.
