Let the train take the strain…

Good old B.R. they thought of everything for the sleeping car passenger in the 1960s – a wee mouse shaped clip on which to hang your fob watch or a trinket tray for your wristwatch and wallet (and subsequently forget about and lose), a heating & ventilation system that either left you sweating or freezing and as it seemed at times with nothing in between, and of course somewhere to plug in your Remington shaver.

Should during the night one be so indisposed that you were unable to visit the regular on-board “facilities”, British Railways kindly supplied the proverbial piss pot and of course a way of disposing of the evidence. Clearly what none of the designers foresaw was just how they’d actually be be used and after a short time it was found that the waste pipes were not up to job (much to the annoyance of the maintenance staff who had to clear up the mess.   As a result a small notice was by the summer of 1960 affixed to the self-flushing “pot de chambre” cabinets in each berth.

Whether or not it had the desired effect is anyone’s guess.

Let the train take the strain….

Close your eyes and you’re almost there….

Often the simplest changes are the best.  Here’s perhaps two of the easiest that can be applied to the Bachmann Mk1 Sleeper…..

Commonwealth Bogies

As supplied, the sleeper comes with B4 bogies (okay they should technically be B5’s but that’s for another day).  The use of B5 bogies covers the first 79 Mk1 second class sleepers (SLSTP) numbered 2500 – 2578 however the remaining 113 of the 192 built were equipped from new with ESC Commonwealth bogies which they retained until the vehicles were withdrawn or scrapped.

The Commonwealth bogied vehicles were numbered 2579 – 2691 and if you want to add a  bit of prototype variety (for both the BR Maroon and BR Blue & Grey versions) these are quick hit.   Fortunately (for it makes the swap somewhat easier) Bachmann sell them as spares  (Part 36-008A) and replacing them is a simple matter of unscrewing those supplied and swapping them over with the Commomwealth type.

Compartment Blinds

Finally for this round, another relatively simple change.  If you want to model the sleeping cars as they were seen in service (certainly late at night and into early morning) the vehicle wouldn’t be complete without the blinds or shutters drawn.  the SLSTP, SLC (including the first class compartments) & SLE conversions were equipped with light grey roller blinds, and the SLF, first class vehicles were equipped with light grey sliding shutters on the berth side only – and on the berth bodylights only.    After having removed the body from the underframe unit, the “blinds” in this case are represented using plasticard inserts, spray painted light grey (and measuring 10.5mm x 7mm) which are pressed into the recess at the rear of the glazing moulding, and simply taped down  Of course it might be easier to remove the glazing and just spray the appropriate sections however at least by using inserts, they are easily removed if you change your mind!

You could of course model some berths without blinds, some half drawn and some still fully drawn – all on the same vehicle – typical of how the sleeping cars looked when sitting at the destination or on there way out to the carriage sidings!

“Regrettable as an Accident is…

“Regrettable as an Accident is, I maintain that we have provided the strongest type of stock which we can”. “I have built bodies of steel throughout, but they are not as strong as those of wooden construction”

Sir Nigel Gresley, Chief Mechanical Engineer L.N.E.R. (13 December 1937)

Statement made to the Chief Inspecting Officer of Railways on the opening day of the Ministry of Transport Inquiry in Edinburgh into the Disaster that occurred at Castlecary exactly one week earlier in which 35 persons were killed and 109 injured.

Read all about it…

The carriage of newspapers had long been a great source of revenue on the railways.  By the 1970s British Rail was providing dedicated vehicles for this traffic.  The vehicles provided, at best consisted of simple re-branding of existing Mark 1 Gangwayed Brake and General Utility Vans as ‘Newspaper’ vehicles.  By the mid 80s however specially converted vehicles equipped with vacuum (NCV) or dual brakes (NCX) and electric heating were being utilised as newspaper packing vans these were also equipped with commonwealth bogies.  Sadly only shortly after these comprehensive conversions were carried out BR lost the Newspaper traffic when in July 1988 the last distributor went over to road transport, and the vehicles returned to general service use.
This conversion into a dual-braked (NCX) Newspaper Packing Van uses Bachmann’s Mk1 BG as the base model and whilst it is an excellent starting point –  the basic shape and dimensions are correct – it does however need some alteration…The most obvious changes are the removal (by sealing up and flushing over) of the former guards doors, and the the first set of double doors to the right of it on both sides.  Also the removal of the rather oversize Bachmann ribs intended to represent the roof panel welds, and removal of the roof ventilators in line with the prototype.

In addition to these changes, the associated stepboards, guards steps for the blanked-off doors have also been removed and (the No.2) vehicle end has been replaced with another already fitted with a passenger communication valve and pipework (from another Bachmann Mk1).  Both ends have had the end steps and stepboards above the gangway faceplate removed along with the incorrectly placed lamp brackets.  The buffers have been removed to be replaced with better representations of those fitted to the prototype.  Other equipment to be “improved” from the underside has also been removed – namely the brake cylinders and vee hangers and the too short brake shafts.  Though they need further work, the BR bogies have been substituted for Bachmann Commonwealth bogies.

As with every conversion I’ve done, it’s topped off at this stage with a very light dusting of primer to highlight any further work needed from the removal of any of the original components, and to highlight where any additional filling might be needed.

The next stage in the conversion is to create the masters for those etched components that are to be added or replaced including the surrounds for the bodylights and bodyside ventilators.

Prototype Photograph courtesy of Dennis Taylor and 80s Rail

Read all about it….Courtesy of Bruce Foxton & News of the World (1978)

Modern Locomotives Illustrated No.201 Classes 26 & 27

For all of the locomotive classes introduced British Railway one of the most popular, not least for students of BR Scottish Region, has for some reason (in comparison with some other classes) been short of books or magazines dedicated to the BRCW Type 2s…

Modern Locomotives Illustrated however recently published this 79-page “glossy” dedicated to them.   Full of a mix of black & white and colour images of the locomotives from the early days including of the time spent prior to being concentrated on the ScR up to the present “preservation” era.  As far as modelling the Class 26 & 27’s It would certainly be a good help to anyone looking to improve on the excellent base models provided by Heljan.  Whilst there are several of the shots that have been previously seen there appears to be a lot of new content and of particular interest  to me, of them operating on the Edinburgh – Glasgow high-speed service

A potted history is provided though I personally found it had some notable omissions – for example though the photographs were good, you’ll learn more about the changes during the Push & Pull era from Nick Lawford’s ‘One at Each End’ Unfortunately if you didn’t already know any better it could be a bit misleading.

For me, It’s a good enough magazine covering much of the life of the locomotives and has enough in there to justify the cost – treat it however as a primer and do some further digging – especially if like me, you are trying to recreate what a 14-year old lad was seeing & hearing back in 1972 when 2,500hp and six coaches was blasting through your local station…

At some point I’ll be following this up with a few articles on converting the Heljan 27’s into the 27/1’s and 27/2’s and the Bachmann Mk2’s into a push-Pull rake…

Mk1 Coach Details

MK1 Coaches, a set by Cooperail on Flickr.

Here’s a fine collection of photo’s – albeit of Mk1’s in preservation, but also with much of what they were built with remaining…

An oddity identified…

To the casual observer most Mk1 vehicles might look all the same, with perhaps only noticing some with different bogies and others with prominent glazing frames and the like however that’s quite far from the reality.  Even within the main span of production between 1951 and 1964 and the years following in BR service there were several alterations and changes to the builds, some to correct problems identified fairly early on and others, like air braking to meet the changing needs of the fleet.  Most of these changes have been recognised by modellers and those with a specific interest in Mk1’s however occasionally some unidentifiable modification pops up that was applied to a small number of vehicles that escapes identification especially when so few were photographed in service.  One that had avoided me till today, was this one;

Photo courtesy of Tony at Rail-Online http://railonline.zenfolio.com/

Applied to Mk1 BSO’s the original bodylights retained by interior wooden frames have been substituted for with the top and bottom lights being held in with rubber glazing sections.  The body of course has had to be repanelled to provide the round corners necessary for a one piece glazing rubber for less joints and less leaks, the problem they were trying to resolve.  In the late 50s BR eventually settled on one piece external glazing frames as the answer to the problems, all new vehicles being fitted with them from then on, but not before several trials of this nature.

As it turns out (I should have read Parkin’s Mk1 bible more thoroughly) nine BSO’s (9248-9256) had the van bodylights altered to the same arrangement (on both sides) under this modification, note the saloon bodylights remained as originally designed.  One vehicle at least 9254, survives on the Kent & East Sussex Railway.  Though somewhat altered, several of van bodylights remain as modified by BR.