One item that's been sitting incomplete on the shelf for a wee while now is the ex-Chattenden & Upnor passenger brake.
Its main use on the WHR has been as a mess coach for construction trains, but it has also been employed as a passenger brake during gala events.
It was built to 2' 6" gauge in 1957 by D. Wickham & Co. Ltd for the military and was known as a Combination Car (because it had separate compartments for officers and ratings). It was then sold to the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway in 1961, who in turn sold it, minus bogies, to the 2' gauge South Tynedale Railway in 1989. It was not used there either and was subsequently bought at the outset of the WHR project.fo It has been regauged from 2'6" to 2' gauge, by fitting a pair of South African bogies, and has been painted to match the standard FR/WHR carriage livery.
I was intending to scratch build a model of it, and took down some basic measurements many years ago, but in the meantime Worsley Works produced one of their scratch-aid kits in etched brass, which provides the basis of our model.
It has had a roof and other details such as handrails made up and is now being painted. Here is it is below dismantled and given a coat of primer.
You can see that Himself has made up a basic interior including the slatted bench seats.
It may possibly be taken for a run around the sprial when we take Dduallt to Railex at the end of the month
No microwave or tea urn, Rob? I only did a few days tracklaying but they were pretty important then... And while you're doing interior details, have you fitted out the SAR brake van with a prototypical Portaloo with the top cut off with an angle grinder? ;-)
ReplyDeleteI never knew they were in there, Chris. If you have any pics then I'll maybe try and knock them up. As for the bog in the brake, I thought I'd read it had been removed cos of the smell!
ReplyDeleteI think a little white cube of plasticard for the microwave and a slice of silver-painted 4mm rod for the urn would do nicely! They were on the long shelf at the end.
ReplyDeleteAs for the bog, I can well believe it. It wasn't a nice place.
It was then sold to the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway in 1961, who in turn sold it, minus bogies, to the 2' gauge South Tynedale Railway in 1989. It was not used there either
ReplyDeleteI might be misreading here. . . but that seems to imply it wasn't used at the W & L? It most certainly was in use there in the 70s, I remember riding in it as a nipper more than once. Like I said, I might be misreading...