Obs & Ends

One of the most satisfying parts of carriage building, I've always found, is making the ends of the FR's Observation Carrs.

I think it's because they're such iconic vehicles, especially the first generation of Barns, such as 101 / 123 which I'm working on at the moment, with their triple windows at the downhill end. For me these have always shouted 'FR' more so than Double Fairlies, strangely enough.



This afternoon after a 12 hour shift at work, from 3.30am, editing our coverage of the Scottish elections - what an utterly astonishing result! - I managed an hour at the modelling bench to knock up the ends for 123, without slicing off a finger in my rather sleepy state.

I've also noticed something about 123 which I thought was worth mentioning to show how carefully you have to research your prototype when scratchbuilding.

Compare the two pictures below and see if you can spot the difference...

If you saw it, well done! If you didn't let me put you out of your misery.

Look at the thin panel at the end of the carriage on each side. On one (the 'clock side') there is a tiny window at the very top corner, while on the other, (the 'engine side') it's a blank panel.

I guess this is a legacy of one of the many rebuilds this carriage has had over the last 40 years (see the previous post on this blog) but it shows 'even in 009 modelling' how carefully you have to study your prototype.