MOTW - The Mess Coach

And so to our second Model Of The Week. It's not a locomotive but one of the most humble, and yet distinctive, items of rolling stock on the FR; the P-Way department's Mess Coach 1111.



Both the real carriage and the model are revolutionary. In the case of the actual carriage it is because it was the first time in nearly 40 years the track gangs had been given a dedicated and bespoke mess vehicle. Previously they'd had to rely on pokey four-wheel brake vans.

It was built by Winson Engineering at the mid-1990's and is said to have been intended as a prototype for the WHR carriages. Much careful thought went into its design and how it was to be used.

The verandahs and the doors at each end of the carriage ensured workers could safely and easily access the vehicle in even the tightest spots where the trains squeeze between stone walls and in cuttings, and the platforms were sheltered by the extended roof.

The carriage is narrower than the other bogie vehicles on the railway and a rope is hung along each side as an additional safety system when working in those places where the trains perch on precipitous ledges.

Inside there are tables and chairs, a toilet, a stove and a drying cupboard.

I suspect many gangers on preserved standard gauge lines would look on enviously at this bespoke, 5 star accommodation.



Our model of this carriage - the only one that I know of - was a technological breakthrough for us too.

It was the first time we built a carriage with the roof fixed on and a removable floor / chassis. Previously we had glued the floor into place in the early stages and the roof was only fixed down after painting and the installation of glazing.

1111 required a different technique because of the roof overhanging the balconies and it proved to make the carriage bodies sturdier and much more robust and it has now become our standard way of scratchbuilding them.

It is a very distinctive carriage, and I have to say, one of my favourites.