Last Of The Bowsiders

Having cleaned every wheel on ever item of rolling stock ahead of Model Rail Scotland this weekend - and, no, he didn't count them -  Himself has been engaging in a spot of interior painting.

These are the seat units for bowsider 18 which will slot into the Worsley bodyshell.

The body itself has had the door ventilator hoods added, and the grab handles as well.

This carriage also has fake lamp pots on the roof in its Victorian condition, so I've cast a quartet of those to be fixed onto the roof.

Class Divisions

I walked into my modelling den the other day, fully intending to look out the superbarn moulds and make a start on 'Bob', when my gaze fell upon the empty brass shell of bowsider 18, and my conscience got the better of me and I decided I'd better get this job finished before starting on something new.

This will be the last of our second generation of bowsiders.

Our existing model of 18 is one of the Langley kits, finished in the very basic maroon and ivory 'Mountain Prince' livery of the late 1980s - although it is strictly speaking not accurate because the carriage features the full panel detail which had been pulled off 17/18 as an economy measure all through the '70s and '80s.

This version - a Worsley body etch - will complete our rake of Victorian bogie carriages showing 18 as it runs today in its plum and off-white livery.

When it went through (*edit) privately-funded restoration in the HLF workshop it also regained a 2nd class compartment, although in effect this functions as standard class in service today.

As a result I need to be very accurate lining up the compartment wall at the bottom end because it has to hide behind a very thin pillar, whereas there's a nice chunky panel either side of the 1st class compartment which hides a multitude of sins.

I'm also reminded that 18 also runs with the fake lamp pots on the roof, these days, so have to try and find the mould I used for the resin ones on 19.

Covid Safe Carriage

I'll never get tired of making the argument on the treatment of the FR's modern relics - such as Earl of Merioneth and the tin cars - that things which happened yesterday will one day become tomorrow's heritage.

This is probably what lies behind my decision that our model of the replica carriage 21 should be made with the temporary plywood 'covid safe' compartment dividers in place, rather than its 'historic' - and future? - condition with fresh air between the seat backs.

Horrible and traumatic as it has been, I think it's important that in our relief at getting back to 'normal' life we do not discard the memories of what we've all been through.

The FR's response at the height of the crisis, and the operating model which was adopted, will, I believe, become seen as a very significant moment in the railway's history.

I'm not privy to the thoughts of the railway's management beyond what is shared in public communications, but I can see the sense in retaining many of the aspects of the way the business has been forced to operate for the last two seasons, such as the use of pre-booking tickets to match operating capacity (and costs) to demand.

Who knows if public sensibilities will change permanently, and whether from now on passengers will prefer to have a solid physical divide when sitting back-to-back with strangers in a narrow gauge carriage?

But presuming that these temporary panels will eventually be removed, I think it's only fitting that we have a reminder, in model form, that represents just one of the many changes we all had to accept as a society to get through this.

Benches In

Today's update is to show you where I've got to with the interior for the Pickering brake.

As carriages go this is a very simple one with only three compartments and basic bench seats.

The real ones - as you may know - are made up of horizonal slats, but I'm not motivated enough to try to recreate that when you won't have a hope of seeing them inside.

Same goes for the vertical boards on the compartment walls - I'll be quite content with plain panels as long as they're the correct shade.

What I am going to be fussy about is getting the lamp pots to look right, and in the background of the picture you'll see a tiny styrene box filled with RTV rubber.

Under there is my third prototype!

Having seen the pictures of the carriage being delivered to Gelert's Farm it's obvious that I need more of a stacking rings effect, so this latest effort uses a smaller diameter tube for the very top section.

Once the rubber is cured I can cast a few and see whether I've cracked it at last?

Covid Safe Carriage

Little Welsh railways have had lots of reasons to thank Victorian carriage designers in the last year, as compartment stock has become the solution to running Covid-safe services.

I suspect the walls between the seats was probably more to do with wanting to keep the riff-raff away  than concern for keeping out infectious diseases - although all the No Spitting signs on the old Glasgow trams show us that was also on their minds.

The more we learn about the current pandemic also gives us a greater appreciation of the excellent ventilation afforded by all those droplight windows on the more traditional carriage.

All of which will no doubt make the new replica Pickering brake carriage a very welcome addition to the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway fleet.

As you can see from the image above, I've started work on the interior for our model.

Already I can see that his fancy idea for disguising the vacuum pipe bend, which means the chassis has to be fitted with a twisting motion, is going to have to go.

Get the cutters out....

Diplomatic Service

Once again I'm being called up for commercial casting duties.

A regular customer is looking for an easy way to improve the interiors of his fleet of modern (I use the word advisedly) FR carriages and has decided the best way would be to get me to design and cast some seat and table units as I've done for the Superbarns and WHR carriages.

The carriages in question are the 'tin cars' and the Carnforth cars which from the early 90s onwards were fitted with what I always regarded as very elegant 'Diplomat' seats.

These were a great improvement visually on the bus seats installed in the carriages from their construction in the late 70s and through the 80s.

I miss the tin cars.

Inside Job

I recently completed an order for 9 (!) sets of resin seats and tables for the WHR saloon carriages, which made for an epic week-long casting session, but it was also the perfect opportunity to run off a 10th set to make the interior for 2048, which is my current work bench project.

These didn't go in without a fight.

The joy and curse of scratch building is that each model can turn out fractionally different from the last one.

So it has proved with 2048.

For whatever reason the tables sat ever-so-slightly proud of the waistline on the bodyside.

This could be because the castings were ever so slightly thicker at the base, the body panel of the carriage is ever-so-slightly less tall than on 2047, or that the chassis / floor sits a fraction of a mm higher.

Whatever, the effect was that each seat had to be attacked with a file and sandpaper at its base and also on the top surface of the tables to get them to the correct height.

This modelling lark would be so much easier if I didn't care about such things!

Brew Up

I don’t normally go into micro detail inside our rolling stock but I thought I’d make an exception with  Van 51 and try to make something to represent a kettle on the hot plate in the corner - surely the most important piece of kit on any working party!

Rooting around in my spares box I also found a plastic wheel which will do for the handbrake.

There are just a few bits left to put on the outside - like a vacuum pipe and an air vent in the roof  and then it’s ready to join the ever-lengthening queue for painting.

They’re In

So last night I decided to stop faffing about and get the interior fixed into Gwyrfai

The tricky bit is always making sure the seat backs are lined up with the window pillars precisely, but the slow setting super glue helps with this.

I have still to make up the bulkheads and I also need to cut down the height of the small tables in the front saloon where the windows come down lower.

It feels like a big step forward has been taken, though.

I Might As Well

I wasn’t intending to do this but I suppose there’s no particular hurry just now....

Months ago when I was casting the seats for Gwyrfai I couldn’t be bothered to add on the styrene arm  rests, reckoning that you can’t really see them anyway.

However, yesterday afternoon when I was meaning to begin fixing the chairs into position in the carriage I decided perhaps it wouldn’t do any harm to add them on?

I think it was probably an avoidance tactic so I didn’t have to commit to setting them in position - there’s always something unsettling about the prospect of getting out the Super Glue I find - not a very subtle modelling material at all...

Tell Me I’m Wrong

The title is an invitation, not a challenge.

You see, I’m starting work on the interior of Van 51 but I still have very scant information about what’s inside it, other than from what I can glean from photos taken from the outside.

So this is my initial best guess, but I am open to correction and modification, so readers, do your worst!

Repeat Business

I was intending to do a little work on the interior of Van 51 this weekend, but then a customer got in touch asking if I would sell him some castings for the seats for FR observation carriage 150?

(And at the end of January one never turns down the offer of extra income....)

When I made a set for Gwyrfai it took me the best part of a week but I got these done in a morning.

(It’s amazing what a financial incentive does, eh?)

It also helps that I prepared a second set of rubber moulds in advance so this was proper mass production, of sorts.

Sitting Upright

I’ve got the last of the chairs for Gwyrfai cast, and while the ladies of the house watched a movie I was informed I would find very boring I snuck into the workroom to glue them together.



The bucket seats have a four legged base to be fixed on the bottom and most of the armchairs get put back to back, and all need a front support added as well.

The slightly fiddly job now is to fix two short piece of styrene horizontally to represent the arm rests, and then that’s them done.

Steady Progress

Casting of the interior parts for Gwyrfai continues steadily.

I’ve managed to get a couple of sets cast each day.

The bucket seats for the front are almost done but I’ve got a way to go with the armchairs.

I need 16 in total and before they can be fitted I have to make the arms from pieces of styrene and glue them all on.

Seating Production

I’ve begun casting the seats from the new moulds for the interior of Gwyrfai.

These are quite tricky to cast perfectly.

The tiny legs of the armchairs are very liable to trap tiny air bubbles which have to be chased out with a cocktail stick before it cures - it’s not always possible to get all of them out in time.

Fortunately, the armchairs - which are the most numerous of these pieces - are the most reliable to cast.

Think Pink

Until the brass work on the front is done there’s not much more I can add to the body of Gwyrfai but I can start work on the interior.

I will use the same castings for the seats as in the latest FR observation cars, but I think it would be wise to make some fresh moulds first.

I have a master for each of the parts which is fixed at the bottom of a styrene box.

They then get buried beneath an RTV silicone rubber which takes roughly a day to set.

It’s a very simple 10:1 ratio mix with a catalyst which is handily coloured red so you can see it’s mixed through properly.

2019 - Part 3

The summer saw us taking Dduallt for its third showing in nine months, after receiving an invitation to represent the Greenock club at the show in Perth.

This was is up there among one of the best in the country and we're very much looking forward to returning with Bron Hebog in 2020.

June also saw an unexpected opportunity to purchase another Backwoods double fairlie, which Himself duly snapped up and straight away began starting work on a James Spooner, being careful not to get ahead of the real one under construction at Boston Lodge.

The Gladstone Car was also finished with transfers and the illusion of curtains in the central saloon now in place.

August

We didn't waste any time starting on the next of our WHHR carriages.

Himself soldered up a Worsley Works kit for the buffet car and I was given the job of knocking up an interior in styrene.

James Spooner now had its bogies and firebox (motorbox) complete.

Hot on the heels of the Buffet Car was another brass body shell for the Ashbury corridor carriage in its original form, which we're doing up as the replica built for the WHHR.

September

There was a little more scenic work done on Bron Hebog ready for its next outing in Greenock in the autumn, with more trees being planted.

By now the WHHR carriages were already being painted.

And Gelert was in the final stages of painting and lining with a lot of extra details being added to the 3D body to really set it off.

2019 - Part 2

The next instalment of our review begins in April when I was making the interior for another 'bowsider' which was destined to become number 20 in Col. Stephens green.

Himself was being challenged with building up a prototype chassis for Gelert which we had been asked to test, seen here beneath the Robex 3D printed body.

Some finishing details were being added to observation carriage 152.

May

Dduallt was back on show just down the road from us in Troon.

I was puzzling out how to fit an interior into the Gladstone carriage while still allowing for the floor to be removed for painting and maintenance.

Carriage 20 was swiftly painted and made its debut on the layout at the show.

June

I was embarking on a project to create a kit of parts to build the P Way van 51 in its current condition - shown here are the first of the castings for the body.

The chassis on Gelert was progressing with the motion now in place.

And carriage 152 was taken for a first test run on Dduallt.

Fortunately, this time I'd drilled the holes for the bogie pivot bolts in the correct position and it didn't foul the rockface in the cutting beneath Rhoslyn Bridge!

Non-Corridor Corridor

I’ve always been amused by the way the NWNGR Ashbury carriages were referred to as ‘corridor’ coaches, because by modern terminology they so clearly are not!

However, I suppose that back in the day being able to move around an open saloon, changing seat on the move if one so wished, was a noteworthy development on the narrow gauge where most other stock was made up of divided compartments.

These days, of course, we take the word corridor to mean a door in the end, so you can move from carriage to carriage, and the adaptation of FR 11 and 12 to run as a buffet/obs would have been transformative.

Anyway, as you can see, the interior for the last of our WHHR carriages (for now) is made and with a fair wind behind him maybe Himself will get the full set ready to run in Greenock next month?

Mr Forgetful

I’ve had the interior for the WHHR buffet car returned as faulty goods.

It appears I made a very basic mistake,  with the result that it doesn’t fit in with the roof soldered in place.

What I forgot to allow for is the brackets at each end which hold the captive nut that fixes the chassis in place.

You see, while I was making it I was only ever fitting it in from above.

A bit of a schoolboy error, really.

It should be easily fixed by chopping it into three parts.