The Tale of the GWR Railcar .... 2006 to 2015 (or perhaps 2016).

[John Candy]

Tim,

The pattern was made from strips of thin plastic card, stuck to a plastic card backing with "Plastic Weld" liquid solvent.

The pattern and silicon rubber mould are now packed away along with hundreds of other similar items (wagon, loco, buildings and accessory parts) and I cannot immediately locate them. 

I am attaching photos of a couple of spare castings from the "stock box" which provide closer views.
It should be possible to use the same technique to produce grilles for BR diesel locos.... I shall use the same method for LMS 10000, when I eventually get around to it (the second Flexikit loco after the Sentinel).

Incidentally, the Sentinel cast resin chimney includes a spark arrestor "mesh" which is an integral part of the casting and aluminium mesh was used to produce that pattern (in fact a circle cut from the same mesh that had been discarded from the GRS railcar kit)!

Regards,
John.   

[John Candy]

Not an easy subject to photograph successfully but this is the gearbox oil-cooler grille which has been made using "Scalelink" etched brass mesh. There are two of these, one beneath the cab at each end.
The same mesh will be used for the plain side vents which sit alongside the slatted grillles shown in previous post. The GRS aluminium mesh is far too coarse and clumsy-looking.

Scalelink supply the mesh in a number of sizes.

[John Candy]

"Quirky" seating arrangements in the GRCW-built "Flying Bananas".

GWR diesel railcars Nos. 5 to 16 had some unusual seating arrangements, which are not fully explained in the GRS assembly instructions. Incidentally, the GRS instructions tell you to cut the seat ends 2mm larger than the plastic seat moulding profile but the photos of the interiors of these cars show the cushions to have been larger than the seat ends, so it is better to cut the ends to just match the mouldings. I did consider making resin castings to get a more accurate seat shape but the weight penalty would have been too great.

1) Where the underfloor engine bays projected into the floor of the passenger compartment, the seats, which were same profile as remaining seats, sit on top of the raised floor. However, where the floor level transitions, the back-to-back seating was unusual, in that the seat backs were the same height but the cushions/squabs were at different levels to suit the floor (see photo which makes it clear). In addition, where the seats were set higher than normal floor level, there were narrow horizontal timber "decency" panels along the bottom of the adjacent windows (these I will illustrate when the car has been painted and the glazing has been fitted).





2) The sliding doors (both the luggage compartment and passenger access) opened into "pockets" between the car sides and the seating, which means that the seats which impinged on the "pockets" were narrower than the remainder. This means that one seat in each of the two pairs of "back-to-back" seats which would otherwise have impinged, was narrower than the other (again see photo).





3) Cars Nos. 10, 11 & 12 were fitted with a lavatory and their seating differed from the others in one other respect. The doors on the partition between the seating compartments were "off-centre" to accommodate the lavatory, with the result that one of the double width seats (set against the partition)  is narrowed to a single seat, the result being only 63 seats, by comparison with 70 seats in the other GRCW cars.

The door "pockets" in the non-lavatory cars were  glass screens on both sides of the car, with vertical dividers to the three panels of glass. In cars 10/11/12, the screen on the lavatory side was of timber (again with vertical panel dividers), with a glass screen on the other side of the car. This will be illustrated when final assembly has taken place.

[John Candy]

Patterned Moquette Seat Covers.

I spent some few days deciding how to deal with the seat coverings. The photos. of the GRCW cars from No. 5 onwards show a "plaid" pattern. The photos are all B&W showing the base colour being pale and the pattern darker. After sifting through GWR books, I found 1935 pattern samples which were described as "tartan", in pale blue and green for First Class and gold and brown for Third Class compartments. The railcars were Third Class only (a 2s 6d supplement was charged when the cars were employed on "express" services)  so the gold/brown pattern  was the choice.  It may have been described as such but I believe the reality was more like orange than gold...... the 1936 "fan" design moquette is described as orange and brown and the tones in the B&W photos appear to be the same as the gold/brown of the 1935 tartan pattern.

So, having decided to attempt the pattern, for the base colour I used the same mix as I had used for the "dark stone" colour on the GWR buildings ..... a creamy/orange tone.





Next the imaging software was used to draw the tartan pattern which was then laser-printed onto waterslide clear decal paper.





I had thought it would likely be a failure but am surprised with the results.









If I need to produce a light pattern on dark background in future, that can easily be done using white decal paper in place of the clear/transparent type. 
Now no excuses for drab-looking seats!

[John Candy]

Vacancy for a Driver...or two!
The cab of the railcar is almost complete, with just some paintwork to be touched up and the glazing to be added, but there is still no driver!

I have ordered Bachmann part No. 22-197 since it was the only reasonable semblance of a motorman/driver I could find. The problem is that one has to have a driver (or Guard) at each end (I have ordered two sets) but they are "permanent", regardless of direction of travel. Unless one went to the lengths of having radio-controlled figures which "pop-up" through hatches in the floor (no I am not going to try that...I'll leave that to somebody else!) there seems to be no alternative.

The other problem with "occupants" of carriages and railcars is that they cannot be removed when stock stands in sidings or is being shunted as ECS!

Perhaps "holographics" can (in the future ) offer a solution!

Any suggestions?

John.

[John Candy]

Bachmann G-scale giants!

The drivers for the railcar arrived and are huge (box is clearly marked as G-scale)!
So far, I have been unable to get them into the cabs, even though I have amputated their feet at the ankles.
Fortunately, I  have not yet glazed the cabs, so have the option of pushing through the windows, assuming I can can trim or bend them to fit.














They are both too broad and too tall : Photos show them in passenger seats...... taking up almost a whole double seat width and half of a "three aside" seat. Their height places the tops of their heads almost at cantrail level (and that's when seated").

John.

[MikeWilliams]

You could try Modelu John.  They don't do Gauge 3 yet, but will do so very soon.

Mike

[John Candy]

Mike,

That would be a good option but I need to get this off my bench ASAP .... it is taking up the space needed for two Coal Tanks!

After 6 hours of manipulation (more amputations....half the legs below knees now gone) which included removing/refitting all the cab fittings, modifying the seats  and relocating the R/C Rx unit plus wiring, I  think I now have a reasonable result with the driver's right hand on the gear-change lever.

Next task is the black/gold lining, then fit the glazing and passenger seats.

John.

[cabbage]

With all the arms and legs being chopped up -could this be the plot synopsis for the latest Hammer Horror film " Train of Frankenstein"

Regards

Ralph

[John Candy]

With all the arms and legs being chopped up -could this be the plot synopsis for the latest Hammer Horror film " Train of Frankenstein"

Mmm....I was wondering what to do with all the spare body parts!

Regards,
John.

[AllWight]

Spare body parts,
hmm how about some sweeney todd references and some nice pies as long as there is gravy !!!!!

Mark

[John Candy]

Spare body parts,
hmm how about some sweeney todd references and some nice pies as long as there is gravy !!!!!

A fresh "twist" on Christmas lunch!  Perhaps more appropriate for Halloween..?!

John.

[John Candy]

I spent today glazing the railcar and fitting the door pockets and raised seating window protection boards.
Previous three days were spent on lining the beast, applying the transfers and varnishing.

The passengers will be fitted next....I spent some while arguing with myself as to whether or not to fit any passengers. A railcar sitting in a siding (out of service) would look unrealistic if the passengers were still on board .... however, having a driver at both ends isn't terribly realistic either!

The end is now in sight : The roof and a few minor details remain to be fitted and it will be complete.

One detail I haven't been able to settle, is the matter of the horns.
As originally delivered, the cars had horns but they are not visible in any of the photos. The GWR found them to be inadequate and experimented with all sorts of arrangements before settling on the two-tone (E-flat and G-flat) Desilux air horns, with four horns fitted at each end of the cars. I have not fitted any horns since I have no idea where they were....the drawings don't show them. I will add them later, if evidence of the type and location is discovered.













Photos below illustrate raised seats over the engine bays and the transition to normal floor level.

[Doddy]

Their just here . . .
http://www.davidheyscollection.com/userimages/00001-eaw-dh-western-railcar.jpg

[John Candy]

I am afraid that is a late modification.
I have lots of photos of the various modified versions..... early on some had two below the nose, others had two below the nose plus one either side of the cab windows but, as they came out of the AEC works the horns were not visible!

I have seen lots of ex-works (AEC) photos but none has the horn(or horns) visible.

As an example of one in early condition, see   http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/m/monmouth_may_hill/monmouth(morant)may_hill_old1.jpg

Regards,
John.