Sunday 30 January 2011

Lucky 13 (metres)

I mentioned a few weeks ago that 'Himself' was working on clearing the backlog of unpainted carriages. Here's the first to be finished.



It's 2043, the first of the second generation of 3rd class saloons which were also the first to be built at Boston Lodge. There are a number of design alterations from the original trio built by Winson Engineering.

They are a whopping 13 metres long (that's whopping for UK narrow gauge) and at one end there are double doors to allow for wheelchairs and the first bay of seats inside the saloon can be tipped up and the table folded to make space for these chairs.



The exterior panelling was also different to the first batch, although as the Winsons have passed through Blodge for heavy overhauls their panelling has been changed to match.

The most challenging detail to model was the new design of handrails on the vestibules. These have a T joint unlike the Winson's L shape design which could be replicated by just bending a piece of brass wire. These new ones have to be soldered from three pieces, although himself has made this easier by making a jig.

2044 & 2045 are still in a drawer in virgin white styrene.

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