Sixties Snapshots - 00 scale

Hi Silver Sidelines, I hope you may be interested in my coupling mods.  I'm hoping to have 3' radius curves on my new layout and have been experimenting.  Obviously many people have to use tighter curves than 36" but you can probably move the couplings further outboard.

 

I experimented with some Bachman DMU couplings (sorry don't have part number but they're on eg the Class 104 DMU).

 

I took off the bottom part of the old Airfix coupling and glued the 'NEM box' of the Bachmann one underneath what was the top part of the Airfix coupling box.

 

 

 

 

This side on view shows the closer coupling arrangement and on the far left you can see an original coupling.

 

Ooops for Class 104 read 105 of course.....

Thanks Metr0Land, that was quick! Looks good. I think the 'magic' in your method is the gluing. What make did you use? A lot of couplings (and coach bogies) are made from a type of Nylon which I find very difficult to join and in the past I have had to resort to drilling and pinning with brass dressmaking pins.

I should add that I favour conversions that are reversible and I would like to think that my coaches could be returned to as new condition should they need to be sold.

 

Thanks again

 

Ray

Glad you liked it!  It's always a worry when you 'hijack' someone else's thread.

 

I'm pretty certain it was Evo-Stik but it may have been Bostik - afraid I wasn't keeping copius records whilst I was experimenting with these and 'Tony Wright' couplings and some other bits and bobs.

Hello Metr0land

 

The more the merrier.  Good old Evostick - forget the fancy resins.  It is a bit like going back to first principles.  Just need to be careful that you haven't draped too many spiders webs everywhere.

 

Speak again

 

Regards

 

Ray

The Hornby unlined crimson is correct for the early 1950s (and up to about 1960 before everything was repainted in lined maroon) - it is the suburban/local equivalent of express plum and custard. And yes, it was a very bright shade and it weathered to a sort of orange.

I have an idea that the B sets had a bar coupler between the two cars and did not have intermediate buffers, but I am not certain about this. Does anybody know for sure, one way or the other?

Hello Ilfracombe

 

Thanks for those thoughts.

 

You may well be right about the bar coupler.  I believe there have been discussions here on RMweb about the buffer types on the B Set coaches and I am thinking that the short dumpy buffers on the Airfix model are correct for between the coaches but not at the outside ends.  Something perhaps to Google.

 

Regards

 

Ray

40 years, some of the RTR GWR coaches are really getting on in age. The original coupling distance is extraordinary, you could almost fit a 4-wheeler coach in there :-) Nice fixes gents, makes a big difference.

Thanks Mikkel -  it could be all about viewing distances.  Children from the 50s and 60s had plenty of space for model railways.  Perhaps today models are all about dioramas where there is a concentration on the model details and not the operation.

 

Regards

 

Ray

Hi Ray, an interesting point. And the digital camera has made a difference too, I expect. We tend to see everything through a lens these days!

 

I sometimes force myself to leave the camera alone and just watch and operate my layouts, there's a nice peacefulness in that.

Very good Mikkel

.... And the digital camera has made a difference too, I expect. We tend to see everything through a lens these days!

Agree

 

Regards

 

Ray

Hi Silver Sidelines

 

I am repainting/upgrading a couple of B-sets for a friend - a couple of things I found:

 

The 'short' buffers are right for the outer ends (brake ends).  The inner ends generally did not have outside buffing gear, but often a single centre buffer (like older SR EMUs had) and were coupled with a variety of bar couplings

 

Bogies also vary with possibly three different types on different batches and during the vehicles' life

 

BR livery is as already stated on your thread - the issue is weathering especially of red paint

 

So I am keeping the short bogies (rewheeled as you have), I will weather the underframes and roofs, the bodies are already repainted and renumbered and we've installed a few passengers

 

I found (on Google) a couple of cracking photos of the variation in coupling arrangments - type in b set couplings into Google (images) and towards the top are two really useful photos...

 

The other thing about these ex-Airfix coaches is the generic underframe - lacking full brake gear and dynamo...

 

Nice job on yours btw.  Hope that's helpful

 

Nick

Hello Nick

 

Yes - very helpful.  I hadn't thought of looking on Flickr.  I keep forgetting that more and more people are uploading old photographs.

.  Hope that's helpful

..

As already noted above there is a lot of information on RMweb about the B Sets.  The Airfix models were excellent for 1975.  I guess the lack of detail on the underframe was not a great issue where the coach was parked up against a platform and then perhaps whisked  off into hidden sidings.

 

I shall look forward to seeing the results of your detailing.

 

Thanks again

 

Ray

Hello Nick again
 
A Google search provides links to a 2008 Blog from Tim Venton about his layout Clutton.
 
There are pictures of B set inner couplings.
 
Also some construction details with a reference to an earlier article in the "Model Railway Constructor" September 1980, by RD Naylor.

Hi .. that's helpful

 

Nick

It would be a shame to loose this 'history'.

 

Regards

 

Ray