Administrators SteveCole Posted September 14, 2015 Administrators Share Posted September 14, 2015 Hi all, In his constant pursuit of perfection, Phil Parker details this recent O gauge release from Heljan to bring it to life. Below is a picture of the model after Phil had worked his magic. This step-by-step article can be found in BRM October, which is on-sale now and comes with a FREE DVD. Steve 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 I like his patterned seats. They aren't quite right, but they are close. Doesn't look like he put the emergency ladder on the middle bulkhead and whenever I saw them - particularly W79977 - they were scrupulously clean. CHRIS LEIGH Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium boxbrownie Posted September 25, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 25, 2015 .............mine didn't have the DVD attached.......forgot all about that.........great article though, and as I received my AC bus this morning a very useful read. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 I just reviewed the article having received my Railbus a week or so ago. There are some good tips about the interior and people which I will take up. What I'm wondering is whether anyone has info on the underframe details. The brakes, for example, are a disappointment looking as though they were put on at 5 minutes to quitting time, twisted and not in line with or near the wheels. I'd like to see other details too with an eye to improving or adding gubbins. P1010001-002 by John Kendall, on Flickr I did improve the brakes slightly by tweaking. How were they actuated? John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 I just reviewed the article having received my Railbus a week or so ago. There are some good tips about the interior and people which I will take up. What I'm wondering is whether anyone has info on the underframe details. The brakes, for example, are a disappointment looking as though they were put on at 5 minutes to quitting time, twisted and not in line with or near the wheels. I'd like to see other details too with an eye to improving or adding gubbins. P1010001-002 by John Kendall, on Flickr I did improve the brakes slightly by tweaking. How were they actuated? John A vacuum cylinder - trying to remember where it was positioned. (CJL) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 (edited) Ah well perhaps someone will know. Thanks Chris. I'm kind of an underframe nerd. I'm assuming there's some sort of yoke arrangement between the brakeshoes. John Edited June 12, 2017 by brossard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 (edited) Ah well perhaps someone will know. Thanks Chris. I'm kind of an underframe nerd. I'm assuming there's some sort of yoke arrangement between the brakeshoes. John I took some photos under W79976 when I owned it. I'll check to see if any of them might be useful to you. Looking at the underside photo of the model, the mechanism/gearbox casing fills a lot of space underneath which is clear space on the real thing. If I recall correctly there was a chain mechanism from the handbrake wheel, which was in the cab at one end only. W79976 had stood for so many years that it was difficult to get the brakes off when necessary, particularly as the brake wheel was missing. (CJL) Edited June 13, 2017 by dibber25 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Chris, that would be great, I was hoping someone had taken pictures of the undergubbins. Yes, the model will have a lot of space devoted to mechanisms and such so it'll be a case of interpretation. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddys-blues Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 Is it possible to still get the BRM back issue for this article ? As I have 2 x of these buses to detail. Best regards Craig Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 PM me Craig with your email. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 I have scanned some photos of W79976 taken at Bodmin in 1993. Much of the underframe equipment was removed by BR at Ayr in 1968 because it was usable on standard 'blue square' DMUs, so I'm not sure how much help these will be with regard to the brakes. However two things which are missing from the model and can be seen in the pictures are: A round section rod extends from the spring mounted behind the coupler, to the chassis frame (it's disconnected at the coupling end - I got BWR to refit it before they moved the car). This transferred the coupler tension to the chassis, otherwise you'd have been pulling on the bodywork alone. This was at both ends of the car. The elbow-shaped units at the four corners of the chassis are shock absorbers to damp the body movement which was entirely Metallastic rubber mounts and would otherwise be even more bouncy than it was!. These shock absorbers, I was told, are the same as used on the MGB sports car - they were used on the AC Cobra at the time, hence the connection. The horns could do with being larger, more prominent and angled downwards. I believe the cylinder mounted on the chassis cross-member may be the vacuum cylinder. Despite all the air-operated equipment - including the clutch - the AC railbuses were vacuum-braked, as I believe, were many contemporary buses. (CJL) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 (edited) One other item worth touching in with a spot of grey paint, is the mileage counter, on the opposite end of the axle to the speedometer. I was at great pains to make sure that Heljan included this on the model because it is missing from W79978 which they scanned. Sadly, it also went missing from W79976, being stolen while the railbus was at the Colne Valley Railway. Luckily I had a photo of it. I'm guessing the mileage was genuine and hadn't had any amateur Arthur Daly attention! 138,260 - much as you might expect from the family car in ten years service. (CJL) Edited June 15, 2017 by dibber25 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 (edited) You are a star Chris! This gives me something to work with. I wonder that no-one did the detailing before. I'll be posting updates on this but it may be a while, I'm in board building mode just now. John Edited June 15, 2017 by brossard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddys-blues Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Marvellous pictures Chris, many thanks for that. Craig Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Glad to be of some help. I should have crawled under 79978 when I was at the Colne Valley but never did. Your enquiries have prompted me to have another look at my Heljan model. I detailed the inside of a OO model but haven't yet touched the 'O' version and I've got distracted by 121s just recently. (CJL) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 (edited) So, is it to be a race to see who does their's first then Chris? I wish more people would crawl around under rolling stock and take pictures for the benefit of us underframe nerds. John Edited June 15, 2017 by brossard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 You'll be first with the underframe, I was thinking more of doing the interior, as there are things which Mr. Parker missed - like the emergency ladder and locker. I have a picture of the seat moquette which I might be able to scan and make my own transfers. I'd like to put Bryn Davies in the cab, too. He was the driver on the Tetbury branch when I travelled. The timetable showed one of those pre-Beeching classics where the branch train just missed a connection with the up main line train, leaving passengers with a two-hour wait for the next one. Knowing full well that the timing missed the connection, I asked the driver, "Do you connect with the x.xxpm to Swindon?" "No," he replied, "but if you want to catch that train, we will." We did! The ride round the Tetbury branch's 'threepenny bit' curves with the railbus flat-out at 55mph was like a bucking bronco! There was no one at the intermediate halts, so we just went straight through. The railbus control desk merely had a sign to the effect that it was limited to 55mph. I don't think there was any physical limitation, as the speed restriction on the cars was an afterthought. In the absence of a reliable time machine, models are the next best thing. (CJL) 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 (edited) OK, I'll be the trailblazer on the U/F then. I will look for your other detail mods. Phil mentions the moquette, here's a link to his reference: http://www.recycledrailcars.com/a-history-of-the-103s.html. I wasn't going to bother with the seats, but I'm going to make transfers for another projects so maybe I'll do them after all. I've ordered a driver and guard from Dart as Phil suggests. That's a great story. John Edited June 15, 2017 by brossard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ColinK Posted June 15, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 15, 2017 I've bought one too. Looking forward to see how you detail it. I might have to do the same in due course. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 I certainly hope so Colin, others too. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roythebus Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 The original moquette is probably still in the catalogue of Holdsworth Fabrics (Carmina Fabrics today) who seemed to make moquette for everything. They managed to find the stuff for my BEA coach in their archive and produced a batch for me, the first time it had been made since 1952! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddys-blues Posted August 24, 2017 Share Posted August 24, 2017 The original moquette is probably still in the catalogue of Holdsworth Fabrics (Carmina Fabrics today) who seemed to make moquette for everything. They managed to find the stuff for my BEA coach in their archive and produced a batch for me, the first time it had been made since 1952! Hello Roy, thanks for posting this, do you have a picture of the pattern or the code so we can look it up ? Best regards Craig. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 AC Cars railbus seat with original fabric. (CJL) 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 Here's a nifty little detail. Probably too small to include but fun to know, anyway. One of the cars had its steps damaged when they were opened whilst in motion. To prevent this, Swindon added a plate to the controller handle, which covered the step operating buttons when the controller handle was moved. Not sure how well I've explained that but you can see the general idea. (CJL) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddys-blues Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 AC Cars railbus seat with original fabric. (CJL) Many thanks Chris that is a wonderful shot for reference Best regards Craig. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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