Bachmann 34-252D 57ft Corridor Composite 1st/3rd

[Ray H]

The topic description says it all. Has there ever been a post-nationalised livery version of this vehicle - assuming that they lasted beyond 1948?

Edited October 4, 2018 by Ray H

[brushman47544]

The topic description says it all. Has there ever been a post-nationalised livery version of this vehicle - assuming that they lasted beyond 1948?

 

I presume you mean 34-252D (32-xxx are locos). I know nothing about this coach, but a look at my printout of the Bachmann past products list (not currently available btw) shows a 34-300 M3672M 57ft Ex-LMS Panelled 1st & 3rd Class Composite coach in BR Crimson & Cream livery. It also lists similar 34-301 and 34-302 as not made.

 

If this is the same coach, then yes.

[Ray H]

I presume you mean 34-252D (32-xxx are locos). I know nothing about this coach, but a look at my printout of the Bachmann past products list (not currently available btw) shows a 34-300 M3672M 57ft Ex-LMS Panelled 1st & 3rd Class Composite coach in BR Crimson & Cream livery. It also lists similar 34-301 and 34-302 as not made.

 

If this is the same coach, then yes.

 

Thanks, topic title duly amended.

 

I have a 3 coach train on the layout. I can't recall how it came to be but it was formed of a BG, an FK and an BSK - the only coaches I had at the time. I've replaced the BG with a (new purchase) 57' custard and cream Porthole BSK.

 

The FK either needs to become an SK, (T)SO or CK and the BSK can become an SK or (T)SO or vice versa. I want to reflect what I think was the situation post war when lesser passenger trains didn't comprise all of one type - e.g. all porthole, all Mk 1s etc.

 

I'm not sure whether the 34-252D vehicle (in LMS livery) would have lasted until the blood and custards came along, but I could image it might have done so if it lasted long enough to be painted in maroon. 

[Leander]

The 'typical' formation for a 3 coach corridor set in BR LMR days and before that in the LMS period was BTK/CK/BTK. As an alternative you could have TK/BTK/CK. FKs weren't all that common.

[Wickham Green]

Thanks, topic title duly amended.

 

I have a 3 coach train on the layout. I can't recall how it came to be but it was formed of a BG, an FK and an BSK - the only coaches I had at the time. I've replaced the BG with a (new purchase) 57' custard and cream Porthole BSK.

 

The FK either needs to become an SK, (T)SO or CK and the BSK can become an SK or (T)SO or vice versa. I want to reflect what I think was the situation post war when lesser passenger trains didn't comprise all of one type - e.g. all porthole, all Mk 1s etc.

 

I'm not sure whether the 34-252D vehicle (in LMS livery) would have lasted until the blood and custards came along, but I could image it might have done so if it lasted long enough to be painted in maroon. 

Nah - nah - nah ! ..... no 'Porthole' ever carried custard & cream livery - nor blood an' carmine for that matter ..................... but we know what you meant !

 

I think it's fair to say that there never was a time when anything but the very top workings - named trains etc. - ran with coaches of all the one style - except, perhaps on the Southern where lots of stock was in fixed formations. The Mk1s were probably the nearest to standardisation but the last pre-nationalisation vehicles disappeared shortly after the first Mk2s came along so there was always an overlap with something.

 

Your 34-252D is already in maroon - so all you need to do is replace the insignia with the B,R. type : that MIGHT be exactly what happened to the full sized coach if the paintwork was still in good nick after the war.

[Zunnan]

The coaches Bachmann produce of this type (D1694 CK and D1696 BTK if I recall) lasted in service until around 1962, so they certainly went through the blood and custard livery with some managing to appear in lined BR maroon. Bachmann has done them in both BR liveries but I don't think they've done the interim LMS livery with BR numbering. I don't think the BR liveries have been produced for some time, but there are plenty out there to be had second hand as well as the older Mainline releases which are essentially the same tooling minus the rubberised gangway bellows that Bachmann added to them later. 

 

The older Bachmann coaches were ~

blood/custard BTK - 34-275

blood/custard CK - 34-300

BR maroon BTK - 34-225

BR maroon CK - 34-250

 

As pointed out though, 34-252d is already in lined maroon, a little livery alteration will get you an interim LMS livery with BR numbers and 'M' prefix/suffix which could have survived in service to perhaps the very early 1950s. Some alteration to the lining and replacing the LMS class numbers on the doors (change the 1, completely omit the 3) with BR will get you a representation of the BR Maroon livery which saw them to the end of their lives, but for that effort I'd source a second hand model to save on the work.

 

The one thing I'll say for the panelled coaches is they're really quite old models (very good for their time, but they are of their time) and don't stand up to the newer portholes without a bit of tinkering. They sit quite nicely with the Dapol Stanier coaches though which can also be had for very reasonable prices and are of a similar age tooling wise. Between the two older sets of coaches a TK is the missing link, but for a BTK/CK/BTK rake you're not going to miss the TK. If the age limitations of the older model isn't an issue though you could also very happily go into the Hornby range for a Stanier BTK and/or TK, which given the coach types you already have I'm assuming the 3 coach set is of Hornby origin so you already have said BTK. I would also suggest considering the Porthole CK, given its quite different profile to the rest of the Portholes it will give the desired effect of three different coach builds in a three coach train while keeping it all to modern tooling. I must admit though, I have a soft spot for the older panelled coaches and would try to find any excuse to use them myself...a few comet chassis components, some wire handrails and a bit of elbow grease to lift the models goes a long way indeed, they can and do scrub up nicely.

[Ray H]

Many thanks for all the info.

 

I'll need to give things a bit more thought.

 

I was thinking of waiting until the maroon porthole stock came out later this year for one of the remaining two vehicles. Add to that a colleague has just advised that he has a maroon coach but he hasn't clarified which it is.

 

Thanks once again.

[BernardTPM]

The corridor side of these Period I corridor CKs are almost the same as the corridor side of the P.I TK; the TK has another window in place of the blank panel in the middle of the CK. You could cheat by opening that out into a window, rearranging the roof vents and renumbering. Providing nobody saw the compartment side it would be hard to tell (harder still if you replaced the interior with eight compartments).

Edited October 6, 2018 by BernardTPM

[Steamport Southport]

The coaches Bachmann produce of this type (D1694 CK and D1696 BTK if I recall) lasted in service until around 1962, so they certainly went through the blood and custard livery with some managing to appear in lined BR maroon. Bachmann has done them in both BR liveries but I don't think they've done the interim LMS livery with BR numbering. I don't think the BR liveries have been produced for some time, but there are plenty out there to be had second hand as well as the older Mainline releases which are essentially the same tooling minus the rubberised gangway bellows that Bachmann added to them later. 

 

The older Bachmann coaches were ~

blood/custard BTK - 34-275

blood/custard CK - 34-300

BR maroon BTK - 34-225

BR maroon CK - 34-250

 

As pointed out though, 34-252d is already in lined maroon, a little livery alteration will get you an interim LMS livery with BR numbers and 'M' prefix/suffix which could have survived in service to perhaps the very early 1950s. Some alteration to the lining and replacing the LMS class numbers on the doors (change the 1, completely omit the 3) with BR will get you a representation of the BR Maroon livery which saw them to the end of their lives, but for that effort I'd source a second hand model to save on the work.

 

The one thing I'll say for the panelled coaches is they're really quite old models (very good for their time, but they are of their time) and don't stand up to the newer portholes without a bit of tinkering. They sit quite nicely with the Dapol Stanier coaches though which can also be had for very reasonable prices and are of a similar age tooling wise. Between the two older sets of coaches a TK is the missing link, but for a BTK/CK/BTK rake you're not going to miss the TK. If the age limitations of the older model isn't an issue though you could also very happily go into the Hornby range for a Stanier BTK and/or TK, which given the coach types you already have I'm assuming the 3 coach set is of Hornby origin so you already have said BTK. I would also suggest considering the Porthole CK, given its quite different profile to the rest of the Portholes it will give the desired effect of three different coach builds in a three coach train while keeping it all to modern tooling. I must admit though, I have a soft spot for the older panelled coaches and would try to find any excuse to use them myself...a few comet chassis components, some wire handrails and a bit of elbow grease to lift the models goes a long way indeed, they can and do scrub up nicely.

 

I believe the tooling is knackered which is why we haven't seen any for a while.

 

The last variants were the early LMS livery produced for the Midland Compound train set and the First World War Ambulance train set in green. That must have been about four years ago.

 

 

 

Jason