Sir John's 'Special'
I've finally worked out a simpler method for constructing a clerestory roof, so now I have all the vehicles needed to take Sir John's family up to London for the season.
On my first U29 composite, described in recent posts, I folded the roof from a single sheet of 5 thou brass sheet but found it difficult to make the reverse folds correctly. For the family saloon, which I now believe to be Diagram G13, I have therefore made the roof in three parts - two separate sides and the raised centre section. This method of construction meant that only a simple right-angle fold was needed on each piece, and it was also easy to cut out slots for the windows, along the sides of the clerestory.
Apart from that, I constructed the saloon in much the same way as I had built the U29 composite.. On the composite, there are four laminations to each side - the outer three of card and the inner of styrene, so that it could be 'welded' to the styrene ends. The tumble-home of the lower side is formed by an up-turned section of the brass chassis plate. When building the saloon, I dispensed with the innermost of the card layers, but now think this was a mistake, since the thinner side is less rigid and tends to bow slightly, especially around the large saloon window. A nice thing about making the pre-printed sides with the Silhouette cutter is that is very easy to make replacements but, for the moment, I shall live with those I have.
There are still loads of details to add - oil lamp tops, foot-boards, buffers, couplings, etc., but I am very pleased with the '19th-century' look of these coaches, with their panelled sides and 'up and down' window line. I fear that the 80:20 rule may apply - the remaining 20% of the work needing 80% of the total effort.
Left: U29 tri-composite Right: G13 1st-class saloon
I now have all the vehicles needed for Sir John's special train. The components are:
'Sir Alexander' class 2-2-2 locomotive, no.1124, sister to that illustrated at Witney on the webpage http://www.fairfordbranch.co.uk/History.htm Nos. 1124 and 1128 were the last of this class to be scrapped from Oxford shed just before WW1. My model is scratch-built from brass sheet, with a very simple 'rolling' chassis, and is powered by the tender, which has a Hornby 5-pole motor inside a white metal body from Scale Link (see my earlier post at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1405/entry-12756-tender-drive-a-convenient-short-cut/ )
V5 Pasenger Brake Van, built using Shirescenes sides on a cut-down Ratio 4-wheel brake third. (described at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1405/entry-13204-v5-full-brake/ )
G13 1st class saloon, scratch built on a brass Cleminson chassis, with Silhouette printed card sides and roof as described above. The prototype was apparently one of two, re-built from broad-gauge sleeping cars in 1891.
U29 tri-composite built by the same method as the G13 saloon. This vehicle carries the servants and other household staff in Sir John's party. I expect the greatest fun was enjoyed in the 3rd class section, where the young maids would be making their first trip to London.
Early (1866) Paddington-built carriage truck carrying the 'Victoria' carriage for use by Lady Wilcote and her daughters, Amy and Blanche. The truck is scratch-built on a wooden frame and the carriage is built from a Scale Link kit.
N6 Horse Box to carry the carriage horse, with the groom in his own compartment, built from Wizard Models/51L etched brass kit (described at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1405/entry-12276-turning-back-the-clock-2/ )
Although there is still a lot of detailing to complete, the following picture gives an impression of the ensemble, standing in North Leigh station:
I know that 'special' trains were a regular feature of 19th-century railway operations but know very little about their actual 'make up'. If any one can provide information on an appropriate configuration for such trains, then I shall be very grateful and will modify my 'consist' accordingly.
Mike
Edited by MikeOxon
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