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Several years ago members of the Twickenham & District MRC decided their next O gauge layout would be a model of Kensington Addison Road c1925, the station nowadays known as Kensington Olympia. Considerable research followed and the working timetables showed that a large proportion of the passenger services were operated by L&NWR electric trains running between Earl's Court and Willesden. This route was the first part of the L&NWR inner suburban network to be electrified, using 3rd and 4th rail DC, in 1914. 

 

The L&NWR placed orders for three-car electric multiple units from Metropolitan-Cammell in Birmingham. These units were formed Driving Motor Brake Third (DMBT) + Trailer Composite (TC) + Driving Trailer Third (DTT). All the cars were open saloons and the electrical equipment was in a compartment behind the driving cab in the DMBT. The units were delivered in three batches. The first batch, introduced in 1914, was fitted with electrical equipment from Siemens of Germany. Due to the War, the following two batches, introduced in 1915 and 1921, used equipment from Oerlikon of Switzerland.

 

Back at the club, everyone agreed that 3rd and 4th rail electrification would be an unusual feature for the layout and for some reason I volunteered to build a 7mm scale electric set.

 

post-33936-0-79158100-1543776788_thumb.jpg

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The first challenge was finding information on which to base the model. The following sources were used:

  • General arrangement drawings of 1915 Oerlikon Driving Motor Brake Third and Driving Trailer Third held at NRM York
  • Preserved Driving Motor Brake Third at NRM York
  • Unattributed 7mm scale drawings published in the model railway press (date unknown), with some apparent inaccuracies
  • Photographic survey from as many collections and sources as we could find
  • British Railway Carriages of the 20th Century Volume 1 (David Jenkinson)
  • Railway Carriage Album (G M Kichenside)
  • London's North Western Electrics (F G B Atkinson, B W Adams and H L Clarke), published by The North London Railway Historical Society, an updated version of an earlier publication by The Electric Railway Society 

It was apparent that there were differences between the two batches of Oerlikon electric sets as well as subsequent in-service modifications. I decided to produce my own drawings based on the original GA drawings which we were able to photograph in the library at the National Railway Museum.

 

post-33936-0-35161500-1543778638_thumb.jpg

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Interesting. When I was orignally plannng my 3D printed model, I found the drawings for the earlier Siemens version at HMRS, but they managed to find someone who had aquired drawings for the Oerlikon from another source, and sent me photos. They were produced /published by Edwards Brothers, Cardiff, at 7mm/ft . I therefore assumed they must be the same ones as were published in MRC in 1938/9 but when I finally tracked those down(being produced as inserts, often missing from magazines), I found them different. The MRC ones did not look quite right, but they are interesting. At least I had drawings for all 3 coaches, with the obvious differences and lengths of coaches. 

As I also now had drawings from HMRS fo rtwo of  the Siemens units, I thiught I would also have a go at those. Luckily it seemed to be far more standard, and it was possible to work out the missing drawing.

 

There are a lot of differeces between the first batch(siemens) and the others. The preserved unit is from either the 2d or 3rd, and is interesting in that it shows how it has one end with typical prewar panelling and other plain sided. I wonder if that was intensional, or else the war put paid to such luxuries as panelling. One coach is shorter, again I wonder if this was due to the war.

The Siemens units stopped running in 1941 when the line connected to the West London ine was destoyed, after which it was not worth continuing with the Earls Court service. I don't thingk the Oerlikons were ever used on that service, being mainly used on the Watford and North London services.  After being stored they ended up on the Morecambe line, being converted to overhead AC power. 

 

Is it worth buying the book London's North Western Electrics

I was waiting for it to be published, I think there was some delay, not sure if it was out in 2015.

Edited by rue_d_etropal
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Several years ago members of the Twickenham & District MRC decided their next O gauge layout would be a model of Kensington Addison Road c1925, the station nowadays known as Kensington Olympia. Considerable research followed and the working timetables showed that a large proportion of the passenger services were operated by L&NWR electric trains running between Earl's Court and Willesden. This route was the first part of the L&NWR inner suburban network to be electrified, using 3rd and 4th rail DC, in 1914. 

 

The L&NWR placed orders for three-car electric multiple units from Metropolitan-Cammell in Birmingham. These units were formed Driving Motor Brake Third (DMBT) + Trailer Composite (TC) + Driving Trailer Third (DTT). All the cars were open saloons and the electrical equipment was in a compartment behind the driving cab in the DMBT. The units were delivered in three batches. The first batch, introduced in 1914, was fitted with electrical equipment from Siemens of Germany. Due to the War, the following two batches, introduced in 1915 and 1921, used equipment from Oerlikon of Switzerland.

 

Back at the club, everyone agreed that 3rd and 4th rail electrification would be an unusual feature for the layout and for some reason I volunteered to build a 7mm scale electric set.

 

attachicon.gif1915 Oerlikon DMBT(Rly Carriage Album-Kichenside).jpg

I would buy a set of these if a manufacturer released them in 00.  I think Roco planned an HO Netherlands set years ago but it died a death before release.

Peterfgf

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Fortunately other club members provided a lot of help in researching the variations and modifications, and in finding as many photos as we could. These were compared with the original GA drawings. 

 

post-33936-0-48117000-1543784336_thumb.jpg

 

Our in-house LNWR enthusiast Graham Barker obtained permission to photograph inside and underneath the preserved vehicle at York:

 

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Producing the drawings took a long time as I wanted to included the modifications we had identified, such as the non-stopping indicators and destination plates:

 

V2_22B DRIVING TRAILER THIRD DRAWING.PDF

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I would buy a set of these if a manufacturer released them in 00.  I think Roco planned an HO Netherlands set years ago but it died a death before release.

Peterfgf

 

London Road models have done the sides and John Redrup has said the underframe and roof are nearly done.

 

lnwr-carriages (at the bottom)

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There are a lot of differeces between the first batch(siemens) and the others.

 

Yes. I remember trying to modify some old Skinley Oerlikon drawings to reflect the Siemens look, but ended up with a lot of Snopake on the drawing. (Good pic of the Siemens set, in LMS maroon, in the Kitchenside book.)

 

I look forward to seeing the model - they are fascinating prototypes.

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The design of the Oerlikon sets was certainly unusual - after the full panelling of the Siemens units it was as if the LNWR wanted smooth flush-sided stock but couldn't quite give up having a bit of panelling on the driving cab of the DMBT - oddly the driving cab of the DTT has no panelling! The photo of a unit under construction shows that the panelling appears to be steel:

 

post-33936-0-38563600-1543870708_thumb.jpg

 

The simplified panelling of the Oerlikon stock was one reason for not choosing to model a Siemens set!

post-33936-0-38563600-1543870708_thumb.jpg

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My previous attempt at uploading one of my drawings was unsuccessful. Hopefully this shows the stage I had reached, with a simple 2D CAD drawing of each car:

 

post-33936-0-91700100-1543871311_thumb.jpg

 

Having prepared the ground, it was time to work out how to make a model. I had built some etched kits and scratch-built some carriages in perspex and styrene sheet before, but these electric sets had large windows and would be quite a challenge in styrene sheet. For a long time I had wanted to try to design my own components in etched brass and here was an opportunity. With the CAD drawings I felt I was half way towards designing an etched kit. Brass would make a stronger model and, if it worked, there was the advantage that I could make the etches available to other club members so that one day we might have more than just one Oerlikon set.

 

So the fun began - copying parts of the drawing on the computer as simple fills to make the shapes of the components I needed, then editing them so there were different colours for full thickness, half etch front and half etch back areas. Multiplying/mirroring these shapes to give the number required of each component was easy, arranging them economically within a standard width of metal sheet took a little longer. I decided to use PPD Ltd for this first attempt at etching and followed the artwork instructions on their website. Cautiously I emailed the artwork for one car to them.

 

post-33936-0-42398000-1543872469_thumb.jpg

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The first etched sheet was for the TC and it looked superb, much to my relief, and I decided to assemble this one car as a prototype before ordering the etches for the other two.

 

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It took much less time to assemble the model than it had to design it. I had taken time to think through the design of the tricky bits, like the extraordinary variety of hinged toplight windows and the recessed sliding end doors, and was relieved that these all came together as planned.

 

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I took some photos and made notes of the assembly process as I went along, and these ultimately became a set of instructions for other club members to follow.

 

post-33936-0-40006800-1543874358_thumb.jpg

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Initially I made the roof by fitting a block of solid balsa to the carriage and sanding it down to the profile of the brass ends using a sheet of sandpaper taped to a flat workbench. This is very quick and easy and the roof is then overlaid with cartridge paper to give a canvas effect.

 

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The small buffers between the cars within the set were distinctive and as I was unable to source them commercially I had to persuade a friend to turn them up for me on his lathe. The large buffers at each end of the set were obtained from NMRS Models:

 

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The non-powered bogies are of a standard L&NWR 9' 0" wheelbase type and the model versions are by Wayoh, fitted with 3' 7" diameter steel disc wheels from Roxey Mouldings. The roofs of these carriages were finished with a very large number of ventilators (I used brass castings from Sidelines), as shown in the photo below taken by Dewi Williams:

 

post-33936-0-05957300-1543958380_thumb.jpg

 

Any ideas as to what the large frying pan is on the roof? They do not appear to be present in pre-grouping photos so I left them off the model.

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With the centre car successfully completed as a prototype, I went on to complete the artwork for the two driving cars. Designing the etch for the motor brake third was complicated by my desire to include the possibility to model the modifications carried out later at Wolverton, including the addition of a second window in the double doors of the guard's compartment, the replacement of three wide louvred ventilation panels by four narrow panels of louvres within opening doors, and the fitting of side destination plates and non-stopping indicators.

 

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A further challenge was how to represent the characteristic louvres. Various ideas were suggested, including resin moulding or 3D printing them, but I opted for etching them. Simply twisting each louvre blade to the desired angle created the desired effect.

 

post-33936-0-99509800-1543959966_thumb.jpg

 

The motor bogie turned out to be surprisingly similar to an 8' 9" wheelbase SR type and I modified a Roxey Mouldings motor bogie and side frames to look like the LNWR design. It fits neatly hidden by the louvres in the guard's compartment.

 

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post-33936-0-94632600-1543960544_thumb.jpg

 

post-33936-0-23144100-1543960929_thumb.jpg

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The driving trailer 3rd was relatively plain, with the recessed doors being the only complexity.

 

post-33936-0-44349700-1544043257_thumb.jpg

 

With such large windows interior detail was essential and the seats were made up in styrene sheet; the saloon arrangement with longitudinal seats in 3rd class seemed way ahead of its time. Driving controls were made up using castings from Ken Degroome.

 

post-33936-0-22945600-1544043279_thumb.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Seeing these lovely models reminded of those green Oerlikon sets I used to travel in up to London from Watford, especially sitting on those bench type seats! Seems just like yesterday but must be around the middle 50's before they were withdrawn & replaced by the more modern electric sets. Wonderful times with great excitement as we went past Willesden spotting steam locos!

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

I remember these trains very well. They were excellent and comfortable, and I can clearly remember the slap slap noise the sliding doors made as the train rocked about. The 501 replacements were poor in comparison. My father drove them and they had some interesting features. For example the notching up was automatic, and they were quick off the mark, but the driver could override that and notch up manually more quickly. They were quite powerful too, with four 280 hp motors in a 3 car set. That's an excellent model. The shoe beams were made of solid teak (the 501's were the same), and a slightly different shape to the ones on the model. I had several of them for years, rescued from the Oelikons when they were de-commissioned at Stonebridge Park. They were burning them and my father got permission to take some home. He reused them to make all sorts of things.

 

 

 

Edited by Hatchend
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  • 1 year later...

Hi

 

I am building an OO Gauge layout of the old Caledonian Road Goods and Coal yard in Islington where my father used to work in the 1950's and 60's.  The North London line ran to the south of the Yard and as I am including a section of it as part of my layout, I would like to build a set of the Oelikon eklectric coaches.  I have already collected a number of books and images of the Caledonian Road station and the Oelikon's and spent some time a few weeks ago making detailed photographs of the coach at the railway museum in York.  I have also bought a set of etches from London Road Models, but I am still working out how to assemble them.

 

I am sure this thread would give me a lot of help, but I have been unable to download any of the images or the pdf drawing.   I do remember that there was some problem accessing this site a few months ago.  Is there any other way to access the images, or would they have to be posted again by the original contributors.

 

Just to see if images are working again, here is a view of my 3D CAD drawing of the electric motor bogie taken from the photographs I took at the museum.  Still a work in progress with more detail to add. 

 

Bogie CAD_V1.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

London Road Models has been promising underframes for the Oerlikon models for some years, their website constantly says (effectively) "Watch this space".

I believe they DO have test components arranged - but I have no idea when the complete 'kit' might come to fruition 

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