Jump to content
 

In the beginning was the RTA - Railway Train Accident


Dufus
 Share

Recommended Posts

In the beginning was the Railway.  The Rainhill Trials are generally accepted as the beginning of the mechanised railway.  William Huskisson the local Member of Parliament was hit by the Rocket on the first day of the trials and later died of his injury.

 

As a retired cop having spent a lot of my service on traffic dealing with Road Traffic Accidents (RTA), I have decided for this challenge to go for the railway equivalent and model the first Railway Train Accident.  Huskisson was taken on a door to a local doctor and died several hours later.  I am going to take a bit of poetic license and place him at the scene.

 

To add to the challenge I think I can get a scale 1 Rocket into the 8 inch by 8 inch by 6 inch restriction.  At a scale of 1:32 the Rocket and tender should come out at 8 inches long.  No wriggle room!  The problem will be with the height, using normal rails and thick sleepers it comes in at 6 inches with no room for a base board.  I am going to have to make my own track and thin down the sleepers.

 

I have identified some suitable figures, I have the 3D printing files for a 1:32 scale Rocket and Tender.  This is going to be an exercise in painting and weathering.

  • Like 6
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Sounds good, by all accounts it was recorded as a pretty gory accident, so I'm guessing plenty of red paint?

 

Hope you can squeeze it all in.

All the best

Mark

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Time for bit of an update. I have almost finished but though I would share a few intermediate photos first.

 

First off are some of the parts to make up the tender to the rocket.  Straight off the 3D printer.

IMG_8161.JPG

 

I need to do some work on my photography, especially depth of field!

Edited by Dufus
  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Here is the Rocket put together.  The loco and tender are exactly 8 inches long but I need to lose a quarter of an inch in height.  I can do that by remaking the rails.

Rocket1.jpg

  • Like 2
  • Craftsmanship/clever 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

So, open passenger carriage removed.  Figures more or less in place so I have a plan.  Just got to get on and paint it all.  The figures are not exactly what I was looking for.  I was looking for a top hat.  I did think about altering these but now decide that it is a stage too far.  Modelers license will come into play here.

Rocket2.jpg

  • Like 6
Link to post
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Corbs said:

Pretty impressive cramming it into such a small space!

 

One correction though, Huskisson was killed at the opening of the L&MR a year after the trials.

 

Thanks for that.  I did wonder why the Prime Minister would be at the trials.  It being the opening makes more sense.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

To be really awkward, the Rocket was modified many times in it's life, and the model you have there is of the Rain hill trials. By a year later at the Opening of the LMR the Rocket's sister, Northumbrian, definately had horizontal (almost) cylinders. It's thought Rocket had been modified like that as well, as in that orginal cylinder poistion she was known to waddle like a duck..

Northumbrian[1].jpg

Notice too the Northumbrian has the later smoke box, which Rocket is currently fitted with. This was found to be needed as the old chimney straight off the boiler kept clogging with ash  and char..

 

Huskinson was of course not the first killed on the railways, Many had died in their construction, and in mechanically powered accidents before. But Previous lines were industrial and they were classed as industrial accidents even if they were a passenger.

Edited by TheQ
  • Informative/Useful 6
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Oh just a thought, The Duke of Wellingtons carriage was a foot to 2 foot wider than the other carriages, leaving little space between trains, that is why he was knocked over by Northumbrian and run over by the tender and carriages.. He was of course then taken away on a flat bed, that had been used by the band, it  was towed away by Northumbrian driven by Stephenson.

 

PS how do I know this..?

May I recommend the "Haynes manual for Stephensons Rocket", normal retail around £22 but being flogged off at the moment  by "THE WORKS" for £6

Edited by TheQ
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Looking forward to the painting and weathering!  :yes:

Do we get the blood and gore..... ?  Sensitively done, of course.

 

___________

Polly

Edited by southern42
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Just to show it fits in an 8" x 8" x 6" cake box here is a picture in the box with rulers.  Unfortunately the boxes used by Mr Bun my local baker are only 3" high

IMG_8195a.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Some more images that I did not use in the final entry.

 

IMG_6912a.jpg

 

This one showing the real coal that came from my sisters that was crushed by hand.  Together with a couple of the D&G Models figures.  I did try making a top had for the driver but it did not work out so ended up being removed.

 

 

IMG_6913a.jpg.c88877fe33937a4fb8b4cd9805655fcc.jpg

 

I liked this little urchin and can just imagine him asking the cop for the MPs boots.

 

IMG_6918a.jpg

 

There was a slight defect in the 3D print of the top of the chimney. This was covered by the cotton wool smoke.  I tried not to be too gruesome with the leg but the kids I have shown this to wanted more blood!

 

 

Edited by Dufus
text added
  • Like 5
  • Craftsmanship/clever 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...