Camping Carriage

[Dufus]

I had been thinking of a camping carriage sitting beside a station.  I measured the length of all my carriages and all the oo gauge ones were too long.  Even diagonally they would not fit!  I thought N gauge would be too small so was having to think about something else.

 

On Saturday, as part of Norfolk day one of my neighbours gave a talk about his house which is the old village station that shut in the late 60s.  He lets the waiting room and has a 60ft carriage in the garden, both being used as holiday homes.  His carriage is still too long, but as part of the talk, he showed some pictures of the station when it was open for business.  One of the pictures showed one of the original camping carriages in the goods siding and it is much shorter.

 

That set me thinking, I have an old ratio kit of a Midland Suburban coach that I bought for a quid out of a bucket a few years ago.  There were no instructions but some kind souls sent me them a couple of years ago after an appeal here on RMWeb.  I never did make up the kit as I had other modeling priorities at the time.  I dug it out and yes it is less than 8 inches long so will fit.

 

My plan is to copy part of Heacham Station as it was in the mid 60s in the attached photo.  I am a month behind so need to get a move on but let's see what happens.

[Marly51]

Great idea Dufus. Up here in the North, the folk who live in Rogart Station also rent out the old waiting room and have converted carriages and an old gypsy caravan into self catering accommodation. http://sleeperzzz.com/

 

Edited July 29, 2019 by Marly51

[Dufus]

On 29/07/2019 at 13:44, Marly51 said:

Great idea Dufus. Up here in the North, the folk who live in Rogart Station also rent out the old waiting room and have converted carriages and an old gypsy caravan into self catering accommodation. http://sleeperzzz.com/

 

 

Thanks for the link. Some useful pictures of what to put inside the carriage.  Looks like a good spot to base from.  I like the goods carriage conversion, that works well.

 

[Sweet pea]

Look forward to seeing this develop Dufus, pictures looks great.

[Dufus]

Rapidly approaching the closing date.  Most of the work and the painting is done.  Just a matter of putting all the bits together.

 

Before I show where I have got to,  I have been doing some more research and spoken to Terry who owns the old station now.

 

When the Heacham to Wells line closed there were two camping coaches in the goods siding at Heacham.  One was called Montana, the other was Maid of Kent II.  They remained on site for several years after the Kings Lynn to Hunstanton line closed and the rails were removed.  Eventually the carriages were trailered away.  Terry tried to buy then back several years later.  One was part of a residence and the other was just too expensive.  He acquired his current coach from elsewhere.  The attached pictures show the carriages at Heacham before the main line closed.

[Dufus]

OK, so the base board is just about done.  I have picked a time after the Heacham - Wells line has closed and the branch line side of the platform has closed and the rails removed.  I have a family arriving for a holiday to put on the platform with a porter and their luggage.  The rails of the goods line siding are still in place for the Camping Coaches although that side of the station is starting to show the neglect.

 

The carriage is an old Ratio kit that I picked up a couple of years ago. It was going cheap as there were no instructions.  Thank you to those of you who sent me scans of similar ratio kits.  As you can see the coach just fits within the 8 inches!  I have all the furniture made but still have to finish the internal walls before I can fit it.  Some has been 3D printed, some built from a brass etched kit.  The carriage roof and one side are removable to see inside.

 

The brick toilets on the platform were my first attempt to scratch build from plastic brick sheets.  The toilet doors do have a Ladies and Gents sign from Google but too small to see on the photo.  The canopy supports were 3D printed, the valance was laser cut by Scale Model Scenery and was what was left over from an earlier build.  The Heacham sign is taken from a photo of the actual sign that I took at a display the Terry was doing of the Heacham Station.

 

I was going to do some transfers of 'Pullman Camping Coach' but that was only on the longer carriage not the short one that I am modeling, so I have left it off.  I might do a badge on the side later.

 

Almost finished, but little work tomorrow as I am judging a Honey Show.  Only about an hour or so to finish off inside the coach and one more set of steps to make for the side of the coach.  Get them done by Monday ready for submission.

 

 

[Dickon]

11 hours ago, Dufus said:

 

 

I was going to do some transfers of 'Pullman Camping Coach' but that was only on the longer carriage not the short one that I am modeling, so I have left it off.

 

 

I've never seen a Pullman Camping Coach, but I regularly used to pass a Camping Coach at Wool in Dorset.  A quick look on Google suggests that very few Pullmans were converted into Camping coaches and that most Camping Coaches were identified by the shorter two word label.  You should have space for that if you still have time to make a transfer.

Edited September 29, 2019 by Dickon

[Dufus]

On 29/09/2019 at 07:44, Dickon said:

 

I've never seen a Pullman Camping Coach, but I regularly used to pass a Camping Coach at Wool in Dorset.  A quick look on Google suggests that very few Pullmans were converted into Camping coaches and that most Camping Coaches were identified by the shorter two word label.  You should have space for that if you still have time to make a transfer.

 

Hi Dickon,

 

The longer coach at Heacham was a pullman.  If you look at the coach in the top right picture above you can see word Pullman on the side.  I did hear that it was sold for renovation a couple of years ago.  The retired army officer that bought it had a quarter of a million pound budget for renovation.

[Dufus]

Well the entry is now submitted. I thought I would share the interior of the coach.  I have made the roof and one side removable to show a couple of bedrooms and a living area.  I avoided the issue of a toilet by putting the brick outhouse on the platform behind the porter with the luggage.

 

I couldn't get the platform lights to work.  Another lesson learnt, test them before fitting as it is going to be difficult to replace them now.  Non of the three lights works and I suspect them to be a faulty batch.  Oh well they look the part even if they don't work.

 

I am pleased with the way the furniture worked out although the rooms do look a little spartan.  I might do some more work on it yet and put some railway camping posters on the walls.

[Marly51]

Lovely model, Dufus, and the internal details are a bonus! I think a few of us will keep adding to our models After the deadline!

[Marly51]

Congratulations, Dufus!