seaside caravan park

[tom q vaxy]

lining up more winter projects. I want to make a caravan park as a destination for a 2' feldbahn in 1:35 scale. with 5 or 7 - i'm an odd-numbers guy - caravans, i'd like to trace the development from the 1920 box on wheels to 1949 factory produced 17' unit.

I acknowledge most of the parts and all of the caravans will be scratch built from styrene & left-over kit parts. also, on the domestic side, to include some of MiniArt & DioPark fantastic diorama bits.

in realization the caravans do not have to follow specific name brands, but the flavor of fashion in their appearance will be the goal. numerous web sites cater to the individual manufacturers.

Q: anyone have a link to caravan construction which shows elevation drawings?

since most I've found focus on sales brochures or overview factory assembly lines, there are plenty of floor plans, but I have been left to my own devices to extrapolate side view dimensions.

any help appreciated; thanks.

[shipbadger]

In an idle moment I had a quick search on Google but drew a blank.  Shame as when I built a mobile home park for my US layout I found a manufacturer who had drawings of the vans going back pre-war to the start of the business.  My only suggestion is to search for the Retro, Period & Classic and Classic Caravan clubs.  I think they all have various publications or may be able to direct you to a source.

 

Big problem is that although the names persist the actual firms often change hands, several times in some cases.  When I was young we had a big site near us mainly of people who had been bombed out of London living in caravans.  The one they all 'lusted' after was the Bluebird Caribbean, although there were also some home built on ex-WD chassis.  Many of the owners worked at Vickers, Weybridge and had appropriate skills to do this.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

 

Tony Comber

[RANGERS]

Bachmann do a couple of vans, a 1960s/ 70s Sprite Musketeer tourer and a ‘60s Pemberton Rancher static, both too late for your time period but both good enough representations although a tad pricey.

 

If you’re looking to scratchbuild, an email to the sales/ marketing dept of a few of the current manufacturers would be worthwhile. Although very few, if any would have been in their current form for that long, many of them have roots in other businesses which did date back that far. 

[tom q vaxy]

I like this one:  http://gypsytrailercaravans.webeden.co.uk/16-bluebird/4543040754

 

Edited September 5, 2019 by tom q vaxy

[shipbadger]

looks like another of the same make here http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=38140&sid=2550563d4baf64ecdbc086c4f72f28c7

 

Tony Comber

[Charlie586]

I can't help with drawings, but I searched for vintage caravans a years ago when I planned to do something (but never did).

 

This one has good profile photos, but is probably too late for you

http://www.sussexsportscars.co.uk/cars/1960s-carlight-caravan/

 

A trip to a steam rally could help, you usually see a few older vans at bigger rallies.

 

[The Johnster]

Caravans for caravan parks are/were usually bigger than the types mostly available RTP, which are touring vans for towing behind cars, 2 berth and the kids on the sofa.  A sited caravan may be up to 10 berths, and 25 feet long and 'mobile homes' even bigger.  

 

Old postcards of the big sites, like Trecco Bay in Porthcawl which I think was the biggest in the country at one time, should give you some ideas.  The vans were laid out in neat rows, many hillside sites using the terrain to give more of them a sea view by arranging them in terraces.

[tom q vaxy]

I think for practical space limits, i'll be utilizing some "selective compression" for the caravans, yet including some of their more interesting features.

 

did do a search for Trecco Bay and found loads of interesting scenery pictures, so will surely be drawing on those for inspiration.

 

thanks

 

 

[tom q vaxy]

23 hours ago, Charlie586 said:

I can't help with drawings, but I searched for vintage caravans a years ago when I planned to do something (but never did).

 

This one has good profile photos, but is probably too late for you

http://www.sussexsportscars.co.uk/cars/1960s-carlight-caravan/

 

A trip to a steam rally could help, you usually see a few older vans at bigger rallies.

 

 the carlight is a bit too new, but I investigate all leads since some send me off to another which is more relevant.

 

the local steam-up (i'm in the US) here:  https://newsm.org/ is a great show for working engines, but in the 40 years I've gone, not one caravan!

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp7lG7F6H1xO2bB-SW4oQsg

 

 

[tom q vaxy]

well . . . interestingly enough, Carlight Caravans have quite a history:  http://www.historiccaravanclub.co.uk/resources/Carlight+1930-80.pdf

[Charlie586]

13 hours ago, tom q vaxy said:

 the carlight is a bit too new, but I investigate all leads since some send me off to another which is more relevant.

 

the local steam-up (i'm in the US) here:  https://newsm.org/ is a great show for working engines, but in the 40 years I've gone, not one caravan!

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp7lG7F6H1xO2bB-SW4oQsg

 

 

I suppose not many UK caravans would have been imported to the US. I thought I'd taken photos of a few 'vans at rallies but can't seem to find them.

[tom q vaxy]

there seems to be a point in caravan design where the stars crossed. the home handyman "canned ham" design appears universal save for a few easily rectified details.

 

 

[Fat Controller]

On 06/09/2019 at 08:34, The Johnster said:

Caravans for caravan parks are/were usually bigger than the types mostly available RTP, which are touring vans for towing behind cars, 2 berth and the kids on the sofa.  A sited caravan may be up to 10 berths, and 25 feet long and 'mobile homes' even bigger.  

 

Old postcards of the big sites, like Trecco Bay in Porthcawl which I think was the biggest in the country at one time, should give you some ideas.  The vans were laid out in neat rows, many hillside sites using the terrain to give more of them a sea view by arranging them in terraces.

In the 1960s, few of the caravans on the two sites I was familiar with (Port Eynon, Gower, and Kiln Park, Tenby) were anything but towable, at least in principle. Most had been on site for a long time, and would take quite a bit of preparation to move them. We stopped using ours, at Port Eynon, at the end of the 1960s, by which time the type the Johnster mentioned were starting to appear. Trecco Bay started in the mid 1960s, IIRC, and was a completely different set up, with much larger vans, brought in on lorries.