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Class 303 EMU query


ThaneofFife
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On 07/03/2020 at 21:06, WolfofBadenoch said:

 

Ok, took slightly longer than 3 weeks but here is the photo i was talking about. Not that great, will need to try and get a better one!

P1010016.JPG

Probably the last evidence of historical record right there.

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On 08/03/2020 at 23:56, adb968008 said:

Probably the last evidence of historical record right there.

 

Could be! He was talking about re-painting them back to LMS colours for his layout, but i'm sure he's given up on that having bought a replacement Duchess of Atholl last year + another couple of the previous Hornby incarnation Duchesses (+ one of these is definetly a non-runner).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for posting the pictures of the Duchess's. I must say the blue is lightly darker than I had thought! Maybe I have been misled by the early posters where the blue looks more like Caledonian Sky Blue.

 

So, having sorted the blue on the body, how about the roof on the original livery? Various descriptions of silver, light grey and later, dark grey being used.  Would BR Rail Grey be about the right shade? It looks quite light. Any suggestions gratefully received as my now running model is ever nearer the paintshop!

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The colour may be accurate in an analytical sense, but in a visual sense, colour doesn't scale well. What looks one shade when seen on a large object that fills the field of view does look different when viewed as a small object in a field of view dominated by different colours. It becomes a matter of what, in the viewer's opinion, looks right.

 

Jim

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  • 2 months later...

Me again with more queries. I've been reading the Glasgow Electric book published around the launch of the system. In the book, it mentions the interior decor, stating that two coaches have the grey striped seats and one coach green material. Unfortunately, it doesn't say which coach has which! Anybody know which coach had the green seats?

 

Steve

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Late to the party here but I am pretty sure they ran 303 9 car sets for special events such as tall ships at Greenock and the Scottish Golf Open at Troon. It required extra platform staff at Paisley for dispatch and were limited stop. I can't remember any further details, best part of 25 years ago this would have happened.

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Yes there were definitely 9 car sets for the  tall ships at Greenock in 1999 . By that time it was twilight of their careers and they were refurbished in crimson/cream and orange black .  I can’t remember seeing any in unrefurbished days . The largest formation I ever saw was a 6 car  train .  Oh to stand on the platform 4 at Gilmour St , get on behind the driver and watch the route up to Central . Happy days! 

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I've been a bit sidetracked with the Class 313 I've been building, but I'm back with the 303 for a bit. The lining appears to be yellow/black with the yellow uppermost. However, I'm struggling to make out the numbers. In some shots they look gold, but in others more yellowish. There are transfers listed as 'old gold' as well. Anyone know what colour they were?

 

A similar query/check with the kickboards beneath the doors. In photographs, they look silver, as if they are some sort of metal plate? The stepboards I assume are just black?

 

If anyone could help, I would be grateful. Thanks

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  • 2 months later...

My own 303's got to the presentable stage. I bought this built-up in Manchester PTE orange and brown on ebay a couple of years back with the intent of backdating to Glasgow 1980ish when riding behind the driver was the greatest thrill known to a 5 year old.

The original builder had done a decent job on the shells but the cab front detail was really basic, so I snipped it off and started over. The biggest deal is making window gaskets out of 0.5mm brass wire- these are a friction fit (prepainted Tamiya matt black). These make a massive improvement to the look of the cab face, as does paying attention to the complex handrail shape. The handrails are 0.35mm nickel silver wire, the MU cable by Details Associates. For the air pipes I tried rearranging parts from one of Replicas sprues but the result was too crude, so I made my own (1mm tube for the T valves, 0.5mm for the pipe, 0.35 for the handle and 1 mm plastic for the connector at the pipe end. 

The Tenshodo spud's been modified for DCC and I added pickups on the other bogie. They don't work that well so I'll swap out the decoder for one of Gaugemasters new versions with stay-alive.

The interior has got as far as the cabs but the enthusiasms spent for the saloons.

Regard, Neill Horton

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DSC_2298.JPG

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  • 2 years later...
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As far as I can tell, they are pretty much their own design, I wouldn't say they have anything in common with the Mk1 coach - unlike many other EMUs (25kV and 3rd-rail) which clearly are based on Mk1 design (either suburban or 'main line' gangway stock)

 

Edited by keefer
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I would never have linked a class 303 to a class 124; the Trans-Pennine units have what looks like a standard Mk 1 profile (although it may well not be), whereas the 303s have a distinctly bulged side, more reminiscent of the Liverpool class 502/503 than anything else I can think of. 506s and 507/313s had variations on this, as I suppose, did the Park Royal class 103 DMUs, although these had the bulge lower down. However, it is difficult to get a feel for the shape from photograps, and it is a long time to remember back to. A set of drawings would help.

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The Class 303's have more of a First Generation dmu type profile, definitely not Mk.I.  Rather than a curve from cant rail to solebar, they have a pronounced tumblehome near the bottom. Not sure what you could use really. Wouldn't have thought a Trans Pennine Class 124 was suitable?

 

Emu's with Mk.I profile cars are Class 302, 304, 305, 307, 308 and 309. 

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Thanks folks. 506 EMU looks about the closest but other than some expensive Shapeways prints, there doesn't seem to be any kits in 7mm scale. I will keep glugging away. 

 

A set of drawings would be fantastic but they are also somewhat of a rarity. I have found some on the Barrowmore site but they are not that great, more a basic layout rather than something more useful. 

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37 minutes ago, D6775 said:

A set of drawings would be fantastic but they are also somewhat of a rarity. I have found some on the Barrowmore site but they are not that great, more a basic layout rather than something more useful. 

 I tried about fifty years ago to get drawings from BR(S) in Glasgow and they sent me the diagrams for the set - complete with major dimensions but definitely not accurate enough for modelling purposes.  This was long before the NRM and OPC.   I should maybe have gone over to Pressed Steel at Linwood. :-)

 

I have occasionally gone digging over the years since but have never found any GAs.  I did find out that the company who made a 4mm scale model had visited a preserved set to take their own measurements.

 

Jim.

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