SR Ironclad Coaches as Engineers' Stock.

[Mallard60022]

Can anyone suggest what I could use to represent  a relevant member of this coach series without having to resort to shelling out on an expensive kit of  4mm parts?

I'm happy to do some modification and cutting/shutting but this coach (or these coaches) would only be used for a breakdowen train formation so it does not need to be 'perfect'.

Many thanks,

Phil @ 36E

[The Bigbee Line]

I have some of the older Hornby 'Southern' coaches for such use.

 

Here are clips of the "Brighton" coaches, excuse poor quality, but they have been 'clipped' from larger pictures

 

I also have a couple of Hornby Dublo Breakdown Cranes as donors for a crane bash.

[Mallard60022]

Thanks mate. I really appreciate those shots.

Funnily it was one of those 'older' Hornby lumps that set me thinking about this. Are the HD Cranes a better bet than the Hornby version (from some years back)

I've got a great book, "Off the Rails", that shows lots of incidents on the BR SR Eastleigh Area's Breakdown Crews' patch in the mid/late 60s.

Have you ever considered using 247 Developments 'Ironclad' sides on a 57' chassis?  

[The Bigbee Line]

Thanks mate. I really appreciate those shots.

Funnily it was one of those 'older' Hornby lumps that set me thinking about this. Are the HD Cranes a better bet than the Hornby version (from some years back)

I've got a great book, "Off the Rails", that shows lots of incidents on the BR SR Eastleigh Area's Breakdown Crews' patch in the mid/late 60s.

Have you ever considered using 247 Developments 'Ironclad' sides on a 57' chassis?  

I recently got the Tatlow book on Railway Breakdown Cranes Volume 2 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Railway-Breakdown-Cranes-Peter-Tatlow/dp/1906419973/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394263668&sr=1-3&keywords=peter+tatlow  It has all you need to know on such things..

 

Regarding the 247 Development sides, I wasn't aware of them, but will now search the net, thanks.

[Mallard60022]

http://247developments.co.uk/coaches_and_parts.html

[Ceptic]

Some photos of the ex-'Ironclad' Bournemouth MPD vans. Pictured at Branksome in the mid-1980s. Shame the other sides weren't accessible. 

 

 

All the best.

[Rivercider]

Is this an Ironclad? This is one of my early photos, presumably taken of 08031 and the coach has crept in.

Could it be the same set pictured above at Bournemouth?

 

At Eastleigh Depot, 08031, and what my notes tell me is the Reserve Rerailing Train, 19/2/77

 

cheers

[hmrspaul]

A Couple of the Feltham Breakdown train here http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/srdepartmentalcoach/e11149b47   http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/srdepartmentalcoach/e1d77cd01

 

This is the nice equipment wagon that went with it http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/srdepartmentalcoach/e3c69ac9  - The crane was reasonably new when photographed http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/heavydutycrane/e3ddf845  

 

Paul

[Colin]

Just a thought, but the old 00 Farish corridor coaches might be worth considering - they regularly appear second hand at exhibitions and never seem to sell for much.

Somehow, the Farish coaches might be a better starting point as they have the potential to look a bit more "Southern" to me (window corners are less rounded for a start) - the Hornby stock is basically the same as their attempt at GWR coaches, but with different roofs AFAIK.

Just watch out for the Farish "mirror image" - some editions of the Farish coaches were produced with the door hinges and handles reversed on one side!

[petethemole]

I too had thought of the Farish 00 coaches for Ironclad conversion as they were based on SR Maunsell stock but haven't looked into it in any detail. The main changes would appear to be: fill in the tops of the large windows flush with the droplights; add doors and droplights at the vestibule ends; change or cosmetically alter the bogies.

 

Pete

[Mallard60022]

Morning all. OK so it's into the loft to dig out all those really old coaches I've had since the 60s/70s. I've even got Farish ones! (They looked good at the time).

Some lateral thinking with old rubbish stuff would seem to be on the cards.....!

P

[Colin]

Thinking back to my old collection of RM mags, in 66/67 or thereabouts Terry Gough did some articles on converting various SR stock out of rtr coaches - if I can find them, I'll tell you which issues might be useful. 

[Colin]

Further to last message, I found my old RMs - I don't unfortunately have the August 67 issue which covers most of the Ironclads, but I do have the Feb 68 RM which features various LSWR restaurant cars including the Ironclad vehicles AND has a couple of pics of them in Departmental service. According to Terry Gough, most of these coaches passed into service use after withdrawal, so maybe a restaurant car conversion might be the best option. Makes me want to dig an old Farish coach out and have a go myself!

[petethemole]

I decided to dig out a second hand Farish coach and have a go at this. It's a 'GWR' version in 1922 livery. The body has some hand-painted livery changes and the roof has a chip out of one corner so it's resale value isn't great. Having recently found a copy of LSWR Carriages of the 20th Century at a price I could justify paying (less than 3 figures, just) it must now earn its keep as it were. It won't be a fine scale model as the proportions aren't quite right but I don't think it's beyond my skills to make a reasonable representation of a 57ft corridor 3rd. It should be possible to lengthen the body, roof and underframe from the model's scale 55ft 9in length and fit flat ends. I have a set of correct bogies from Ebay. The main challenge is that they were noticeably smooth-sided and the model has raised door lines. I think that shaving these off and neatly scribing new is probably the greatest challenge. I may bottle out and do the door lines in ink; they aren't that obvious in photos. I'll make notes as I go and possibly take the odd photo with a view to posting on here. Don't hold your breath though; it's one of several projects on the go.

 

Pete