N gauge Streamlined Great Western Railcar (Kickstarter)

[DJM Dave]

In an exciting 'first' for British N gauge, Matthew Pinto has teamed up with Dave Jones of DJModels Ltd to produce the streamlined Great Western Railcar in N gauge.

 

Introduced in 1934, these stylish vehicles were used for light express duties such as Birmingham - Cardiff services. Over the years they migrated widely and could be seen on most parts of the GWR & WR system.

 

The model will be based on Railcar 4, which is now preserved at the Steam museum in Swindon. This vehicle will be laser scanned to produce an accurate, detailed model of the prototype that has never before been available ready-to-run.

The Model will be designed to the highest standard of RTR production and will incorporate current best practice.

 

The specification includes;

Coreless motor with underfloor mechanism

6 pin DCC decoder socket with space for a DCC speaker

Directional lighting

Fully detailed 'art deco' interior

Different cab layouts for each end correctly represented

Guards pigeon holes and raised floor areas

Optional bogie valances (if possible)

 

Another first for British N gauge will be the use of Kickstarter to fund the development of the model. In countries such as America and Australia, it is common for manufacturers to take subscriptions for models.

Those models will only be produced once the minimum number of orders has been received.

This is the first time this subscription based approach has been used in Great Britain.

 

Using Kickstarter will allow us to offer this unique and exciting model in the same way. Subscription will be open for 60 days and pledgers will have that amount of time to sign up. Using a well known commercial site like Kickstarter provides security for pledgers. No money will be taken until the subscription period is complete.

If we fail to raise the minimum number of orders necessary, then the project will not proceed and no monies will be debited from the pledgers accounts.

 

The pledge will be £115.00 which will include shipping within the UK. Customers outside the UK are welcome to pledge but shipping will be notified later but be at a small additional charge.

The minimum number of pledges to make this project viable is 1000. The railcars will be available in the following liveries and for each pledge you will receive one of your choice as a 'reward'. please note you can pledge as many times as you wish;

 

No4 GWR 'Shirtbutton' livery with white roof (originally released into service and currently worn in preservation)

No3 Post war GWR 'Hawksworth' livery with grey roof and GWR crest.

No2 in BR Crimson & Cream livery branded W2W

 

DJmodels will offer these models with a 1 year warranty on these models and 100% spares availability from the moment your 'reward' is dispatched to you.

Each model will also be personally checked by Dave jones of DJModels before dispatch.

 

To pledge for a railcar please visit the Kickstarter project site;

 

https://www/kickstarter.com/projects/800415755/n-gauge-streamlined-great-western-railway-railcar

 

 

 

 

 

[Karhedron]

If you have trouble with the link above, try this one instead.

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/800415755/n-gauge-streamlined-great-western-railway-railcar

[gelboy45]

This looks tasty! Will the scones be scanned too?

Gerry ;O))))

[Kris]

Oh you bad man. That's rather tempting. 

[Miss Prism]

Nos 2 to 4 are diagram V

 

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrt343.htm

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrt344.htm

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrt2424.htm

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrc2334.htm

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrsa1491.htm

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrha469.htm

https://www.flickr.com/photos/60790501@N04/5696828175/

 

It's not clear whether Nos 2 and 3 had a blanked off buffet front side window on the same side as the preserved No 4. (Was the buffet bit always on the same side?) 

[BernardTPM]

I'm sure it's already been thought of, but for the version with valences it would be best not to have any bogie sideframes to maximise swing. In that regard, perhaps might be possible to etch the valences too, to clip or slide fit. The fact that these have relatively short (7ft) wheelbase bogies will help, of course.

[woodenhead]

So I have to ask, why would Dapol not be doing this model seeing as they are doing one in 00 and therefore have the scans etc.

[Karhedron]

I do not know Dapol's reasoning but they have not announced an N gauge version as part of their 2014/15 lineup. They have only just started CAD work on the 00 model. Also they are doing the later GRC&W bodied vehicles (5-17) whereas mine will be the earlier Park Royal bodied version. Because of this, their model will not be based on scans of the preserved example.

[Karhedron]

I'm sure it's already been thought of, but for the version with valences it would be best not to have any bogie sideframes to maximise swing. In that regard, perhaps might be possible to etch the valences too, to clip or slide fit. The fact that these have relatively short (7ft) wheelbase bogies will help, of course.

 

Dave is working on the exact mechanics but I believe he is thinking along these lines. The modeller can fit either the bogie side frames or the valances depending on the condition they wish to model.

 

However, in either case, the attached parts will probably be plastic and strong enough to withstand be fitted without deforming.

[rembrow]

Dapol are doing a different diagram(s) of the early GWR railcars, which covers numbers 5-16 which were not fitted with a buffet so had a different side window layout (a couple had a passenger toilet). Dapol were originally going to do the diagram covering Nos 2 - 4, but with the traverser out of action at Steam Swindon, they decided the preserved number 4 could not be scanned, so changed tack to produce the later diagram versions. I'm assuming that Dave Jones has found a way round the scanning problem, or number 4 can be hauled out of the shed.

[Revolution Ben]

 

Another one!

 

Good luck with this - as I've said in the thread on the Pendolino Kickstart I think the crowd-sourced financing model offers us all really exciting new possibilities for producing models we want - especially in N where the business case isn't always as clear cut.

 

I really hope this reaches its goal.

 

Cheers

 

Ben A.

[msw2009]

I'm a Southern man so it's not quite my region unfortunately but I wish you both every success with this.  For me, they're one of the most iconic vehicles in our railway heritage - almost on a par with Bullied's MNs, WCs/BoBs & Q1s.     

 

I really do hope this and the other Kickstarter-type projects come to fruition - as Ben Ando says above, it opens up all sorts of hitherto unimaginable possibilities for the innovative N enthusiast.

 

I don't suppose there's any evidence that they actually ran on Southern rails is there?  I might just be tempted ....  Perhaps one got lost at some point?

 

Will watch closely.  Good luck!

 

Mark 

[Karhedron]

I don't suppose there's any evidence that they actually ran on Southern rails is there?  I might just be tempted ....  Perhaps one got lost at some point?

They certainly got about a bit on Railtours including deep into MR territory. One got as far as Kensington Olympia in the 50s, is that close enough for you?

[Dye]

Is anybody else having problems pledging? I keep getting the following message on kickstarter:

 

Well, this is embarrassing.

Processing your pledge is taking longer than usual If you'd like, you can refresh and try again.

Not to worry: you can only back a project once, so you will never be double-charged.

 

 

Dye

[rembrow]

Good news (or bad news) for MSW2009. 3 of the railcars operated on the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth service, with 1 based at Weymouth. Technically the units were from the slightly different Gloucester designed Nos 5-16. From Dorchester to Weymouth they ran on joint Southern/Western metals, with Weymouth being a joint Southern/Western station with services from Bristol (by railcar) and from Southampton and Dorchester South by Southern. Some of this info is from a posting by 'Buffalo'.

[Karhedron]

Is anybody else having problems pledging?

Someone on a different forum reported the same problem but it cleared up after a little while. At a guess I would say it is probably just load on the Kickstarter servers.

[Miss Prism]

It's not clear whether Nos 2 and 3 had a blanked off buffet front side window on the same side as the preserved No 4. (Was the buffet bit always on the same side?)

 

Ah, I think the penny has dropped - the buffet was full width (at least on No 4).

[Karhedron]

Ah, I think the penny has dropped - the buffet was full width (at least on No 4).

I have a shot of W3W in BR days and the blanked off window arrangement looks the same as No4.

[richbrummitt]

... you can only back a project once, so you will never be double-charged.

 

This supports the information on the kickstarter website in contrary to the OP, that you cannot pledge more than once per project. 

 

I'm tempted, even though I have a Worsley kit that could make a more appropriate model (I'd prefer number 5 or 6), despite them being far too modern for my tastes. They are beautiful and I'd like to see you succeed. I've set myself a reminder to see how far you've got in a few weeks time and consider it.

[wollastonblue]

Good news (or bad news) for MSW2009. 3 of the railcars operated on the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth service, with 1 based at Weymouth. Technically the units were from the slightly different Gloucester designed Nos 5-16. From Dorchester to Weymouth they ran on joint Southern/Western metals, with Weymouth being a joint Southern/Western station with services from Bristol (by railcar) and from Southampton and Dorchester South by Southern. Some of this info is from a posting by 'Buffalo'.

 

Thanks for that (you're a naughty man for knowing such things)   . I'll have to speak to the bank about this one (SWMBO). Unless this was in GWR days rather than BR in which case I can breathe.

[Tricky-CRS]

 

This supports the information on the kickstarter website in contrary to the OP, that you cannot pledge more than once per project. 

 

I'm tempted, even though I have a Worsley kit that could make a more appropriate model (I'd prefer number 5 or 6), despite them being far too modern for my tastes. They are beautiful and I'd like to see you succeed. I've set myself a reminder to see how far you've got in a few weeks time and consider it.

 

 

You can back for more but not buy picking different or extra pledges. When you pledge you can increase the amount you pledge, this allows for ordering extras or addons on some campaigns. So if you want for example 2 you select the pledge level for 1 and change the amount to £115*2 so £230 in this case.

 

If you select the pledge here big green button at the upper right you can enter any amount, but will not be entitled to a reward. So if you want a reward please scroll down to the pledge levels, slightly lower on the right, below creator's details.

[Karhedron]

This supports the information on the kickstarter website in contrary to the OP, that you cannot pledge more than once per project.

If you want more than one Railcar you can simply pledge multiples of £115. A couple of supporters have already done this.

[Dye]

After about 10 attempts today, using Firefox, gave up and tried using Chrome instead. Pledged on first attempt.

 

Dye

[Miss Prism]

The loo window on No 4 (when new) appears blanked off or painted over, whereas the others appear to be frosted, as No 4 ended up as (or was soon amended to). The buffet window on No 2 when new was not blanked over (maybe a screen inside?), but I would imagine their appearance had been harmonised by BR times. (Someone borrowed my Judge book a while ago, so I can't look up better references.)

 

Bit of an strange prototype to choose in many ways, but I guess exotic rules these days. If the project succeeds, there could be a lot of N gauge branch lines suddenly acquiring an express buffet service...

 

 

[Karhedron]

There is at least one photo of number 4 suggesting that the loo window was frosted rather than painted. Perhaps they all received frosted windows after a short while in service?

 

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrt344.htm

 

Looking closely at the photos, I am pretty sure they are taken at the same time as the location and tank engine in the background are the same. The window looks painted in the first shot but not in the one above. My guess is that the appearance of being painted over is a trick of the light. The other possibility is that there may have been a roller blind or similar behind the window.