Castle Aching

[Edwardian]

3 hours ago, TurboSnail said:

 

With the outer panels having nice simple 90° corners or smooth arcs, it might be relatively straightforward to make those up as complete lining panels with transfer paper and an inkjet printer - relatively being compared to painting multiple thin bands and applying each individual lining transfer by hand...

 

That's the plan. I wonder if whole panels, including the clear bits, could be single transfers. If the two greens are painted, meeting at the mid point of the red-black-red lining, then gloss vanished, the carrier film should remain clear. Then satin varnish on top to seal the transfers and take down the shine. 

 

4 hours ago, Schooner said:

Have sorting yard, will sort!

 

In order to see them on the layout, services from the western branches of the WNR will need to terminate at BM. I assumed this would be at the shorter branch platform, not the island platform faces. The same platform used by the northern branches, Birchoverham Staithe and Fakeney. 

 

There will be the Wolfringham branch passenger train, running Shepherd's Port to BM, and the Bishop's Lynn Tramway, which will alternate WNR and GER services, the latter comprising a G15 and W&U type carriages. 

 

The coal trains from Wolfringham Staithe would work to AC, there they would be split between wagons for the rest of the system and wagons that would be sent to BM for use there or to be dispersed round the district. Thus I expect a train of about 10 coal wagons arriving at BM behind the CMR Sharp Stewart. 

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Edwardian
Spelling!

[Deeps]

1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

 

Are you not, therefore, in need of a rake of Oldburys, like the one in use in the Wolfringham branch set?

 

Let me know how you get on with the Beyer. That kit is some way down my to do list.

A rake of Oldburys would indeed be necessary, and as a member of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway I have been following the preservation work on such beasts with a keen interest. Currently I am mainly focused on the locomotives but purchased an ‘IOW themed’ set of Hatton’s 4/6 wheelers as a stop-gap.

 

However, I have also developed a (possibly strange?) fascination for 4 wheeled parcels/luggage vans and acquired some kit built examples of those that ran on the island, along with the glorious ex-LSWR road vans from Kernow and Smallbrook. The fact is I probably have too many of each.

 

As to the Beyer Peacock build, it is also some way down a list. Amongst other loco’s, I am about to start on a kit for the Manning Wardle 0-6-0 Saddle Tank ‘Medina’ and I am also building a 3 1/2 inch gauge King Arthur!

[Edwardian]

18 minutes ago, Deeps said:

A rake of Oldburys would indeed be necessary, and as a member of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway I have been following the preservation work on such beasts with a keen interest. Currently I am mainly focused on the locomotives but purchased an ‘IOW themed’ set of Hatton’s 4/6 wheelers as a stop-gap.

 

However, I have also developed a (possibly strange?) fascination for 4 wheeled parcels/luggage vans and acquired some kit built examples of those that ran on the island, along with the glorious ex-LSWR road vans from Kernow and Smallbrook. The fact is I probably have too many of each.

 

As to the Beyer Peacock build, it is also some way down a list. Amongst other loco’s, I am about to start on a kit for the Manning Wardle 0-6-0 Saddle Tank ‘Medina’ and I am also building a 3 1/2 inch gauge King Arthur!

 

Busy man.

 

When the time comes...Vectis 3D Models

 

[Nearholmer]

8 hours ago, Deeps said:

have also developed a (possibly strange?) fascination for 4 wheeled parcels/luggage vans

I’ve never yet found a treatment for this, having suffered with it for roughly fifty years. When I was into 15mm/ft, I built about a half dozen different ones and had to give most of them away to other people because they were so big that they were cluttering the place up.

[Northroader]

13 hours ago, Schooner said:

Isn't that why we all have a secret O16.5/n30 scheme, amirite?!

 

Right...!

 

Guys...right...?

 

[Deeps]

9 hours ago, Edwardian said:

When the time comes...Vectis 3D Models

I was totally unaware of these models and will probably invest in a few when finances allow. Many thanks for the link and I wonder what other  useful sources there may be out there?

 

I was also attracted to the LBSCR Perishable Van, which is described as a ‘perishable and luggage van’ in ‘A Pictorial Guide to Southern Wagons and Vans’. Even though I can find no evidence that any ran on the Island it would complement my parcel/luggage van addiction perfectly, so I will have to get one of these as well.

 

Although my layout will primarily be IOW in style and operation, that does not prevent me running anything that takes my fancy. Amongst my collection is an LNER Hush Hush (I just couldn’t resist it) and, as explained elsewhere in the forum, I plan to use it for pick-up goods duties! Utmost apologies to the purists.

[TurboSnail]

12 hours ago, Edwardian said:

That's the plan. I wonder if whole panels, including the clear bits, could be single transfers. If the two greens are painted, meeting at the mid point of the red-black-red lining, then gloss vanished, the carrier film should remain clear. Then satin varnish on top to seal the transfers and take down the shine. 

 

It depends a bit on budget - I was trying to do it all myself using an ordinary inkjet printer, and the clear transfer paper for that doesn't hold light colours very well at all, they stay semitransparent. 

 

When I did my SECR green N Class (the proposed one, not the later 2-6-0) most of the loco was painted black and I used transfers printed on white transfer paper, which held its colour much better. I would illustrate this with a photo, but RMweb is currently giving me "-200" errors!

 

I believe professional printers could do much better, and on clear paper, but that was a bit out of my budget for a converted Bachmann E4 bodge job!
 

[Edwardian]

6 hours ago, TurboSnail said:

 

It depends a bit on budget - I was trying to do it all myself using an ordinary inkjet printer, and the clear transfer paper for that doesn't hold light colours very well at all, they stay semitransparent. 

 

When I did my SECR green N Class (the proposed one, not the later 2-6-0) most of the loco was painted black and I used transfers printed on white transfer paper, which held its colour much better. I would illustrate this with a photo, but RMweb is currently giving me "-200" errors!

 

I believe professional printers could do much better, and on clear paper, but that was a bit out of my budget for a converted Bachmann E4 bodge job!
 

 

I am prepared to pay for transfers to be printed. The WNR already has carriage and wagon transfers courtesy of Ian MacCormac. Given the number of WNR locos, it is worthwhile and more economic than with one or two models.

 

My problem is this; it would be prohibitively expensive, even if I could find someone to do it, to draw up the lining schemes for all the locos.

 

My thought is that I must learn to do so. I can attempt to print my own as a check that the idea is working, but I think I will need the quality of professionally printed transfers.

 

Nothing bodged about you models, and I am wondering if the West Norlk should have a Fletcher Jennings J Class; it's a lovely prototype and I think it would suit an elaborate lining scheme such as the WNR's.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Edwardian
Spelling!

[cctransuk]

43 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

 

I am prepared to pay for transfers to be printed. The WNR already has carriage and wagon transfers courtesy of Ian MacCormac. Given the number of WNR locos, it is worthwhile and more economic than with one or two models.

 

My problem is this; it would be prohibitively expensive, even if I could find someone to do it, to draw up the lining schemes for all the locos.

 

My thought is that I must learn to do so. I can attempt to print my own as a check that the idea is working, but I think I will need the quality of professionally printed transfers.

 

Nothing bodged about you models, and I am wondering if the West Norlk should have a Fletcher Jennings J Class; it's a lovely prototype and I think it would suit an elaborsate lining scheme such as the WNR's.

 

Before embarking upon drawing lining schemes, find a professional printer who is prepared to print from your designs.

 

There is a perception that successful transfer sheets can be printed from clients' artwork files simply by pressing the PRINT icon. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and is why I don't offer a bespoke service.

 

Lining can be particularly problematic; maintaining two-dimensional registration between several colour passes can require quite a bit of 'working-around'.

 

Also, be aware that opaque lining requires an undercoat of white.

 

The bottom line is that you will need to liaise with a co-operative printer, and this co-operation will come at a price.

 

John Isherwood,

Cambridge Custom Transfers.

Edited December 31, 2023 by cctransuk

[Edwardian]

2024...

 

 

Good luck!

[Schooner]

 

 

 

 

 

[phil_sutters]

Happy 2024 all!

Edited January 1 by phil_sutters

[Edwardian]

We have, split between two topics, touched on the 1860s Oldbury carriages of the Isle of Wight Railway. 

 

 

These are made in 4mil by Matt Wickham, if I understand correctly the gentleman who is probably best known for his excellent depiction of the Bluebell Railway: Horsted Keynes

 

The kits are listed here

 

Fortunately, we have a restored example, and Matt has had access and been able to check measurements (the drawings in the Oakwood volume are not dimensionally reliable):

 

 

Here we have Matt Wickham's own build of one of his prints:

 

 

By way of explanantion, the 1864 Oldburys were supplied providing First and Second Class accommodation only. I purchased an extra print to use for the WNR; this carriage is an IWR 3-compartment First (used for the WNR as a First/Second Composite). The real IWR Composites are as the preserved vehicle above, with the First Class passengers enjoying salon style accommodation. There were also 4-compartment Seconds and 3-compartment Brake Seconds, with birdcages. There were 4 of the latter, all of which were later converted to 'passenger luggage vans' (I assume brakes). Three were converted as per the vehicle shown below, with the birdcage flattened (so not a feature that would have been built as such, because the raised portion of the roof now appears to have no function), and the other to a slightly different design.  

 

The models so far produced represent the later Victorian condition. One of the problems in being restricted to these coaches is that there was an 1880s generation of Oldburys and the two types were often seen mixed in services.  The train below, showing the Vectis prints cleaned up, but not assembled, and, based on published period photographs, is a reasonably credible selection of carriages (ignore the order in which I have plonked them down, I don't have the prototype pictures to hand). The one without the body is to have a planked luggage van body built for it. Looking at pictures of the period, this was a regular feature of IWR trains and the underframe appears to be a match for the Oldburys.  At the other end is one of the 3-compartment Brake Seconds as converted to a passenger luggage brake. 

 

 

Ideal motive power is one of the Beyer Peacock 2-4-0Ts:

 

Here the Golden Arrow Productions kit

 

 

 

[phil_sutters]

If they are of any interest there are photos of the Oldbury's under restoration in this album.

 

[Schooner]

Is Castle Aching already thus served?

 

In other news - BM cattle traffic. Need it run to a dock (as agreed to date) or could it run on a spur around the side of the market/into the corner of the shed (out of the operator's sight)? Wondering about three-links again, and if the issue could be dodged by having a train made up somewhere accessible then running to a hidden/masked location for a period before returning. Simulating having loaded/unloaded the cattle vehicles in short order and returning to the goods yard to be marshalled for the onward journey. A quick thought, not poked the plan to see if it works yet.

 

Edited January 3 by Schooner
Over hyphenated

[Edwardian]

26 minutes ago, Schooner said:

Is Castle Aching already thus served?

 

Almost certainly not.

 

I am not even sure that a gas works is warranted. I suspect there is no street lighting and the station has oil lamps. 

 

As I understand it, whether a town had electricity largely depended on local efforts to commission a local power sttation. Regional power supply did not come in until after the Great War, with the National Grid not established until 1926. 

 

In the 1900s I think we are still operating under the regime created by the Electric Lighting Act of 1882, under which local authorities, and later private companies, were empowered, subject to obtaining an individual legislative Confirmation Order, to set up their own electricity undertakings.

 

We can track the granted of the Confirmation Orders, but it is not neccessarily the case that such authority was exercised and electric power instituted.  Over the border in Suffolk, Bury St Edmunds received its first Order in 1884, which gave powers to the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses to erect and maintain electric lines and works to supply electricity to certain streets within the Borough. The Order was conditional, however, upon works beginning within two years. This evidently did not happen. Having gained a further order in 1897, Bury opened its power station in 1900. 

 

Norwich gained its first Order in 1883. but this evidently did not proceed as it gained another Order in 1891 and finally opened its first power station only in 1893. Great Yarmouth, which gained an Order in 1890, followed in 1894. Norwich gained a further order in 1898, and I speculate that this expansion related to the introduction of trams there in 1900.

 

Another Suffolk example, Ipswich gained its first Order in 1883, as one of the towns covered by the first Order under the 1882 Act, but evidently reqiuired a further one in 1891 and again in 1897. The first power station I have come across there so far dates from 1903 and was associated with the town's trams.

 

Back in Norfolk, King's Lynn gained an order in 1896. Supplies of electricity started on 19 August 1899. This is relevant as means that the West Norfolk town of Bishop's Lynn can expect to be similar.

 

Cromer gained an Order in 1899. Cromer is probably the nearest equivalent in terms of its resort town status to Birchoverham Next the Sea. When Cromer commissioned a power station, however, I do not know. Anyway,if we electrify Birchoverham Next the Sea, this resort town's power station is a suitable derstination for the sea-borne coal from Wolfringham Staithe, via BM. 

 

So, it looks like the West Norfolk port town of Bishop's Lynn and the resort town of Birchoverham Next the Sea are likely to have had electricity by 1905, while two real places served by the WN, Bury and Norwich, also had electricity. The West Norfolk market towns of Achingham (Fakenham) and Birchoverham Market are, frankly, likely to be on town gas.  Places this size and smaller are unlikely to be on electricity until the Grid is established in the '20s and '30s.  For example, Watton, a town in Norfolk's Breckland district, did not retire its (gas) lamp lighter until 1932.   

 

 

26 minutes ago, Schooner said:

In other news - BM cattle traffic. Need it run to a dock (as agreed to date) or could it run on a spur around the side of the market/into the corner of the shed (out of the operator's sight)? Wondering about three-links again, and if the issue could be dodged by having a train made up somewhere accessible then running to a hidden/masked location for a period before returning. Simulating having loaded/unloaded the cattle vehicles in short order and returning to the goods yard to be marshalled for the onward journey. A quick thought, not poked the plan to see if it works yet.

 

 

Both options are possible. I like the idea oif making a big thing of BM as a livestock market, which argues for a large visible dock with the market itself seen beyond. As the livestock trains only come and go on market days, I think I could tolerate the shunting!

[Nearholmer]

23 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

As I understand it, whether a town had electricity largely depended on local efforts to commission a local power sttation

Quite a few gas companies diversified into electricity supply pre-WW1, by the simple means of adding gas engines, driving dynamos, to their works, so “a local power station” might consist of no more than a modest building at the edge of the gasworks. They needed parliamentary powers to open streets, lay cables etc, a possible exception being if their primary customer was the council that also managed the roads, so street lighting, in which case consents, rather than powers might have been enough.

[Nearholmer]

Here is the sort of thing that a gas company might install, probably two sets, plus a slate-panel switchboard. There were horizontal format engines gas engines too, otherwise almost the same.

 

 

Here's a horizontal:

 

Edited January 3 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

Not strictly CA, but I think Edwardian and the parishioners might know the answer better than anyone:

 

Hypothetically, asking for a friend, that sort of thing, if one wanted to buy a 00 loco, as in buy, not spend ages building from a kit or from scratch, to work an independent minor railway set pte-WW1, a bit up the ladder from an 1896 LIght Railway, other than a Terrier or the planned MW L Class, what could one obtain?

 

I’m not well up on 00 models, but having scadded through the adverts in the RM, I can’t see anything. The pre-grouping locos that are available seem to be either very big, very modern for the period, or so obviously company specific. Maybe the Adams Radial?

[Schooner]

Hopefuly James and co will give us chapter and verse, but to scratch a similar itch I'm thinking of the upcoming Hattons P re-release (due in the Spring) under one of @TurboSnail's body kits, via @BlueLightning's shop

(although I favour the open-backed version, as ran on the IoW)

Edited January 4 by Schooner
links

[Edwardian]

14 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Not strictly CA, but I think Edwardian and the parishioners might know the answer better than anyone:

 

Hypothetically, asking for a friend, that sort of thing, if one wanted to buy a 00 loco, as in buy, not spend ages building from a kit or from scratch, to work an independent minor railway set pte-WW1, a bit up the ladder from an 1896 LIght Railway,

 

So a rung close to the WNR

 

'Nowt' would be the immediate answer. I mean, if such a thing existed RTR, I'd have one for WNR.

 

The prototypical choice would seem to be second user engines from 'mainline' companies, or items from private builder's catalogues and adaptions thereof. 

 

OO Works' limited runs of the Irish J15 (effectvely a Beyer Peacock) and LSWR 330 Class (also a Beyer design) are expensive and now out of production, so probably don't really count as RTR for your purposes.

 

14 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

 

other than a Terrier or the planned MW L Class, what could one obtain?

 

Ah, 'cos Terrier is an obvious answer, though a bit too towards the LR rung.  As disposals were turn of the century, that timing works for a pre-WW1 independent.

 

MW L Class, not so much. Primarily supplied as a contractor's loco late 1800s. A few straight to industry before WW1, and others to industry as second user. Mainly still engaged in contracting. 3 'specials' with larger wheels (so not the RTR versions) to Northern LRs. 

 

14 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

I’m not well up on 00 models, but having scadded through the adverts in the RM, I can’t see anything. The pre-grouping locos that are available seem to be either very big, very modern for the period, or so obviously company specific.

 

Yes. While mainline company locos could find a second user in the form of an independent, the Terrier is the only example pertinent to your period that I can think of available RTR. 

 

14 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

 

Maybe the Adams Radial?

 

I recall only two ending up on minor lines, but both as a result of being acquired by the military during the Great War. One stayed with the military, ending up on Catterick Camp Railway, and the other ultimately returned to SW lines under the Southern via  the East Kent.

 

10 minutes ago, Schooner said:

Hopefuly James and co will give us chapter and verse, but to scratch a similar itch I'm thinking of the upcoming Hattons P re-release (due in the Spring) under one of @TurboSnail's body kits, via @BlueLightning's shop

(although I favour the open-backed version)

 

Yes, was compiling a list of such as you posted. I suspect this is the best option. The Haydock loco you picture is essentially a mineral engine, but one could reimagine it fitted for pasenger use.

 

So, the 3D print option using RTR donor chassis?

 

This is not so much faff as a traditional kit, but will require assembly, details such as handrails, painting and lining, so hardly meeting your RTR brief, but perhaps the nearest your friend would get.

 

The Peckett X Class looks like an industrial loco and is, though two were supplied to the Metropolitan Railway, but as shunters, which may be of little use. Recreation21 does a body on Shapeways, and Oak Hill Works (cherished parishioners) do one to fit a Hattons P class chassis. 

 

Another possible is the Fox Walker from Oak Hill.  Although, again, an essentially industrial class, two went to the Great Yarmouth & Stalham Light Railway, later MGN. One, vacuum fitted, is owned by the WNR and allocated to the Wolfringham branch. Oak Hill's is the industrial version, so would need some conversion. Someone, RT Models IIRC, does a nice Peckett dome with Salter valves in lost wax cast brass. The donor chassis is the Electrotren 0-6-0. Next to an old Dapol/Hornby Terrier chassis, it's probably one of the least expensive RTR chassis options. 

 

Oak Hill's Fletcher Jennings J Class is a more expensive option given current prices for the Hornby Terriers (you'd need the A1 with the wooden brake blocks). I have decided the WNR needs one of these, BTW.

 

At least one GWR 517 was sold out of service, as I recall, so that might justify popiing a Stafford Road 3D printed body on an old Hornby 14XX chassis.

 

Finally, the Rother Valley Railway2-4-0s werespecifically intended as LR locos, so wrong rung, but a version of the body (in 'Oh Mr Porter!' guise) is produced by Buggleskelly Staion, but only for the Electrotren 0-6-0 chassis, so we are straying into freelance designs here.   

 

Conclusion?

 

Well, you're not really seeing options at all for anything other than modest tank engines. There are not things such a Sharp Stewart, Beyer Peacock, Dubs or Vulcan tender engines of the 2-4-0, 0-4-2, 0-6-0 or 4-4-0 ilk available either in RTR or as suitable RTR donor chassis with 3D printed bodies available. The classes sold by that  other great supplier of locos, until it was stopped(!) the LNWR I do not think are represented either.

 

So, the question is whether your friend wants to freelance it.  We talked on CA how similar the L&YR Radial (Bachmann) is to the similar Sharp Stewarts sold to the Netherlands. Something like a Hornby LNER J15 could be altered to represent a typical, yet non-specific, Victorian goods loco. I recall that Rev. Beale advocated the Taff Vale 0-6-2, available to him as a whitemetal kit, as a generic loco for the West Midland, so something in that spirit could be done with some of the RTR models. You might struggle for a suitably modestly proportioned 4-coupled passenger tender engine. 

 

Why am I still awake?

 

Damn this rabbit hole.

I  

[Schooner]

56 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

There are not things such a Sharp Stewart, Beyer Peacock, Dubs or Vulcan tender engines of the 2-4-0, 0-4-2, 0-6-0 or 4-4-0 ilk available either in RTR or as suitable RTR donor chassis with 3D printed bodies available.

 

An unacceptable state of affairs, and so whilst I'd love to say "Working on it!"...

...I'm pleased to report that @Player of trains is working on it.  Shown above an early WIP shot of a freelance Beyeresque bodykit for the EFE Beattie Well Tank chassis*, to give the M&WJR a mid-range, mid-Victorian 'mixed traffic' loco. 0-6-0 to follow.

 

*Which has a bad rep, but mine performs exceptionally well and some attention to the B2Bs and some tender pickups should cure its remaining vices)

 

PS. There were of course actual Beattie tender conversions

which would be fun for an LSWRer, but alas I am not one.

Edited January 4 by Schooner

[Edwardian]

5 hours ago, Schooner said:

 

An unacceptable state of affairs, and so whilst I'd love to say "Working on it!"...

...I'm pleased to report that @Player of trains is working on it.  Shown above an early WIP shot of a freelance Beyeresque bodykit for the EFE Beattie Well Tank chassis*, to give the M&WJR a mid-range, mid-Victorian 'mixed traffic' loco. 0-6-0 to follow.

 

Good news. Though last time I looked at these, they were quite expensive as Kernow commissions not subject to discounts. Things may have changed, though Flea  Bay shows a range of c.100-120 squids, comparable with Hornby Terriers.

 

5 hours ago, Schooner said:

*Which has a bad rep, but mine performs exceptionally well and some attention to the B2Bs and some tender pickups should cure its remaining vices)

 

PS. There were of course actual Beattie tender conversions

which would be fun for an LSWRer, but alas I am not one.

 

Or GER.

 

IIRC, the coupled wheel diameter and w/b of the Beattie Well Tank is very close to the Johnson-drawn,  Sharp Stewart-built No.1 Class 'Little Sharpies'.

 

 

 

While getting thin on the ground in the 1900s and extinct during the 1910s, it is feasible, if ageing, motive power for a minor line pre-Great War.

 

 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

Many thanks for such a comprehensive response - don’t you chaps go to sleep at all? 

 

My friend is inspired very much by the FYNR, which when it managed to run itself independently owned a Terrier and a MW 0-6-0ST (Q, not L, but it’s hard to tell them apart), so they are good prospects. The FYNR wasn’t a Light Railway, but it was a very light railway, although he has in mind that any model inspired by it would be a ti y bit heavier, having decent, bullhead rail, track, which didn’t arrive on the real thing until the SR upgraded it to accept O2 and E1 locos. 
 

Anyway, perhaps if my friend had spent less time unwillingly confined indoors eating  heavily alcoholic Christmas cake over the past two weeks, he wouldn’t have spent so long re-reading his books about the FYNR and ‘The Buckingham Branches’, and the question would never have arisen.

 

 

Edited January 4 by Nearholmer

[Edwardian]

46 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Many thanks for such a comprehensive response.

 

My friend is inspired very much by the FYNR, which when it managed to run itself independently owned a Terrier and a MW 0-6-0ST (Q, not L, but it’s hard to tell them apart), so they are good prospects. The FYNR wasn’t a Light Railway, but it was a very light railway, although he has in mind that any model inspired by it would be a ti y bit heavier, having decent, bullhead rail, track, which didn’t arrive on the real thing until the SR upgraded it to accept O2 and E1 locos. 
 

 

Photographs suggest to me Vignoles/FB without chairs. Out with the FB rail and PCB sleepers?

 

46 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Anyway, perhaps if my friend had spent less time unwillingly confined indoors eating  heavily alcoholic Christmas cake over the past two weeks, he wouldn’t have spent so long re-reading his books about the FYNR and ‘The Buckingham Branches’, and the question would never have arisen.

 

As Brother Schooner pointed out:

 

FYNR Robert Stephenson

 

Not only but also:

 

Manning Wardle Q Class

 

For the ex-Manchester South Junction & Altrincham carriages, Bill Bedford's MS&LR carriage kits might bear fruit. For the 4 ex-LSWR 1870s coaches, you your friend would need the Metroplitan Carriage & Wagon carriages drawn up for the WNR (I need to have them  printed). 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 4 by Edwardian
Further thoughts