Adding Keen systems gangways to mk1 coaches

[The Evil Bus Driver]

In our case we have a Mainline Restaurant buffet. What I can glean from Keith Parkin's book is it's a Diagram 24 coach, just from interest.  The process would have been the same whatever. I might well do a Griddle car from a Replica body and Comet sides or something. Or a Boat Second.  

 

The coach is a Mainline as I said but it uses the same tooling as Replica used so I bought the gangways to fit.

The coach disassembled with the rubber gangways removed. There are lugs each end as well as the middle and the body just pops off the chassis and lifts off. 

 

The next job is to remove the interior and put it aside for painting later. I don't know what colour the corridor wall was but I'm sure it wasn't silver. 

 

 

The assembled and partially painted Keen systems gangways. These have a small spring which must be handled carefully or they'll be lost to the carpet gods. They've been filed to fit as per the instructions as these coaches have a moulded gangway cowl which is pretty thick. 

 

Next the gangway assemblies were fitted and glued in place at the edges. You need around 1 - 1.5mm of travel. Be careful not to get paint into the aperture as it's a tight fit. 

Also the interior end between the seats at the passenger end fouls the spring spigot so this needs to be either drilled through or removed so I removed it. This also makes the interior easier to fit and remove as its pretty tight.  I painted the partition wall cream colour and the floor matt black just as a bit of realism. I might go back in and fit some people soon. Not to mention a replacement for the missing buffer head. 

 

Fitted at the passenger end with some touching up to do. I did file the part at the top of the gangway as these would have disappeared by the time of the blue era. I can touch it in with some rail blue soon. 

The reassembled coach. I do need a few details like the disc vents on the roof. These were missing when I bought the coach . Also next job will be new bogies and Hunt couplings as this will run in my mk2D rake which is already fitted with them.

Edited April 29, 2023 by The Evil Bus Driver