MikeOxon Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 I hav read several articles about the first Royal Saloon built by the GWR in 1840. There are conflicting descriptions but it appears that the original 4-wheel carriage was never actually used by Queen Victoria and that her first journey was in the larger 8-wheel vehicle, built in 1848. The original was, apparently, re-built as a 1st-class carriage in 1851 and broken up in 1879 [ref: Great Western Coaches, part 1, Russell] There is a photo of railway coaches at Paddington in 1865, whch has appeared in several places,such as http://www.laluciole.net/gwr/gwr10a-trainservice.html The coach on the extreme right of this photo appears to be a particulary large and sumptuous vehicle. Out of interest, I have used Photoshop to adjust the perspective and, also, to mirror-image the half that appears in the photo, so as to re-create the complete coach. re-created using Photoshop Scaling this image on the assumptiion that wheels are the usual 4-feet diameter indicates that the length is 21 feet and the height of the saloon is 6' 6". These are exactly the dimensions for the first Royal saloon, quoted by Russell. (It was not possible to assess how the bow ends should appear but, again, these tally with the record that the Royal saloon had windows in the ends.) I expect that this photo has been discussed elsewhere but would be interested to know whether others think that my 'reconstruction' may show the first form of the Royal saloon. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeOxon Posted April 16, 2016 Author Share Posted April 16, 2016 I believe that I can now answer my own question! As a result of joining the Broad Gauge Society, I have acquired a set of their 'BGdata' sheets, of which Sheet No.112 provides details of this very coach. It is described as '4 Wheel 'Royal' Saloon Carriage', built 1840. The drawing shows a vehicle very similar to my re-constructed photo. Overall length is given as 21' 0", wheelbase 11' 3", body height 6' 6" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 Have you started building it yet? And a layout to run it on! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeOxon Posted April 16, 2016 Author Share Posted April 16, 2016 Have you started building it yet? And a layout to run it on! ( i ) No ( ii ) almost - watch for my new blog! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 ( i ) No ( ii ) almost - watch for my new blog! Oh no. RMweb blogs are one of the most irritating things on the planet! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeOxon Posted April 16, 2016 Author Share Posted April 16, 2016 Oh no. RMweb blogs are one of the most irritating things on the planet! Oh well - I like to use them as a 'diary' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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