ejstubbs Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 I recently acquired a couple of coaches in a job lot of unseen stuff, and I'm struggling to identify what they are. The chassis are marked Hornby. The bogies pivot in what look like hollow brass or bronze rivets. I'm not sure the bodies are original - they may be kits bodies put on the Hornby chassis? They certainly seem to be hand painted. I'm not even sure what "real world" coaches they are supposed to be. Photos (sorry, not very good) here: Mystery Coach 1 Mystery Coach 2 Apologies if the answer is really obvious but my clumsy delvings have brought no enlightenment so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cctransuk Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 I recently acquired a couple of coaches in a job lot of unseen stuff, and I'm struggling to identify what they are. The chassis are marked Hornby. The bogies pivot in what look like hollow brass or bronze rivets. I'm not sure the bodies are original - they may be kits bodies put on the Hornby chassis? They certainly seem to be hand painted. I'm not even sure what "real world" coaches they are supposed to be. Photos (sorry, not very good) here: Mystery Coach 1 Mystery Coach 2 Apologies if the answer is really obvious but my clumsy delvings have brought no enlightenment so far. Coach 1 is almost certainly a Tri-ang Hornby Thompson composite(?); Coach 2 represents a Thompson Full Brake and may be scratch-built sides in a Coach 1 infrastructure - alternatively, Mailcoach Models did / do a Thompson Full Brake kit. Both coaches would benefit from the removal of the treacle / paint !! Regards, John Isherwood. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Colin Posted September 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 15, 2014 I wonder if the full brake is a "cut & shut" using the van ends of 2 Hornby Thompson brake 3rds on a single chassis. Back in the '70s I used to do this sort of thing with Hornby Mk1s to create various unavailable types (BCK, TSO, scale length BG etc). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejstubbs Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 Many thanks for those pointers. Having followed up on your suggestions I think you're right that coach 1 is a Tri-ang Hornby Thompson coach. I believe it's a Corridor Full 3rd (R.745) rather than a composite, though. I can't find any information suggesting that Tri-ang Hornby ever made a composite, and although I can see the "LNER" markings under the maroon botch paint job, I can't see any "1"s which I think should have been on the doors to the 1st class seating. I'm also pretty sure it has been "doctored", as well as painted. The windows don't look quite right: I suspect that the previous owner might have cut away some of the mouldings representing the sliding ventilation window-lets (or whatever the proper name is for those things) because the numbers of windows without them don't seem to match the original model. As for the full brake, I'm pretty sure that it's some kind of cut-and-shut from two Tri-ang Hornby R.746s. Going by the Bachmann model, the Thompson Full Brake had the single windowed door near the centre of the coach whereas my coach 2 has it over the bogie - which is where the single door is on the Tri-ang Hornby Brake 3rd. The Bachmann Full Brake has three double doors and one windowed single door, whereas my coach 2 has four double doors, one windowed single door and one non-windowed single door. It looks to me like the passenger sections from the sides of two Tri-ang Hornby Brake 3rds were cut off and the brake sections joined together, with one of the windowed doors being blanked out. The only problem with that theory is that two brake sections wouldn't be quite long enough to make a complete coach side, as far as I can see, and there's no obvious signs of a filler panel. It's vaguely intriguing to speculate what the previous owner got up to, but I think these will end up on the "condemned" siding... EDIT: Colin, I was writing my post when you posted yours - it looks like we're of a similar mind about the full brake! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Colin Posted September 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 15, 2014 Why not take a look at a Bachmann catalogue - you might be able to match your Thompson coach up with something from their range, which is fairly comprehensive. The coach looks like it's been shortened to me; I know very little about LNER stock, but am aware that some shorter coaches were constructed in Gresley's era for use in East Anglia, so possibly your coach could be a Thompson version, assuming such vehicles were ever built! Failing that, it could also just be another cut and shut, using the passenger areas of the same coaches which provided the parts for the BG! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Kirk Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Hi, I am pretty sure that the cut and shut solution is the correct one. A lot of people did this when there was little else available in the way of Thompson coaches. The top one looks superficially like a Thompson all first which has six compartments and should be 63ft long. The Composite 1st/3rd was similar but should have larger window spacing at the first class end. These were shorter than the other Thompson corridors at 59ft 6 in. The All third had 7 compartments (3 in the middle between the doors ) and was 63 ft. I had some of these, altered, cut and carved, flush glazed and fitted with Gresley bogies. Late 70s or early 80s that was what you had to do nothing like the quality RTR that we have now. best wishes, Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.