DAVE S GUIDE TO THE BR MARK 1 COACH

Transcription

1 DAVE S GUIDE TO THE BR MARK 1 COACH Information about the history of the coaches, and also the Gauge 1 models that I can build With thanks to Paul Bartlett who has allowed me to use his images of the real coaches on this page. David Leech, builder of Gauge One coaches and passenger cars - Designed to be used.

2 The David Leech Guide to BR Mark 1 coaches The following is an explanation of the British Railway Mark 1 coach, and the Gauge 1 models that I build. The 1947 Transport Act set up the British Transport Commission, which was to exercise control over all forms of public transport through it s Executives. The Railway Executive would run the publicly owned railways under the title British Railways effective January 1st, One of the proclaimed benefits of Nationalisation was the possibility of standardised equipment that could operate anywhere over the British system. The Executive decided that developing a range of standard coaches was a priority, given the run down state of many carriages due to age and wartime neglect. To the newly created design team at the Marylebone Road headquarters there fell the task of evaluating the existing carriage designs and practices of the four former railway companies, and of producing a new standard carriage concept incorporating the best of these existing features. This was to prove to be no easy task as the new stock would be required to operate over virtually the entire British Railways network of routes, A new Carriage Standards Committee set out the parameters, and in September 1950 the prototype coach was finished, with the production examples emerging six months later. The BR Mark 1 coach was born. This was not a single type of carriage, but was a range of stock mounted on a standard chassis, and built to standard body profiles with uniform window sizes. Eventually there were some 66 different diagrams of main line stock, which includes some Royal stock as well as Post Office stock. I have not included the Pullman cars in this total. Construction of the standard carriages was all steel, with the body shell welded to the underframe which was 63 5 in length over the headstocks for main line stock, with a total length over gangways of /2. The body profile was curved, similar to that employed by Bulleid for his Southern Railway designs, and allowed slightly greater width at shoulder height. For main line coaches Buckeye automatic couplers, and Pullman type gangways became standard. The real Achilles heel of the new stock turned out to be the bogie design, which did not come up to expectations in service. Although it gave a reasonably smooth ride when new, or recently overhauled, it developed quite rough characteristics once wear set in. Different types followed, until finally the cast type Commonwealth bogie was developed which became the standard bogie from new for later built stock. The initial livery was the standard crimson lake and cream, with yellow and black lining and Gill Sans lettering and numerals. In 1956 the coaches began to be painted in BR Maroon for general purpose stock, but those used on the Western Region were given a Chocolate and Cream livery, whilst those for the Southern Region were given a green livery. The Southern Region created sets of their BR Mark 1 coaches, in the same way that they had done before nationalisation, and indeed before grouping. Stock lasting past the age of steam then received the more modern BR liveries. 1

3 The Gauge 1 Models The Ready to Finish model Consisting of an unpainted, but assembled body and underframe, with ends and corridor connectors, and bogies (either BR1 or Commonwealth) with wheels. They are supplied with no interior. Scale - 1/32nd - 3/8 /ft Length - Prototype /2 over gangways - coupled - model = 24 13/16 Minimum radius - 7 feet. Construction - One piece aluminum body shell, which is attached to the aluminum floor with screws. Five aluminum pieces slot together make up the unique centre trussed underframe which is also fixed to the floor and body using the same screws. This makes for easy disassembly, and reassembly when finishing the coach. All holes for the various door handles and roof vents are drilled, and the door lines are scribed. End detail - Cast urethane resin ends with finished corridor connectors constructed of urethane castings and rubber. Bogies - Complete, painted and assembled. H D Polyethelene side frames with cast urethane resin castings for detail. The wheels are to G1MRA standards, blackened and insulated, but are undersize to allow for clearance under the floor. Your choice of either the BR1, or the Commonwealth bogie. Couplers - Fitted with Kadee couplers as standard. Hook and chain on the outer ends of a rake of coaches. These are interchangeable, so they can be ordered to suit your needs, or changed as required. To finish the coaches, you will need to supply your choice of the following - Roof vents, gutter strips, window vent no drafts, door and grab handles, battery boxes and other underframe detail, buffers, window glazing, paint, transfers and lining. You can make your own, or purchase from other Gauge 1 suppliers. I will make the following parts available should they be required: Gutter strips - self stick styrene strip.040 x.080 Window vent no drafts - self stick styrene channel Cast urethane battery boxes Cast urethane brake cylinders Buffers - Sprung with steel oval buffers. These are designed not to touch when using the Kadee couplers. Soldering on a brass wire is required after final assembly to prevent rotation of buffer head. Window glazing - Lexan sheet cut to size. I also hope to make the following parts available, but they are not as yet: Cast roof vents. Cast brass door handles and grab handles. For the interiors of the coaches, I can offer the corridor walls and doors, as well as the seat and wall castings, and the partition walls to match the various coach diagrams, both corridor and open. 2

4 Please note that all prices are quoted in US Dollars Ready-to-finish model THE PRICE LIST Assembled, but with no details as described on the previous page $300 Parts that I can supply for you to finish your coach Exterior parts Gutter strips - self stick styrene strip.040 x.080 (2 required per coach) Window vent no drafts - self stick styrene channel Cut to length = $5.00 per coach Cast urethane battery boxes (Most coaches seem to have 2) Cast urethane brake cylinders (2 per coach) Associated brake cylinder parts - lever linkage and cross rod Buffers - Sprung with steel oval buffers. These are designed not to touch when using the Kadee couplers. Soldering on a brass wire is required after final assembly to prevent rotation of buffer head. (4 required per coach) $6.00 each Window glazing - Lexan sheet cut to size. (Clearance holes for roof vents and door handles will need to be cut out) $5.00 Interior parts Floors A.060 styrene sub floor, cut and drilled to fit. $10.00 This allows all the interior parts to be glued in place, and then the complete interior can be handled as a single unit. Corridor coaches Styrene corridor walls and doors Cut to match the coach diagram A set of parts for a coach is the wall with windows and door openings cut, one door per compartment, and styrene strips to glue above the doors Compartment wall/seat castings, one left hand and one right hand per compartment. First class and second class. Lav walls $4.00 per compartment $5.00 per compartment So for a diagram 146 Corridor Second, that has 8 compartments, the cost would be 8 x $4.00 = $32 for the corridor walls and doors, plus 8 x $5.00 = $40 for the wall and seat castings, plus 2 x $2.00 for the two lav walls, plus $10 for the floor for a total of $86 3

5 Open coaches Styrene partition walls to match coach diagram. Centre or offset door, with or without windows. End partition door Seat castings. First class seating - single seats double seats single combined back to back seats double combined back to back seats Second class seating - single seats double seats single combined back to back seats double combined back to back seats Second class (tourist) seating - double seats double combined back to back seats $1.50 each $1.50 each $1.50 each Table castings. Long table for double seating Short table for single seating So for a diagram 73 Open First, that has 42 seats, the cost would be 6 x single $1.00 = $6, 6 x double $1.50 = $9., 4 x single combined back to back $2.00 = $8, 4 x double combined back to back $3.00 = $12, 7 x long $2.00 = $14, 7 x short $1.00 = $7 for a casting total of $56, plus 5 partition = $10, 3 partition $1.00, and $10 for the floor, for a grand total of $79. Painted - Ready to Run models I will, of course, also be able to provide completely finished models BR Crimson and Cream livery BR Maroon BR Southern Region Green livery BR Western Region Chocolate and Cream livery $600 US $550 US $550 US $600 US Should you require any additional information please contact me: by post: David Leech, th Avenue, DELTA, BC V4E 1C3, CANADA telephone: web site: user.dccnet.com/d.leech d.leech@dccnet.com 4

6 The coach diagrams available are as follows: The following is a list of the 11 body styles, and 23 diagrams that I am currently offering in Gauge 1. Most of the information has been obtained from the book British Railways Mark 1 Coaches, by Keith Parkin MA, and published by Pendragon in association with The Historical Model Railway Society. The coaches between the lines all share the same body exterior, only the interiors were different. Coach type Code Diag Running numbers Dates built Total built Sleeping car - First SLF /58-6/ Sleeping car - Composite SLC /57-4/64 55 Sleeping car - Second SLSTP /57-3/ Open First FO /54-12/ Corridor First FK /52-9/ Corridor Composite CK (not all) 12/52-12/ Corridor Composite CK /52 1 Corridor Composite CK (not all) 10/53-6/ Restaurant Second Open RSO /60 4 Restaurant Unclassed RUO /61 40 Open Second TSO /59-12/ Open Second TSO (not all) 12/53-10/ Open Second SO (not all) 9/54-5/59 96 Corridor Second SK (not all) 12/51-11/ Corridor Second SK (not all) 12/52-6/ Corridor Brake Composite BCK (not all) 11/54-12/ Corridor Brake Composite BCK (not all) 1/54-2/ Corridor Brake Second BSK (not all) 10/52-9/ Corridor Brake Second BSK (not all) 10/53-1/ Brake Open Second BSO /56-1/ Brake Open Second BSO /63 28 Unclassed Restaurant RU /57-6/61 91 Restaurant-Buffet RB (not 1700) 12/61-3/

7 The following are all the other mainline BR Mark 1 coaches, that I am currently NOT building. They are shown for information only. I will probably begin to produce some of these as time passes and there is interest. Coach type Code Diag Running numbers Dates built Total built Restaurant First RF /52 5 Restaurant First RF /61-1/62 37 Kitchen-Buffet RKB /56 1 Restaurant-Buffet RB /56 1 Unclassed Restaurant RU /56 1 Kitchen-Buffet RKB (not all) 1/61-6/61 53 Griddle Car RE /60 3 Restaurant First RFO /51 11 Restaurant Second Open RSO /51 14 Open First FO /51 3 Open First FO / PROTO FO / PROTO FO / PROTO FO / PROTO FO /57 1 Open Second SO /53 15 XP64 SO /64 3 Open Second TSO / PROTO SO / PROTO SO /57 1 Miniature Buffet RMB /58 12 Miniature Buffet RMB /60 15 Miniature Buffet RMB (not all) 5/ PROTO FK / PROTO FK / PROTO FK /57 1 XP64 FK /64 3 Corridor Second SK / PROTO SK / PROTO SK /57 1 XP64 SK /64 2 Corridor Brake First BFK /59-11/63 28 ROYAL /55 1 ROYAL /56 1 ROYAL /57 1 Kitchen RK /51 10 Kitchen RK /62 12 Kitchen RK /63 19 Gangwayed Brake BG /53-2/ POST OFFICE (not all) 9/59-5/61 16 POST OFFICE /59 3 POST OFFICE /59 3 POST OFFICE / David Leech, March 2006