Steve's Caledonian coaches & wagon work bench

[david65061]

Steve

 

I hope you a feeling better. I think that the fact you have your modelling mojo back might be a good sign that you are recovering. I hope it is and we can look forward to updates in the future.

 

regards

 

David

[Londontram]

My little fleet of 6 wheel coaches are all progressing well if slowly but they’ve  reached that stage were the detail work seems to take a lot of time another step forward today though as the last two roofs have now been made by cutting down the original clerestory roofs as shown how in a previous post.

       The two are at the front and are the 6 compartment 3rd (Caledonian diagram 14) and a five compartment 1^st (diagram 8 both of these have also had the compartment divisions fitted but not yet the seats.

       All the others have had the gas light fitting and pipe work made and fitted to the roofs, the middle row are from left the 6 wheel brake/comp (diagram 10) The Killin brake/comp (diagram 11) and the ex WCJS third/first lavatory saloon (diagram 13A) this still needs vents for the toilets.

     At the back is from the left again the Highland railway five compartment 3rd, the 32ft full brake (diagram 17B) and the horse box these are almost ready for painting,

 

 

     Now that I seem to be improving health wise after the last round of ops and it seems that the financial situation might be easing in the near future I shall be able to get the w iron and coupling kits to wheel the rest of the coaches

        

         Question for you any one know a rattle can colour that is a good match for the Caledonian coach red/brown

 

The idea is to paint the Highland coach in the short lived olive green and white cir 1903 and the Caledonian coaches in Caley “red/brown” and white except the brake/comp I’m going to paint that in all over red as seen on the Glasgow circle stock to give a bit of variety (most Glasgow suburban stock was all over coach “red” so as not to show the dirt and soot they were prone to acquiring in the tunnels on the Glasgow suburban circle routs, The horse box will also be in the all over coach red,

Edited April 29, 2014 by Londontram

[ossy5190]

Great looking coaches Steve!

Most of the 4 and 6 wheel coaches seem to have started life in the all over brown/red livery with many 6 wheelers later being repainted with white upper panels when the two tone livery was introduced with the arrival of bogie stock. The exception was the Cathcart Circle stock which kept the all over brown livery well into the 20's. Horse boxes seem to have been painted in the passenger 'red' livery until the early 1900's when the livery switched to the NPC dark 'chocolate' brown livery. I have a couple similar to the type you are building, I'll post a pic next week.

Keep up the good work.

Ross

[ossy5190]

Here is a pic of one of my horseboxes to illustrate the NPCS livery. I purchased it on eBay so I'm not sure what shade of brown was used but I think any sort of darkish flat brown would do. The van on the right is painted in the passenger livery for which I used Phoenix P428 Caledonian Purple Brown (Dull). This is also the colour I use for engine frames. Speaking of engines, what to you plan to haul your coaches?

 

Ross

[Londontram]

Hello Ross

         I shall be go down a few well trod converting routes with the loco’s, on stock so far is a Caley pug which may or may not get the Killin pug conversion, almost finished and ready for painting is a Hornby M7 which has been bashed to look like one of the 0-4-4 439 class, see his link http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/77470-m7-to-caley-tank/&do=findComment&comment=1205608

 

Also in stock a Hornby J83 which will become a 782 class 0-6-0. After that I’m keeping an open mind for example I do have a Bachmann pannier which might become the starting point for a jumbo and no doubt when funds permit a Hornby T9 which will be converted into one of the Dunalastair class, which one depends on the type of splashers the best priced T9 comes with i.e. narrow splashers with separate crank splashers a Dunatastair I or IV if it’s a wide splasher T9 then a Dunalastair II or III (6 wheel tender for the Dunalastair I and 8 wheel tender for the rest. I might have access to a Terrier (some one I know says they have one they don’t want and I can have) which I might have a play around with to see if it can be turned into one of the 171 class 0-4-4 small tank loco’s as the bodies are surprisingly close in size and design.

                But it’s like everything else I’ve more ideas than money and time so I’ll do the first two and take it from there, I still have a selection of old Hornby clerestories which I would like to keep as the bases for some 45ft Caley coaches.

[Londontram]

Just finished the last of the coach roof lamp holders and fitted and painted the last of the seats as can be seen in the first photo, with the roofs fitted you can see s-d all with the small ex clerestory coach windows so I kept the detail very simple the first class being blue and third class red as seen in this photo.

 The Caledonian 6 wheel coaches don’t as far as I’ve found out have rain strips and vents relying on the top lights and drop lights for ventilation so only have the gas lamp holders as seen in the next photo.

 The ex WCJS composite has two toilet compartments though so I’ve made and fitted a simple vent above each toilet compartment as can be seen in photo three.

These are simply made by using two bits of evergreens plastic tubes one inside the other I should file the ends off but will do that before finally painting. The lamp holder is a disc of plasticard punched out with a hole punch and after drilling a short section of plastic rod gluing in (God I wish I had dexterous young fingers again) see photo four.

For the horse box (see the last photo) the unusual shaped vents were made by putting a bit of brass rod inside some plastic tube then heating it over a candle for a few seconds before bending to shape and after removing the brass rod trimming and fitting, I did brush paint the roof but I looked awful so have rubbed I down and will spray it next time.

 

Thanks for looking. Steve

 

 

[Nelson Jackson]

Lovely job.

[Londontram]

Fellow member Andy (uax6) sold me for a very good price some left over ratio coach kits and spare coach sides that were surplus to his requirements and on receiving them immediately thought they could be used to build some cir 1890 Caley 4 wheelers to go with the 6 wheelers. So back to the ref books and I managed to find a few views of a nice little brake third, so using the sides of a five compartment third and a brake coach these were cut with a razor saw and butted together to form two new sides matching the window and panel style of the 4 wheel brake, the first photo shows one of the new sides and examples of the two sides it was made from showing how I used three compartments from the third class coach side and some of the blank panels and duckets from the brake coach.

The next photo shows the compartments and seats fitted, you can also see a strengthening strip down the inside of each side to give added strength to the newly joined sides. The luggage area will give me somewhere to add a bit of weight to the coach as well.

      The next three photos show views of the coach as built so far, the under frame is an old brake van chassis with the running boards and under frame sides extended by about 5mm at each end – this still needs a bit of final sanding before its ready to paint.  A suitable bit of plastic tube measured against a ratio kits gas cylinder was cut then with its ends blocked with filler was fixed between the axles and in due coarse some Triang coach buffers from my spare stock will be fitted.

           The roof was made up in the same way as the roofs I made for some of the 6 wheelers starting off with a rectangle of 20 thou plasticard which is a push in fit just inside the coach sides and ends then the roof profile was built up with layers of 10 and 5 thou plasticard sanded to shape with a final layer of 5 thou plasticard that had been rolled around a pencil to give it a curved profile glued on top, I’ve fitted one lamp holder made as described in a previous post but still need to make and fit three more. From one photo I have it looks like the guard’s compartment might have had a stove as this one view shows what could be a stove chimney above the guards compartment but I might hang back on that until I get a better view. The passenger compartment ends also needs the “ribs” making plus the steps and hand rails. The guards end is still a bit “soft” and when the glus dry I will sand a better shape to the end windows. All in all when finished and painted should look quite nice, I’ll post more photos when more progress is made on this and the rest of the fleet.

   Because of Andy’s generous offer of the Ratio coach parts there’s enough there to build about 7 four wheel coaches – the rest will be a mix of first and third class coaches with perhaps a full brake as well.

                Once again thanks Andy and thanks for looking Steve 

Edited May 12, 2014 by Londontram

[Nelson Jackson]

Fantastic work, I must get round to modelling coaches soon

[Londontram]

Some more progress on the 4 wheel brake/third have now fitted the buffers and coupling hook but still need to make the coupling links and have also tided up the end windows a bit but that’s still a work in progress.

 At the other end I’ve added the steps and emergence brake gear and on the roof have added the gas light holders.

In the next view you can see I’ve added a bit of lead to the guard’s compartment and some more to the inside of the roof where it’s out of sight in normal viewing these have all been painted to match the other interior colours.

After a bit of filling and sanding I’ve started to paint the inside and under frame also the brake end which on Caledonian coaches are a scarlet colour, I’ve ordered some Caledonian coach paint from phoenix so when that gets here I can start getting on top of this and some of the other coaches. In the mean time I’ve stared another 4 wheel passenger brake, a full brake this time which like this one has been made from some of Andy’s Ratio coach sides, I’ll post more on this later. Thanks again for looking Steve

 

PS. just noticed on the photo that one of the buffers is a bit low on the brake end so will rase it up a bit before I go any further with the painting.

Edited May 13, 2014 by Londontram

[uax6]

It's good to see these sides being put to such good use, keep up the good work!

 

Andy

[Londontram]

Thanks Andy when the wife gets back with the camera I'll take a few photos of the next one, this one is again made from one of the brake kits but to get the right panel spacing I had to chop the sides up into six sections for each side and rearange them but with the razor saw (which looks like its going blunt) and some fine wet and dry I managed to get some nice joins.

[Londontram]

A few photos now of the next 4 wheel coach this time a full luggage/brake again made from the spare Ratio coach parts supplied by Andy, if you go back to the first photo in post No. 110 you can see an example of the original brake coach side that this was cut from. You can see there very different the original having only four blank panels between the doors and this one as having five panels which meant a lot of cutting (up to six sections on one side) with a razor saw and rearranging to get all the doors and panels in the right order.

Again the insides were braced with a plasticard strip and new ends and floor also made from plasticard the end window having only been roughly cut so far, like the last coach this one is also mounted on an old brake van under frame that has had the hand brake levers cut away this time the body is an almost perfect fit.

   

 I’m going to let it all set for now and do a bit more tomorrow.

                                              Thanks for Looking Steve

[Londontram]

In the words of the great Monty Python “and now for something completely different” Man can not live by coaches alone so to have a bit of a break tonight I went off at a tangent to give me a bit of variety. As some of you might know the eventual aim is to build a model of Loch Tay station on the Killin branch of the Callander and Oban line part of the Caledonian Empire so as a bit of a diversion I’ve built the water column for the branch, it only took an hour and is made out of different diameters of plastic tube and the column top is from about three discs punched in plasticard with my gasket punch set. The hose is a little bit of classes cleaning cloth rolled and glued and the brazier is the only brought item from the Bachmann scalecraft range.

In this last photo is a look at the original column at Loch Tay shed and you can just see the brazier behind the column.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Londontram

[Londontram]

Having got some paints from phoenix paints I’ve started to paint the first few coaches although still to be detailed I couldn’t wait to pop a few photo’s on so you can see the progress. Photo one is the 6 wheel full brake which is just about finished with just the lamp holders on the roof and under frame that need doing in black then decals will also need adding (still to get them, any one got any recommendations) and glazing. I’m going to keep the roof white in an ex just shopped look, behind it is the horse box in passenger crimson with a grey roof.

Next is the 4 wheel brake third in the all over coach crimson and grey roof this will need gold lining just about every where and the gold lining is on the inside edge of every panel so not sure how or if I’m going to be able to do it so if any ones got any suggestions?

After thinking about various options I’ve decided to go with the Dingham auto coupler after seeing how good they looked on the wagons in fellow forum member Nile’s thread and in this next photo you can see the etching of the couplers as they came, each etch makes up to 20 couplers so looking forward to putting them together. PS. The engine is the Caledonian 439 class 0-4-4 being built from a Hornby M7, his only needs hand rails and a few details to be ready for painting – so much to do….oh well.

In this last photo is the first painting of the Ex WCJS first/third lavatory comp, I say first painting as it needs a lot of work to tidy up the edges I just wanted to let fellow forum member uax6 (aka Andy) have a look to see if the panelling looks ok, remember this was modified from a fully panelled Triang clerestory made to look like the LNWR style panelling used on the LNWR built WCJS coaches, not having a photo of this just a diagram plan I’ve used other LNWR/WCJS coaches to give me a guide. Any way thanks again for looking. Regards Steve

 

Edited May 29, 2014 by Londontram

[Nelson Jackson]

You've done a lovely job on those carriages.

[uax6]

That WCJS coach certainly looks like it came from Wolverton to me! Cracking job!

 

I'm not sure if this will work for you but, with regard to the lining, how about painting every bit of raised beading a yellowy-whitey colour, and then when its dry rule boady colour down the middle of them? Ok you need to have a bow pen, or a hollow pen of some sort to run paint through mind. I have used thin permanate markers in the past, and i did wonder if you could use an old propelling pencil for the tip of a paint pen for lining....

 

The little (practise) lining I've done with box pens purchased from ebay for next to no money (you can get some good sets fo less that a tenner) it seems to be no more difficult than making bits of cut up coach match up!

 

Andy G

[Jol Wilkinson]

Re lining LNWR or similar complex liveries, see MRJ 52, which descibes in detail what has been suggested above.

Edited May 28, 2014 by LNWRmodeller

[Londontram]

Remember way back in this thread I posted a photo of a Highland railway 6 wheel third in the short lived 1897-1902 green and white livery and said I was going to finish one of the coaches in this colour as due to my stupidity I miss cut a Triang coach one compartment too short for a Caledonian coach Doh! (I know. I know) Here’s the original photo and here’s the almost finished coach, this is for you Ben Alder and uax6 as I know your both big Highland fans. I know we agreed that coaches to this diagram were not airbrake fitted Andy but as I said I’ll just have to use a bit of licence there but it should make a nice bit of variety amongst a rake of Caley crimson and white.

PS. its had a spray of satin varnish (Ha... more like gloss, bloody Humbrol - looks like thats going in the bin) as the green you recomended Andy was a matt  but will give it another one after the decals have been fitted, thanks for looking Steve

Edited May 30, 2014 by Londontram

[PeterR]

Hi,

 

The CR NPCS colour can be replicated with Vauxhall RIOJA colour:  ref. numbers are 90443684, and then Rioja 69 L.  This information from John Boyle.

 

 

Not found one for the coach colour which is lighter.

 

Finally there is a very good selection of O gauge photos at     which are of the Bowness O gauge layout.

 

Yours Peter

[Mike Boucher]

Hi,

 

The CR NPCS colour can be replicated with Vauxhall RIOJA colour:  ref. numbers are 90443684, and then Rioja 69 L.  This information from John Boyle.

 

 

Not found one for the coach colour which is lighter.

 

Finally there is a very good selection of O gauge photos at     which are of the Bowness O gauge layout.

 

Yours Peter

 

your link to the photos is missing...  ;(

[PeterR]

your link to the photos is missing...  ;(

Ooops -

 

Here you are            https://www.flickr.com/photos/bogog/page1/

 

that is page 1 there are 13 at the moment covering all railways; the 0 gauge layout is housed at Bowness (or Bo'ness) in a railway coach.

 

Yours Peter :-( :-(

[Londontram]

Well major upheavals in the Londontram house hold. my stepdaughter decided to walk out on her partner of 11 years and has come "home" for the time being bringing our granddaughter with her, Anyway the crux of this is I've had to vacate my modeling den otherwise known as the spare bedroom to make way for said daughter. The wife threw me a life line by saying I could model on the dressing table in our bedroom as long as I don,t paint, drill, saw or generally deface the table (Like I usually do)

    so after packing everything away when I fancied a bit of modeling I grabbed the first box that came to hand which was my coach box so here I am updating this thread which I haven't been too for a while.

   So delving into the box my hand came upon some old Triang clerestory which as you may recall from earlier posts on this thread were being used to make a fleet of six wheel Caley coaches but I was going to use them for a base to build some Caley 45ft coaches too and this is what I did today. First job was to take two Triang brake thirds and making cuts on both I ended up with five compartments from one and three from the other. after cleaning up the edges the two sections were put together to make the start of a standard 8 compartment full third (Triang only made two types of coach a brake third and a first though sometimes this is referred to as a composite though looking at the window and panel spacings I would say its a first) In the first two pictures are the two brake thirds cut into sections the cut being made on door shut lines so to make the joins easier to hide and the second picture shows the two sections joined together.

That's been set aside to let the glue dry but rather than just disguard the left over brake sections once trimmed they will be used to make another 6 wheel full brake like the one shown in previous posts on this thread. in this next picture is the two brake sections ready to be glued and clamped together next to the first 6 wheel brake

More of that in a bit. The next thing out the box were a pair of coach sides cut out and built up by fellow member Andy (uax6) who drew them out and did them using his cutter. These sides are for a Caledonian 45ft full brake and to keep a continuity with the other conversions have been made to fit onto a clerestory underframe.

On the first picture are the two sides as Andy built them.

The next is the first of the old coach sides remove and then a new side offered up for a trial fit.

When happy with the fit the second side was removed as seen in the next picture.

Once all the trimming had been done the sides were glued in place and held in place with rubber bands, the old clerestory roof was refitted to help line it all up as seen in the next two pictures a new roof without the clerestory section will be built in due course.

In the final shot are the 45ft brake the original 6 wheel brake and the new body for the second 6 wheel brake, note I've used two of the duckets from the spare brake sections for the 45ft brake.

Thanks for looking steve.

Edited January 20, 2015 by Londontram

[uax6]

Your cutting and shutting is producing a lovely range of coaches, something that you just don't see on the average model railway. I'm glad to see that those sides are useful and looking good!

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Andy g

[Mikkel]

Really nice work - there's something very satisfying about cutting and shutting. It's becoming a very interesting collection of coaches. I hope the family situation gets sorted to everyone's satisfaction so you can get some room for running the rakes