That Mk1

Last week saw several new partwork magazines hit news agents and supermarkets. Along with Star Trek and Doctor Who was Your Model Railway Village which came with a piece of track and the above mk1 coach for just £3.99.  Since then some of the forums have been awash with the usual ‘im buying 50 of them’ while others argue that they shouldn’t be so greedy and leave them for the new entrants to the hobby (yawn!).  While the mag is little more than a pamphlet if im honest and I would doubt many would follow this through to the end anyway (including the publishers I expect), issue 1 has apparently done quite well for them.  Ok you are not going to find a jinty stuck to the front of a forthcoming issue, you have to buy that separately (timed around Christmas if the publishers have any sense) the Mk1 is quite a surprise.

I do wonder who its intended for.  Kids with train sets already who just want some cheap coaches or newbies who will probably find themselves in a crumpled heap on the floor of a model shop when they pop in to add another coach to their new collection and find them something like 7 times the price without a magazine!

The coach itself isn’t actually that bad.  Id go as far as to say if it wasnt for the Bachmann mk1’s it might actually be one of the best RTR Mk1’s out there.  Sure its crude but look at what we had before with Lima and Triang.  At least it’s flush glazed, the gangway is roughly the right shape and the bogies are about the right size (the lima ones werent).  It’s a tad long and the underframe is hopeless but it’s not that bad really.  It is perhaps what Hornby’s railroad range should have been rather than re-released lima items at not far enough from top end prices.  It certainly makes the gap in the market for Hornby’s own mk1s a lot smaller than it was.

But, and this is a bold statement, I do think this might be the most significant RTR release for a good few years.  Before you think ive gone completely mad let me explain.  We have had some excellent models recently, class 85, 350 blue pullman etc with increasing accuracy, detail and value added paraphernalia such as lights sound etc.  Obviously the above mk 1 is nothing like them but the effect it seems to have had on a lot of forumites is enormously encouraging.  People are talking about improving them themselves, converting them to other things and even at the price having a go at weathering with not a lot a lot to loose. That is why I think it’s so significant, it seems to be getting people thinking about doing stuff for themselves rather than expecting it done for them.

So to anyone who has brought this mag with a view to getting their scalpels or paintbrushes out give yourselves a pat on the back, THAT is what the hobby is all about!

Go compare!

As well as being a deliberately annoying advertising campaign comparing models is not really a good idea.  Sure its good to see, out of 2 models side by side, which is better but ultimately a model should really be compared with the prototype it represents.  On the surface the Lima 37 looked a better model than the old Hornby one (with its class 47 bogies) but the truth was neither really looked like a real 37.  The irony was if you tidied up the old Hornby moulding the bodyshell, at least, was the closer of the two.

Now there’s a chance that some people may be thinking “whats he on about now, he often posts before and after pictures of his stuff” and indeed they would be right (there’s a whole page dedicated to the subject in the vehicles section).  However it does pay to keep a track when modelling stuff on where you started from.  I am sure we have all seen ‘detailed’ models that actually look worse than what the modeller started with.  If we are honest we probably have all been guilty of doing it ourselves now and then.  The other advantage to doing this is it helps people that are new(ish) to the hobby, and especially the modification of RTR stuff, decide for themselves if the effort is worth it to them. They may decide it would be too much work or risk for what they see as little gain and that’s absolutely fine.  They have made an informed decision and no one can argue with it.

All of this is really just a (somewhat dubious) justification for still waffling on about those Mk3 Pullmans.  To me the modifications to the window frames, bogies and adding flush glazing (either DIY or Laserglaze) is a small amount of work for what I feel is a quite significant gain but by you might agree, you might not.  All im really doing with the images above and below if giving you the tools to make your own mind up.

I havent been able to shake off the Parcels stock thing either with yet more Lima GUV’s receiving attention.  Compared to the Newspaper one shown earlier, a motorail version is a nice easy project.

The bogies are Replica again and the buffer plates from DC kits (Replica do them as well). Retracted buffers (at the far end) and the dropped buckeye coupling are from MJT as are the roof vents) the lima ones are a bit vague/freelance).  Extended buffers (this end) are from Four Most Models.

Mk 3 Pullmans

One of the trains I want to recreate is this one.  A summer Saturday service using spare Manchester Pullman stock and a pair of 31/4s.  The 31’s and the RFB are already done but whats also needed is 3 Mk3b Pullman coaches.  Lima have done mk3 Pullmans so they are the obvious choice to use in this instance.

One little tip that you can do to any Inter-City liveried Lima mk3s is to sort out the amount of silver on the window frames. Lima supplied their coaches with the whole frame painted silver while in reality there is only a fine silver beading arround the inside of the frame. As the coach seems to be moulded in the same colour as the grey I gently sanded the silver off before re-applying with a ruling pen (it doesn’t have to be an expensive one for this).  The difference can be seen above.

The other area that the Lima coaches have always disappointed is the ends and particularly the treatment of the gangways.  Within a set it pretty hard to see and not really something to lose any sleep over but as one of the Pullmans will be at the end of the rake I wanted to improve the look of the end.

On the left is a tarted up lima end with MJT retracted buffers and new handrails.  Its worth continuing the striped arround the end as lima didn’t bother.  On the coach on the right I have fitted Four most models extended buffers and cut holes for the tail lamps. Mk3 Pullmans had them at least as early as september 1986 if not from new, as you can see i havent bothered adding these to the inner coaches. The big change is to cut out the original gangway and to fit a spare Jeouf one on its place.  Obviously the roof needed to be cut too so that it would fit.

Gangwayed GUV – Part 2

My Gangwayed GUV prototype is essentially complete (I have 2 more to do that I will do as a batch).  The roof has been slightly reprofiled to mate with the body sides better and the little details added.  Theres a few more bits to do (dynamo belt and safety chain along with couplings ETH and end pipes etc) but this one can now wait for the other 2 to catch up and then all 3 can go for paint.

Evenin’ Mail Guv?

As you may have guessed I am quite a fan of some of the old Lima Models but there were some real gems in the range that were a long way ahead of the competition at the time. The GUV is one such model, the Sealion is another, which bogies aside still stands up well against the current versions of the same vehicle. The Bachmann GUV is a better model out of the box but with a bit of work the lima one can be its equal. It’s also a lot cheaper which makes it good for bashing into different types.

One type I have wanted to do for a while is the Gangwayed Newspaper variety. Newspaper traffic was just drawing to a close at the time New Street is set.
My chosen route was to use the lima body and underframe mated to a Replica BG Roof and ends with the same companies B5 bogies. The handrails and ‘blackboards’ were cut/filed off the bodyside and a new toilet widow added at one end. I also removed the raised window beading that GUV’s never had.

As the roof and ends are now permanently attached to the body I cut 3 large holes into the floor so that I could get back inside to do the windows later. The battery boxes have been cut off the underframe and replaced with new ones from Hurst Models while the buffers are MJT retracted ones. For some reason the dynamo was mounted the wrong way round so this has been cut off and re-attached.

To mount the B5 bogies a pad of 100x250thou microstrip was added to the flor and drilled for a 2mm bolt.

The other 4mm scale Mk2 Aircons

The Lima mk2f.  Not a bad effort for the time with a better body shape than the Airfix Mk2D.  It did have a few problems though.

It used their Standard B4 bogie which appears to be something like 3.8mm scale rather than 4mm.  There was no attempt at flush glazing and its a bit odd lengthwise.  I say a bit odd as it’s too short but in a strange way.  I shall attempt to explain.  Overall its 2mm short (which is less than 1 percent) but between the doors is 4mm short.  The error seems to be in the shape of the ends and for some that’s a problem. I’m not convinced its worth the faff to put right so im just going to ‘tart one up a bit’.

In order

1. New buffers. MJT for retracted ones, Fourmost models for extended ones
2. Deeper bufferbeam (a strip of 40×40 evergreen). This allows you to mount the buffers lower as they are too high on the original model
3. End steps (from me when I have them)
4. New handrails from 0.33mm wire
5. Bogies steps (also from me)
6. The air conditioner module needs cutting off and mounting further in from the front – The shroud is 9.5mm evergreen tube with the end chamfered on the inside.
7. Spare brake gear from a Bachmann Mk2 – you could use the same S-kits/Genesis combination that I did for the air braked Mk1s though.
8. New bogies from replica.  A pad of 100×250 though evergreen glued to the lima floor will give you the right ride height.

Still to do – ETH gear and glazing (shawplan do laser glaze for these coaches if you dont want to cut your own. )  Of course you can just wait for the Bachmann ones.

OK whats wrong with this picture?

Not everything that was first class had the yellow stripe it appears.  When the Mk3a RUB’s were converted to RFB’s the only external difference was the addition (sometimes in a fairly slapdash way) of the number 1 on one or both doors per side.

The above image ( © 2012 John Turner/53a Models of Hull Collection and used with kind permission) shows just what a Heath Robinson affair was made of some of the vehicles.  Note the 1 is a different size to that on the Mk2 nearest and that it’s in different places on both doors.

It’s all good fun and will give the ‘exhibition experts’ something to get excited about.

To see more of John’s superb collection of images click here.Thanks to those on the Coaching Stock Yahoo group for their assistance on this one.

Mark 3 buffet project finished (well nearly)

Aside from weathering 3 of these my Mk3 buffet project is done. Quite a bit of work has gone into them and I bet no one notices!  Ironically the one on the far left would have been almost out of the box if I’d used a Lima one but i used a Joeuf one as I already had it. (the roof had to be tweaked as well as the mould lines removed but that’s par for the course with Jeouf mk3’s.

The eagle eyed will spot that the blue and grey liveries don’t match and this is something I havent seen mentioned before but they don’t.  Blue and grey loco hauled mk3s have a slightly different treatment to the blue and grey HST mk3s.  By kind permission of Dennis Taylor the two images below illustrate the difference.

image copyright of Dennis Taylor/80s Rail

HST First open – note the bottom of the grey runs through the door handle and above the grab rail.

image copyright of Dennis Taylor/80s Rail

Loco Hauled first open.  Note that the bottom of the grey is much lower and runs through the grab rail.

Dennis’ online galleries are well worth a visit for those modelling the 1980s. Click here to see them.

Bachmann Mk2’s, it made sense!

It made sence to follow on from the Bachmann Mk1’s with a look at their mk2’s. Arguably a better product with much nicer looking windows but not without some errors and room for improvement.

The most well know applied to the first batch and the blue and grey versions and was simply down to an error in the livery.  The grey band is too narrow, it should go down as far as the door bump stops but is half a mil too high.  Bit of a catch 22 problem this one.  Better painters than I wont have a problem as it’s an easy fix but that pain in the backside white line is a bit worrying for us lesser mortals.  Will the benefit of fixing the half mill height difference be undone by a dodgy white line?  To be honest im not sure what to do and as I don’t have that many (enough for a Norwich rake) im drawn towards leaving it be so that the rake is consistent.

Another error concerns some of the first class coaches. The bars on the toilet windows being far too low down.  Best to try to avoid those ones really although I do believe that this and the livery errors have been corrected on the current models.

Lastly is an error I havent seen mentioned before and I only came across recently.  During a discussion on New Railway Modellers someone mentioned that they can’t run these coaches because their layout has third rail and the battery boxes hit it. Looking again at the models they do seem to hang quite low down so a bit of digging ensued.

As can be seen, on a real coach the battery boxes line up with the bogies…

… on the model they don’t and they are out by quite a long way. Luckily they are separate moulding and can be gently levered off.  I cut the front mounting brackets off level with the top and carefully sanded the tops down so the the angle matches the Bachmann floor. Below is a before and after picture to give you an idea of how much sanding is needed.

Theres one box the other side that needs doing too. This one has its mounting lugs in the middle and I simply cut them off and again sanded the top to make sure the angle was right.

The modified coach.  Other mods are Replica bogies and my steps.

Improving the Bachmann mk1’s. Part 2

Regular Mk1 coaches ran on 6 different bogie types. BR 1, BR 2, Commonwealth, Gresley, B4 and B5. Of those the BR2, Gresley and B5’s tended to be restricted to catering vehicles although TPO’s also ran on B5’s and most types could be found on Commonwealth. Bachmann supply their Mk1’s on BR1, Commonwealth and B4.

Of those the BR1 and Commonwealth are OK but the B4 is a bit disappointing. Replica also do a B4 which is better as it features brakes in line with the wheels and a flat top. The Bachmann one has an odd ring which I think is to hold the coupling in place but it’s quite noticeable from the side. The one thing a B4 or B5 does is look somewhat detached from the vehicle – the Bachmann one doesn’t capture this to my mind.

Bachmann B4 bogie on the left, Replica on the right. To make a replica bogie fit you just saw off the mounting clip and drill a 2mm hole where it was. The Replica bogie also accepts P4 wheels better although if you are using the original coupling you might have to stick with the Bachmann bogie.

A real B4 bogie – note the dynamo mounted directly to it, some Mk1s were arranged like this, some weren’t. I do a little etch for the bogie mounted footsteps which most mk1’s (and all mk2’s carry)

Turning to the bodies there are a few things on the models that were as built condition. Namely the end steps and roof handrails. The steps are cut off (you don’t need to be too neat – BR weren’t!) and the roof handrail removed. the end handrail was shortened and mounted into a new hole. The roof ribs are a modelling myth. They are not ribs at all but welds. It’s best to sand them down by dismantling the coach first. The sides are clipped to the roof and by pulling them gently outwards they should unclip. While you have the coach apart it pays to pop some people in the seats (not in a BG, obviously) and glue the weight in place. It’s a royal pain to get the coach back together if the weight is loose. Bufferbeam steps are my own etch and its worth replacing the buffers too – MJT for retracted and Fourmost Models for extended. The ETH bits are just microstrip.

Improving the Bachmann Mk1s – Part 1, Brakes

We are no doubt spoilt by the Bachmann Mk1 as they enable a good looking train to be modelled pretty much out of the box.  However they are not perfect and there’s quite a bit we can do to make them better.  I’m going to start by looking at brakes.  Theres some good books on the subject of Mk1 coaches and the HMRS book by Keith Parkin is considered the first place to look.  However in my copy (the first edition) there’s little info on air and dual brakes although there are later supplements that may cover this. Theres also a new book just come out that covers Mk1 and 2 coaches, I don’t have a copy yet but a review can be read here – MaxStaffordsKennel

Vacuum Brakes

Lets start with vacuum brakes as that is what your mk1 will have (even the NEA does!).  Basically all that’s missing is the dynamo belt (ok not part of the brakes but as it’s in the general area I’ll include it), dynamo safety chain and push rod linkage from the body to the bogie. Theres 2 types of the latter depending on the bogie fitted so we will look at the BR1 bogie first.  Masokits do a handy little etch of linkages and the Dynamo belt that can be used here.

Here you can see the dynamo belt and chain (40 links per inch from A1 models) along with the linkage to the bogie.  On a BR 1 bogie the linkage feeds under the bogie while on a B4, B5 or Commonwealth bogie the linkage feeds above the bogie.  The cross rod has been replaced so that its wider and the linkages made up from the Masokits etch.

Here we see the vacuum brake arrangement for a Commonwealth bogie – you can see how the arrangement is the other way up. This version is far less obvious when the coach is the right way up.

Dual Brakes

As the name suggests, dual brakes are both vacuum and air , the following prototype pictures show the important bits

Dual brake arrangement – the Vacuum cylinder is upper left and the air brake cylinder is center and to the right. Both Cylinders link to the same cross rod.

The air brake cylinder

The Air tank and air distrubutor. This arrangement appears at one end of the coach only.

The model version – The air brake cylinder is from S kits and th vacuum cylinder from a spare Bachmann coach (this is a DC kits underframe)

Please excuse that the body isnt fitted properly yet – The air tank end. The tank itself is from Genesis kits and the distributor from S kits. A few bits of wire make it look like they should do something!

Air Brakes

An air braked mk1 essentially has the vacuum cylinder replaced with an air cylinder like so,

The vee hanger is in the wrong place as supplied and needed moving back towards the center of the coach (this only applies to an air braked Mk1 ) Spare vee hangers are on the masokits etch.

The NEA the right way up!

Finally an odd ball.

These comments are not based on any engineering knowledge of how railway vehicle braking systems work but mearly based on replicating what I see.  However I came across an NBA at Bescot (94528) that had a different air brake arrangement

Its Air braked but more in like with a dual brake conversion – perhaps it was and the vacuum gear has since been removed?

Edit

Thanks  to some helpful feedback from Keith Norgrove the arrangement of the Vacuum cylinder as supplied is correct for some BR1 fitted mk1s only.  BR1 bogies come with both over bogie and under bogie push rods and as supplied the coaches are correct for the under bogie ones.  For the others, Commonwealth and B4 or B5 you need to use the over bogie push rods and swap the vacuum cylinders arround so that they are outside (ie towards the vehicle end) of the Vee Hangers.