LNER coach for a B1 in 5" gauge

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safetyworksgblimited
NER Y7 0-4-0T
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2008 2:41 pm

LNER coach for a B1 in 5" gauge

Post by safetyworksgblimited »

Dear All
Please could anyone who is more knowledgeable than I have a look at the this "LNER" teak.
It is to go behind a 5" LNER B1 Mayflower.
The coach design does not look exactly LNER even though it is done as a teak. I think it matches an LMS coach design.
The differences were very minor though to my untrained eye.
Will it be suitable? Also should I go with a grey or a white roof?
They are steel stricture with a fibreglass body
Hydraulically braked bogies and foot rest / brake pedal.
Looks good to me but what do I know? I missed it all being born in 1970!
Regards
David
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hq1hitchin
LNER V2 2-6-2 'Green Arrow'
Posts: 1162
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:32 pm
Location: Newbury, Berks

Post by hq1hitchin »

David

It is of the period but predates the B1 design itself by, say, 20 years and looks to me like a suburban brake third vehicle of no particular company - it's certainly not LNER post 1923 - but with a bit of imagination it could be, say, an ex GCR coach. The B1 was to be found on all sorts of duties from pick up goods to express passenger trains so it's not unlikely that one would have been used on a suburban or local train formed of non corridor stock. As regards the teak finish, the LNER even painted steel bodied stock to look like teak so don't worry about that, we'll assume it is wooden bodied, shall we? Pre war the roof would have been white when ex- works but would soon have turned a grey shade of dirt! If you really want to paint it grey to match the period when the B1s first came out, you can, but I'd be inclined to leave it looking smart like it does and just enjoy running it and the B1. Good luck with your railway, young man
A topper is proper if the train's a non-stopper!
wehf100
GCR D11 4-4-0 'Improved Director'
Posts: 486
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 3:42 pm
Location: Cambridgeshire

Post by wehf100 »

My sources are limited, but I cannot find an exact match for this coach- I am somehow drawn to ex-GER, but wouldn't put any money on it!! Who builds this model?

It is a handsome model, and would look splendid behind a B1, but (!) as others have said, this would be an old type of coach by the late 1940's- not many of this vintage made it past 1955. More importantly, such a pre-1923 coach would almost certainly have been painted plain brown in the late 40's, not varnished teak, and CERTAINLY not lined-out (true for all non-corridor coaches after 1935). They were most likely never repainted at nationalisation- 'E ##### E' preffix and suffixes would just be added to the LNER running number, so you could combine LNER coaches with B1 in 'lion and wheel' BR livery.

good luck with aking up your train, you're a lucky chap!

Will
Bill Bedford
LNER A3 4-6-2
Posts: 1241
Joined: Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:43 pm

Post by Bill Bedford »

This is definitely a LMS brake third. As to why it has been painted in teak is more of a mystery. However, there is a possible explanation, if it wasn't just whimsy or bloody mindedness on the part of the builder.

During the mid 30s the LMS obtained an number of 51' Gresley non corridor coaches to replace pre grouping stock on one of it's branches in S. Wales. As far I can make out what happened was an exchange involving CLC coaches The LMS getting some Gresleys and the CLC getting something in return. Unfortunately I have never been able to discover what the CLC actually received in this exchange, but there is a chance that it acquired a number of period I coaches similar to this model. It is unlikely that they would have been painted teak, but who knows?
safetyworksgblimited
NER Y7 0-4-0T
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2008 2:41 pm

Post by safetyworksgblimited »

Hello Folks,
Thanks for the imput so far.
This is a new coach from Aristocraft.
Visit http://www.aristocraft.me.uk/default.htm
Bar making one myself this was bar far the best I could find to suit.
My workshop skills are not too hot so I have opted to go for one of these.
Looking very closely at the Martin Evans based B1 there are quite a few deviations from the photographs of real B1 locos also.
I just want to get something that looks to most as if it is correct, as opposed to having just an ordinary riding truck behind the loco.

Just as long as the first time they run together I do not get some bright spark yelling "Ere boy! What you doing with an old LMS brake third behind that B!"

Thanks agian for all the advice.
David
Andy Siddall
NER Y7 0-4-0T
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:10 pm
Location: Heathrow, London, UK

Post by Andy Siddall »

Hello David,

If you ask me then I think that would be the ideal coach for a 5" B1 for ground level use, as for any one telling you that it's wrong remind them that there are no scale drivers in the cab either, or scale pax for that matter. :lol: I have also got a B1 which up until recently I only used on Raised tracks and my driving trolley is unsuitable for Ground Level running, so I may also look in Aristocrafts direction....

As to the Martin Evans B1 Springbok design, I believe that he originally designed it as a club passenger hauling engine, therefore the boiler steams well and all the bearings etc are over scale size as to cut down on maintenance. Sadly this means that the loco is much wider ( approx 2") than neccesary and some of the detail does not exactly match the prototype. Saying that having owned mine for nearly a year now, I would not part with it..

Cheers

Andy
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