Bachmann LNER teaks

[mjb1961]

Arrived this morning,,4 Bachmann teaks ,the latest ones ,,very nice and at £40 each ,brand new and a good price as well ,,does anyone else have any ,,

[GWR_fan]

I am interested in getting a few Thompson teaks to run with the Gresley corridor teaks. I think that I may take the outlook that the LNER spurgled out on first class Thompson cars, leaving the third class Gresley teaks to suffice for the masses. I am sure that there would have been a mix of types post-war.

[Bigmet]

In general service on the ECML the Gresley and Thompson gangwayed stock were freely mixed. The usual principle applied that the principal trains got much of the newest stock, and there were some 'all Thompson' sets on premium trains, such as those for the Flying Scotsman with the solebars concealed by the coach side being extended downwards as a fairing. But 'mix it up' was the norm.

This pattern continued as the BR mk1 coach was introduced, Since BR continued with the Pullman gangway and knuckle coupler as standard for its gangwayed mk1 coaches, which the GNR and ECJS had adopted from 1895, all the successive GNR, ECJS and LNER gangwayed stock of Gresley and Thompson design was fully compatible. (There are no GNR Howlden gangwayed vehicles available RTR, but the last of these were still in service post war, and some would lurk on into the 1960s commandeered by the engineering departments.) The gangwayed passenger trains were made up to the specified formation of accomodation with no distinction of design, giving an instantly recognisable 'East Coast' characteristic to the main line trains, past the end of steam. I last travelled on the national network in Gresley gangwayed stock in 1976: BR had retained four of the buffet cars in service painted in blue and grey at that date, and there will still some of the full brakes running too.

[D605Eagle]

I believe the last two Thompson coaches were taken out of revenue service in 1978ish and ended up used for support coaches when Penmanshiel tunnel bypass was being built.

[Bigmet]

What I forgot to post earlier was that I have a few, but in crimson and cream. (And hopefully a few to come if Bachmann will oblige with BR maroon.) But there is one - fortunately fixable - problem on my operation.

The appearance is fine, and the free rolling very commendable. (Even though they have no lighting they have the formed dimples in a metal plate to take the pin point bearings, first seen on the mk1 Pullman cars to enable low friction current collection.)

Here comes the 'BUT'. Used in a full size train, the close coupling mechanism can misbehave, well inferior to the earlier arrangements seen on Bach's mk1 coaches. In particular they won't reliably stand propelling with six or more coaches ahead of them, going through a point network. This because the bogie doesn't provide enough recentering guidance to the mechanism in my opinion. The fix: remove the bogies and put a small semicircular cut out in what was the inside end to provide the positive guidance to the mechanism.

[mjb1961]

Today I managed to find time and have a proper look at these four teaks from Bachmann,,,,they are very very nice indeed but feel the detail could have been further enhanced with sprung buffers and wouldn't they look great with carriage lighting of the period ,other than that they are great ,,going to haul them with the Dapol mallard ( black label ) later ,,,mjb

[Bigmet]

...And hopefully a few to come if Bachmann will oblige with BR maroon...

Finally, ten years (!) after the first announcement of these models in the LNER faux Teak in which they entered service, and BR 'blood and custard: now on sale in BR maroon. Altogether very good, but note the suggestion for modifying the bogies if long trains are planned. Some of my old 1990's production Bachy Thompsons can now be retired and treated to a brass overlay side makeover for catering vehicles. All of the oldies will be in 'looking in need of a repaint' livery to disguise their general inferiority to the newer tooling all shiny in freshly applied BR marron.

...they are very very nice indeed but feel the detail could have been further enhanced with sprung buffers...

Better not! The buffers were retracted and fixed 'out of service' when used with other pullman gangway and knuckle coupler equipped stock, which was introducd on the GNR and ECJS from 1895, then standard on the LNER and continued on BR mk1's. The gangway included the buffer, and much to our pleasure as kids you could actually stand on the buffers in the gangway for the moving floor effect as the coaches wound their way over the very tight radius KX pointwork.

The buffers were only extended to the working position for use in coupling to locos other than corridor tender A3's and A4's, or to the stock of railways with inferior ideas in coach coupling and gangways. Hornby provide sprung buffers on their Pullman cars and LNER Gresley gangwayed coaches, and these inhibit use of the close coupling system as well as looking wrong. My 'job one' on these is to retract the buffers with a piece of wire insulation over the back of the buffer shaft.

[SRman]

... snipped ...

The buffers were only extended to the working position for use in coupling to locos other than corridor tender A3's and A4's, or to the stock of railways with inferior ideas in coach coupling and gangways. Hornby provide sprung buffers on their Pullman cars and LNER Gresley gangwayed coaches, and these inhibit use of the close coupling system as well as looking wrong. My 'job one' on these is to retract the buffers with a piece of wire insulation over the back of the buffer shaft.

Yes, beaten to the Hornby Pullman reference! However, on the one type of Pullman that should have had sprung buffers, the 5 BEL unit, Hornby did the opposite and had rigid ones!

[Bigmet]

... However, on the one type of Pullman that should have had sprung buffers, the 5 BEL unit, Hornby did the opposite and had rigid ones!

But did Hornby at least include close coupling mechanisms on the 5 BEL cars? That's where Bachmann 'dropped the ball' on their series of DMU's. A very strange omission for units which typically ran as fixed sets in my opinion, ideal for a close coupling link; which might also have incorporated electrical connections to eliminate the need for a decoder per vehicle.

(Whatever, I am truly grateful for Bach's Cravens units (105) which both look right and run really well; in the latter respect far exceeding prototype performance which could only just make it over the Northern heights working Down, and it needed a four car set at least before risking a single 12T van as tail traffic working Up... I had my first set pulling eight Bachmann mk1s before bordeom set in, traction proven as more than adequate.)

[Bigmet]

Back on topic, the Thompson coaches from Bachmann recently released in BR maroon, are very much 'the thing'. Of importance to me, they integrate perfectly with the maroon BR mk1 and various Gresley and Thompson kit builds I already have. Here's hoping that Hornby's announced Gresley Coronation articulated pairs fit in well too in BR maroon liveried form, as they are potentially very attractive additions to the ECML train formations.

[Bigmet]

And there are reports that the newly tooled Thompson full brakes are arriving at retailers. The LNER full brakes of Gresley and Thompson design hung on long term in service because they were fully compatible with BR's gangwayed carriage build. I have heard it claimed that the reason that relatively few BR mk1 full brakes were constructed was that the number of inherited LNER BG's were clearly going to be adequate for future traffic needs, so the mk1 BG build programme was truncated. They literally went 'everywhere' express traffic vans were required to run in BR's passenger trains, well into the rail blue period.

Oh, and the earlier liveries too, LNER 'scumbled' teak and BR carmine and cream and maroon.

[Bigmet]

Just collected a couple of BR liveried Thompson full brakes I had asked to have set aside. Very good indeed, and sporting internal detail of the guard's 'cage', or should that be the secure goods lock up? Having often travelled home in the small hours on newspaper trains out of KX, I have a great affection for the LNER's very comfortable full brakes...