Hornby late 60s Mk 1 coaches.

[Firefly16]

I'd like to have a set of Bulleid 59' corridor coaches but not at current asking prices. So I'm thinking of building some by adapting older Hornby Mk1s, making use of the tumblehome profile. The ones I have in mind are those produced towards the end of the sixties, which could be broken down into their various components. I seem to remember that, typically of their time, they were just short of scale length. Can anyone remember how long they were? They shared most of their bits with the 'Caledonian' coaches produced around the same time.

[Mountain]

I think you mean Triang or Triang-Hornby.

Yes, they were easy to take apart. They are the exact same length as Lima Mk1's were and as I recall a similar length to Bachmann Mk1's though I didn't keep my Bachmann Mk1's for long as they hardly stayed on the track. Wdnt back to buying Lima or those Triang-Hornby versions instead.

Elaines Trains may have a few for sale. Maybe in other liveries such as GWR.

[Bigmet]

Think this must be the Triang R28/R29 you are thinking about, 215mm = scale for 53'9"over the frame. Couple of Brocks Cannons inside, light the tied fuses, send the train away and Bam! and they really do come apart (we were 'El Aurens' crew sabotaging the Hejaz Railway, although it would be another thirty years before I finally read 'Seven Pillars' to understand what it was all about).

What you propose should be a lot simpler if you start from Bachmann's 1990's Bulleids which are readily available s/h at reasonable prices. Seen some good 'chop jobs' to make variations using these as a starting point, once flush glazed they look very good.

[Firefly16]

Thank you, Mountain and Bigmet. The Bachmann Bulleids are 4'6 too long and the Triang Hornby Mk1s 5'3" too short, so a bit more thinking to do on this one! Your replies much appreciated.

[Mountain]

Can't think at the moment what would be right in length. Model coaches I had were either Lima/Hornby MK length (Such as the older Hornby LNER coaches, or a lot bigger and not suitable such as Lima Mk3's or shorter than Mk1/Mk2 type body length. (Yes we know Lima GUV's are too long but they made these Mk1 coach length so it does not help).

Were there kits available of a suitable length? Actually thinking of Triang GWR style (Or were they LNWR? Can't remember) coaches that were different as they looked long but though I have seen them online, I have never had one myself so I don't know how long they are and they don't come for sale that often.

[Bigmet]

Have you had a chance to explore the Southern e-mail group site for what others may have done?
https://sremg.org.uk/home.shtml

I have only made limited use of this site for off-BR(SR) steam traction questions, and it has always come up with the goods. There's a lot more on it that would be worth digging into for those modelling SR and BR(SR).

[aleopardstail]

would it be practical to get coach bodies 3d printed? even if done in components?

not actually tried coaches or wagons yet

[Mountain]

A good idea if you have the designs and can get someone to make them. (Even better if you have the equipment and can do it yourself!)

Another option is resin casting, but one needs to have prototypes to cast from if taking this route.

[aleopardstail]

resin casting can work, but a lot of care is needed to get a smooth finish, its good for something you want quite a lot of and lacks fine parts though

3d printing is in theory easier, needs access to good quality drawings and a fair bit of time to create the models though

[Firefly16]

I think the GWR/LNWR coaches you refer to Mountain are the Triang Hornby 'Caledonian/WCJStock models made around the same time as the Mk1s I was asking about. I suspect that they too would be too long. Three D printing as aleopardstail suggests and resin casting are out of the question for one whose technique is built upon the small Stanley knife, straight edge and square and there may well be design rights issues with using existing products to create moulds for casts. At the moment, I'm thinking about cannibalising damaged Bachmann Bulleids ex eBay and scratchbuilding underframes as well as sides (although I've wielded the knife in the past I don't really like cutting perfectly good models about).

[SRman]

All of those 1960s and '70s Triang coaches used the standard BR mark 1 underframes, bogies and roofs. They had different sides for the mark 1 variations, plus a few different roofs (with or without guard's periscopes, buffet details and some with the sleeper air trunking), but also had the Caledonian sides added a little later than the initial mark 1 releases, then added the LNET Thompson style sides, with all of the others being re-liveries of the existing mark 1 or Caledonian sides. The coaches based on the Caledonian sides had no interiors at all, likewise the Thompsons.

In short (no pun intended), all were based on the 64' length underframes, very clearly with the mark 1 truss arrangements.

[Ken Shabby]

A company called BSL made Bulleid coach sides many years ago. I bought a pair cheap of eBay a couple of years back.
They are just very thin totally flat white plastic. I have used them to build a Bulleid coach , which is currently about 60% finished. To be honest I'd forgotten about it until I read this post.
. I own several Bachmann Bulleid coaches, and a Hornby 3car set of the shorter coaches , , but I just fancied having a go at building one myself.
Also Ian Kirk made some Bulleid coach kits, they turn up on eBay sometimes.

Ken

[SRman]

A company called BSL made Bulleid coach sides many years ago. I bought a pair cheap of eBay a couple of years back.
They are just very thin totally flat white plastic. I have used them to build a Bulleid coach , which is currently about 60% finished. To be honest I'd forgotten about it until I read this post.
. I own several Bachmann Bulleid coaches, and a Hornby 3car set of the shorter coaches , , but I just fancied having a go at building one myself.
Also Ian Kirk made some Bulleid coach kits, they turn up on eBay sometimes.

Ken

Comet also had etched brass coach sides for quite a few different Bulleid coaches, including the Bournemouth types with deep sides, shallow or deep vents and the Tavern cars at various times in their lives, which can be fitted to the old Triang-Hornby coach sides.

The Kirk kits are for the 59' 'shortie' multi-door type. Comet sides had the 64' multi-door type.