This pack contains detailed cast resin parts that glue together to enable a quick assembly of the basic coach body and chassis. Included are a pair of detailed sides and ends, pre-formed styrene roof section and underframe castings.
This model depicts an ex North London Railway 4 wheel full third, following sale second-hand to an independent light railway.
The North London Railway was the single largest provider of second-hand coaches to the Light Railways and minor companies, examples eventually being found in just about all areas of the country. Better known examples include The Easingwold Railway and the Cleobury Mortimer & Ditton Priors. Some saw military use on the Catterick Camp Railway and at Spurn Head. Port Sunlight used a train of NLR stock for its workers around the complex and Whittingham Asylum employed them for the transport of patients. Surprisingly many vehicles were sold to existing companies. M&GN, North British, L&Y, North Staffs, MSLR, and GNSR are amongst some of the recorded examples. The NLR coaches received many barbed reviews by noted railway historians - 'basic' and 'outdated' being some of the more polite remarks. That said it was ideal for light railways, solidly built, no frills and designed for high density work. In NLR service they ran close coupled, but on transfer to other railways many had conventional buffers fitted and after the removal of coal gas lighting, the lamp tops were plated over. It is in this later form that the display model has been created, wearing a green livery in a nod towards the Isle of Wight where three lines are recorded as taking NLR vehicles, some eventually passing into Southern ownership
My Coachbuilder packs aim to offer something partway between scratch building and kit building, giving the builder a good ‘head start’ in construction by taking out much of the tedious cutting work and fiddly panel mouldings. If you enjoy building your own rolling stock and don’t mind a bit of work, this should be both quicker than scratch building and an economical alternative to the conventional complete kits. The parts assemble rapidly with superglue or general purpose adhesive, just requiring the builder to provide a simple floor and partitions, which can be easily made from thick plasticard. External detailing on the display model was carried out using commercially available buffers and door handles, with grab handles simply formed from small staples. Steps were scratch built. The pack includes my generic 4 wheel underframe, which although not completely accurate for NLR stock, many previous customers have been happy to use it.