GWR Railcars - Colours

[Karhedron]

BrassMonkey Yes that was a Railcar, when I was a boy we used to travel on it from Twyford to Henley every weekend to visit my Gran and Aunties and Uncles . If I was lucky I used to sit on the drivers knee and work the horn,imagine kids doing that in today's DMUs,of course Mum was allways keeping an eye on me ,
As Karhedron says it was possibly Number one as I was born in 1947 and travelled on that line till I was nearly six so it could have been one of the newer razor edge type towards the end .

Yes, Railcar 1 was the regular on the Henley branch until the mid 50s so it is quite likely that is the one you rode on. It had less horsepower than the following models and so was generally kept in the Thames valley as the gradients were negligible.

Karhedron I don't know what the differences were between batches but we will just bring out a generic version as I don't think the slight differences would notice to the average modeller,unless you can give an idea which batch would be best.

Funny you should ask.

I can happily explain the differences between the different batches.

Railcars 2-4

These were built with Park Royal bodies for light express duties and had a buffet at one end. They were a different shape to railcar 1 although they also assymetrical streamlining with the long drooped nose. No4 is preserved at Swindon and is the only survivor of the Streamlined railcars. This was the type that I proposed for my Kickstarter a couple of years ago as the plan was to laser-scan the preserved example.



Railcars 5-7

These were built with GRCW bodies and were designed for medium-distance services. They were a distinctly different shape to the earlier Railcars with symetrical streamlining, a higher nose and a lowered roof over the cab windows that gave them a slightly frowning appearance.



Railcars 8-17

These Railcars were a refinement of 5-7 with broadly similar appearance but some changes to the nose area. At 10-strong they are the largest common body design amongst the streamlined Railcars and probably the best option to model. There were some variations within the group. 10-12 were built with lavatories for longer distance services and so had a slightly different window arrangement on one side. This family were often used on Railtours with W14W reaching Buxton in 1954. Railcar 17 which was built for express parcels workings had the same bodyshell but different windows.

I would recommend this group of Railcars as being the best to model. Once you have the basic bodyshell, you can do suburban, long-distance and express parcels versions just by tweaking the window arrangement slightly.

[BrassMonkey]

Dad was born in '43, so I suppose it probably was railcar 1 that he saw. Did railcar1 ever sport BR livery (blood and custard)?

BM

[Karhedron]

Dad was born in '43, so I suppose it probably was railcar 1 that he saw. Did railcar1 ever sport BR livery (blood and custard)?

Hello. Yes, Railcar 1 did wear Crimson and Cream livery. There is a photo of it in this livery at Twyford in one of the "Lens of Sutton" books.

[Karhedron]

Thanks for your help with this. Ok. I have gone for the Tamiya whit primer and Railmatch acrylics.

Any ideas on the GREAT WESTERN decals? Would they have been yellow or gold? Fox do both.

Just coming back to this one. I dug out my copy of Russell again and there is a full page broadside shot of Railcar 1 in the one of the early chapters.

Looking very closely at the shading, I think there are in fact 2 shades there so my earlier assumption that the shading was solid black appears to be incorrect.

Based on this photo, the Great Western lettering is very probably gold with red and black shading (as per the Fox transfer sheet). Sorry for my earlier mistake but this is the only photo I have found that is sufficiently large and clear to show the detail of the shading (even though it is in B&W).

One other thing I noticed which does not show up well on many photos is the word "DRIVER" under the small cabside windows. This appears to have been unique to No1. The lettering was on gold with no shading and does not show up much in well-lit photos as it reflects and blends in with the cream. It shows up quite well on photos taken with poorer lighting like the one below.

[BrassMonkey]

 Nicely done! I'll order a set from Fox. I haven't heard back from Railtec just yet, but could be worth getting some transfers made up with lining. I the meantime (while the paint is drying) I have been practicing with my bowpen and neat gold enamel. Some very fine lines are coming out and so far looking quite impressive (if I say so myself)...

[PennineWagons]

Looking at the photo of Railcar No.1 it would seem that the cabside windows are set into a small door, presumably intended for emergency use only. None of the later railcars appear to have corresponding doors in this position. So I suppose this would be why No.1 has 'DRIVER' lettered under the window, but none of the others do. Although surely passengers wouldn't be very likely to think they were supposed to get on board by climbing over the streamlined fairing and going through a tiny door into the driver's cab?
PW

[Karhedron]

Although surely passengers wouldn't be very likely to think they were supposed to get on board by climbing over the streamlined fairing and going through a tiny door into the driver's cab?

It seems unlikely but you have to remember how revolutionary this vehicle would have been to the travelling public when it first appeared. A train without an engine hauling it. There may have been concerns that passengers would be confused about which door to use (or not to use).

[Adam1701D]

Here's a shot taken today of No.4, currently on loan to the NRM at York. Really lovely little unit, oozing 1930s charm with all that chrome and streamlining. 

[BrassMonkey]

Transfers have arrived from fox. Gold on red/ black. Will look fantastic on the chocolate!

[Agrippa]

Here's a shot taken today of No.4, currently on loan to the NRM at York. Really lovely little unit, oozing 1930s charm with all that chrome and streamlining. 

A great photo there, as a matter of interest what are the projecting
items at the front, look like a pair of 50 cal machineguns ?

[Agrippa]

ps to last post, GF model of railcar has buffers, perhaps these are
bufferless buffers?

[BrassMonkey]

Yup. Bufferless buffers. The razor edge type upgraded to buffers.

[Agrippa]

Thanks for info, were they just for coming against a fixed
buffer stop rather than other rolling stock?

[Adam1701D]

The later railcar builds were designed to work with a tail-load and were of stronger construction and fitted with conventional buffers.

[BrassMonkey]

Just given my version of number 1 a coat of varnish prior to lining and decaling up. Looks quite nice with a gloss coat, but would the original be finished in gloss or a satin coat? I imagine they would have gotten more Matt as the years went on!