With the upcoming coronation instilling a bit of patriotism in me I thought I might look into having a Royal Train on my layout circa 2004.  There's no problem with the loco as the Dapol Class 67 Royal Sovereign in Royal Train maroon is readily available to buy. However, I can't find coaches. Does anyone know if there have ever been Mk3 and Mk2 coaches in Royal Train livery?  As far as I can see in my research there haven't ever been any but that's strange because why would Dapol produce the loco if there is nothing for them to haul?

There are companies offering decals for Frarish Mk2 and Mk3 coaches in Royal train livery but I've never tried decals on old coaches so I don't know how successful that might be. Also, the window arrangement on the Royal coaches is non-standard so I assume the decals would be solid with printed on windows which doesn't sound too great.

Does anyone have any suggestions or any advice to offer? 

James

Maybe worth @captainelectra

https://electrarail.co.uk/royal-train---present-day-formation-13-p.asp

You may wish to consult https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Royal_Train#Fleet_from_1977


https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/41330-make-up-of-royal-train/

It varied when the late HM Queen / late Duke of Edinburgh who was travelling the make up and formation



Photos https://www.tauntontrains.co.uk/photos/gallery/royal


https://coaches-library.weebly.com/mk2---royal.html


Farish coaches plus electra overlays best bet

Thanks and, yes, I'd seen all of those pages.  My concern is just how the decal overlays  will look. I'm not sure I'm keen on stuck on solid windows.  I wondered if anyone had tried it, or something similar and can advise on what the end result is like and also how easy it is to fit the decals. I'd have thought wet transfers would be much easier than self adhesive.

Interestingly, when I looked at the Taunton Trains site (which I refer to quite often) there is a photo of the RT with just four coaches. All other information around suggests it was always at least six coaches.

The locos were used on other duties and were standard apart from the colour, which makes them an easy win appealing to the "Pretty coloured oddball livery loco collectors" sector for no more cost or complexity than any other livery.
The coaches in contrast were all non-standard one-offs (you mentioned yourself the window layout, and there's also roof fittings and underfloor equipment) dedicated to the one job, so unless you accept major compromises each vehicle will require individual bespoke tooling, and no-one is likely to evey buy more than one...

Is this any help at all?

https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=29849.msg336532#msg336532

See also @ 3.50 in this video.........

Quote from: devonjames on April 03, 2023, 06:43:20 PM
Thanks and, yes, I'd seen all of those pages.  My concern is just how the decal overlays  will look. I'm not sure I'm keen on stuck on solid windows.  I wondered if anyone had tried it, or something similar and can advise on what the end result is like and also how easy it is to fit the decals. I'd have thought wet transfers would be much easier than self adhesive.

If you foillow this link, it will take you to my Flickr site where I've uploaded photos of my Royal Train build of a few years ago, blimey nearly 10 years ago!!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nm-mansell/albums/72177720307238984

They were all fairly easy to do just need to take your time and definitaly look at photographs of the Prototype, you will notice that the pods on the roof of the coaches, especially the 2 MK2 Couchettes, change quite regularly.

Any questions then please ask.

Regards

Neal.

Nice job. Thanks for sharing the photos. Did you use the Electrarail decals?   Ar they just stuck over standard passenger coaches? where do the roof pods come from?

Quote from: devonjames on April 03, 2023, 08:06:51 PM
Nice job. Thanks for sharing the photos. Did you use the Electrarail decals?   Ar they just stuck over standard passenger coaches? where do the roof pods come from?

Yes, the original liveies are all stripped off with either T-Cut or Brasso for the stubborn paint. Then Adams Vinyls are stuck to the Coach body. Bearing in mind that the Coaches you need are the Clear Shell type.

The Pods are just small bits of plasticard flatted & filed to look somewhat like the roof pod, the roofs are then painted with Flint Grey (I think it was), also all the Springs are painted with the correct colours as per prototype photographs.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Neal.

Hopefully you'll get the chance with Electra as it's future is in doubt:

https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=58743.msg789514#msg789514

I've been keeping an eye on the website and it's not back up and running yet.

Adam's vinyls work well on the right models; those without much surface detail. Neal's looks great to me, particularly with the addition of the curtains and other detailing. I've done most of the vinyls on a rake, and I'll be 3D printing replacement roofs and under frames in the fullness of time. But it's on a long list of projects!

To add to the above comment about the 67s being used on other services, that goes both ways - I've seen pics of the royal train being hauled by an EWS 67.

The Dapol Royal Sovereign has only been done with DB logos hasn't it? That means it's not suitable for 2004, they were applied in ~2015.

The printer engineer is coming tomorrow...fingers crossed!

Thanks for the links Crewearpley40.

It begs the question; Has anyone ever released a Class 47 in Royal Livery?

Cheers,

Geoff

Not in N, no.

Geoff not @Belly to my knowledge in N, electra transfers will fit a Poole era or a Chinese built 47. Willing to be corrected

Thanks crewearpley40 and njee20.

I wondered if that was the case.

Cheers,

Geoff