British train designs

[Siwi]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

Fascinating! Was the blue and gray/grey one the 2-HAP commuter coach? The double arrow BR symbol dates from later than the 1950s, I think? My ignorance about British railroads (as we USA-ians would call them) is pretty much total, but I think that is an attractive piece of rolling stock and color scheme.

I am more and more inclined to attempt one of your coaches, although I know I should not until I complete one or two of the many works in progress tacked up around me.

In any event, I do like to see your work displayed here in the Forum and I enjoy pouring over your model templates and building them in my head (imagineering them).

Don

That's correct, the 2-car blue/grey model is a 2-Half Lavatory (electro)Pneumatic (brake), or Class 414.
Perhaps a short exposition on BR colour schemes is in order: these and the other Mark 1 outline designs were originally painted all-over green which was the standard Southern Region colour, inherited from the Southern Railway pre-1948 nationalisation who used it for all their steam locos and coaching stock. At some time or another these received full or partial yellow fronts for better visibility: incredibly many multiple units had no headlights, relying only on the route indicator box and a detachable tail lamp - you can just see the bracket for it on the lower left side. All-over 'Rail Blue' with full yellow front was introduced across every BR vehicle some time in the 1960s, which on some multiple units included the grey panel with white band around windows on coaching stock, and it was also in this period the famous double arrow symbol was devised. In the 1980s the splitting of BR in sectors saw the 'toothpaste' red/white/blue of Network Southeast painted on all such third-rail multiple units.

2-HAPs did not survive into privatisation, but other units in the region were then repainted again into the red/white/orange/blue of South West Trains or the sickly grey/yellow of Connex and a very few into the dark green/white/teal of Southern, which nicely closed the circle as it evoked the historic Southern Railway.
Wikipedia has a more comprehensive article: British Rail corporate liveries - Wikipedia

[Don Boose]

Many thanks for the patient and helpful explanation!

Don

[Siwi]

Back to London Underground with a design that had been half-done for a while, the A60 or just A Stock ('A for Amersham'). These were classic and well-loved trains that had a 51-year career on the Metropolitan Line and East London Line, and one survived until 2018 as a maintenance train. As the 'Met' was more like a mainline railway with fast and semi-fast services that could be up to an hour's journey time, these trains were configured with large all-transverse seats and even umbrella hooks by the windows! I was lucky enough to travel on these a few times before they were withdrawn in 2012 and although they were showing their age they were comfortable and fast - top service speed was 70mph and on the very last service the unit was unofficially recorded at 74mph.
I still need to design and build the wheelsets, but these are similar to the D Stock.


I also had the opportunity to travel on a restored 1933 carriage pulled by a Bulleid Pacific 'Spam Can' on the Swanage Railway at the weekend. Very comfortable especially after the 18km trail run I'd just done!

[Erik Zwaan]

I think you would enjoy building Papertrade's A4 Pacific Sir Nigel Gresley (mind the various traps....) or the EM7D diesel engines and Pine Grove sleeper car.
NS recently put a new series of trains into service, commonly referred to as "wasp". The shape is a challenge for designers....

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=ccea6...YW5nZW4u&ntb=1

Cheers,
Erik

[Siwi]

Originally Posted by Erik Zwaan

I think you would enjoy building Papertrade's A4 Pacific Sir Nigel Gresley (mind the various traps....) or the EM7D diesel engines and Pine Grove sleeper car.
NS recently put a new series of trains into service, commonly referred to as "wasp". The shape is a challenge for designers....

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=ccea6...YW5nZW4u&ntb=1

Cheers,
Erik

Yes, I've been eyeing those Santa Fe and A4 Pacific designs for a while, however I would prefer the steamer to be the record breaking 'Mallard' which would require repainting it blue.
As for that new NS unit, the profile of the train is quite smooth and the nose would break down into three sections for the windows, one or two 'orange peel slices' for the upper nose and a wraparound curved piece for the lower. The most challenging area is actually the roof with so many diverse shaped boxes. There are some newer British trains which have equally difficult front ends such as the Class 800 series which have rounded 'bullet train' noses, and the Class 196/197 which have many chiselled edges.
I think if designing Dutch trains, several of which I have travelled on, I would start with the DDZ as the simplest shape, and then the VIRM which is more angular at the front but not that much more complex to design. My favourite is the ICM which is one of the coolest looking and most iconic designs in the world, but the elevated driving cab is a complicated shape to create in paper. Continuing with the theme of creating models of cars I have actually been on, an older Den Haag tram (the cream and red stripe ones) is also on my list to design.

[Siwi]

Alongside the 'A' stock I have been designing the slightly later 'C' stock in parallel. These are similar designs and the model construction will be identical, with the main difference being the extra doors the C stock had. These trains were built for high-capacity services on the Circle line, which is why they were termed 'C' stock, and so four double doors per car side was needed to minimise dwell times. I have read that they were not as popular with drivers for some reason, but they lasted in service from 1970 to 2013 with an extensive mid-life refurbishment around 1994, so must have been pretty effective. Have memories of many rides on the refurbished sets (red, white and blue) and a very hazy memory of the unpainted unrefurbished sets which were grubby and graffiti-ridden as was common at the time. The distinctive owl-like driving end with the small round lights is typical of the period.
These are test builds and need some revision: the doors are slightly too tall and the roofline should extend lower. I also made the howler of copying the base plate from the driving car to the trailer car, except the latter is shorter.