GWR Dia. C23 10 compartment Clerestory Third

Between 1903 and 1904, the Great Western built 60 of these 58ft. suburban coaches in a number of lots. They probably spent their days being shuffled around the larger conurbations although, by the 1930s, a number would almost certainly have been scattered around the system, servicing less important lines. They actually look rather longer than they are, too, but, as stated, they are only 58ft. in length.

Construction of this coach follows the time-honoured route: a murderously sharp Japanese saw and a pair of Triang Clerestory Brakes. The photo below shows the body and roof halves attached after initial glueing. Ignore the gaps rather cruelly highlighted by the camera, they are not that bad in reality but a little filler will need to be applied. I'll post updates as and when. I need to find - or acquire - a pair of 10 foot bogies for this coach. It shouldn't be a problem however as I'm fairly sure that I have a pair knocking around from a scrap Hornby long Dean Clerestory.

I found one of the coaches to be made of a hard and brittle plastic this time [the red one] and prone to chipping when being cut. The moulding of one was also a tiny bit thicker than the other, something I hadn't noticed until I had glued the halves together. Some more judicious sanding at the joint when the primer has hardened should help to disguise that however [I hope!]. Sometimes you can never completely hide the splice and this may be one of them. The final coats of paint and then varnish will help enormously though and as the roof will be matt black it should be OK, too.

The photo below shows the body after the gaps have received further attention and primer has been applied to highlight rough areas. More rubbing down will be required in due course although a marked improvement can be seen already.

Turning to the coach ends, I have cut away the tell-tale rodding for the emergency brakes from one of them as it was present on both of the halves used. Also, steps had to be installed on that end and the holes in each end which would have received the moulded clip on the roof needed to be plugged. The right-hand coach in the photo below is not part of the build but shows the rodding which needed removing. The last time I had to do this, it was quite an easy task as the plastic was far softer. This time, because the plastic was of a much harder and more brittle type, it wasn't possible without leaving some tell-tale marks. Matt black and some further careful sanding will ultimately help disguise them however.

Further, 8 lower door hinges needed reinstating as they had been knocked off during one of the coach’s earlier incarnations. Luckily, I had a fret of brass door hinges which were the correct size.

The steps I fitted [see below] are also of the incorrect pattern. They should be fitted as those are, opposite. I found this photo late in the day. Remedying the error will be quite straightforward.

In the post are etches for 2 ten-foot bogies. The Hornby ones I had proved impossible to re-wheel without breaking them. The ones ordered have white-metal overlays and the brass chassis units will need soldering up. They are also compensated. A method of attaching couplings will need to be devised.

With an week’s break, this build is on-track once more, various parts ordered having at last arrived. The photo below shows the bones of the underside. The eye expects to see gas cylinders underneath and, seeing an approximate shape, accepts fuses as just that, once painted. The Dean vacuum brake is a very neat etched brass and white metal kit from Dart Castings and the bogies are MJT etched brass compensation unit kits with MJT's own white metal cosmetic 10ft. sides yet to be fitted.

Since the photo was taken, the sides have been fitted to the brass bogie units and small pieces of etch cut-offs soldered to the bogie ends for couplings to be screwed into.

I'll clip the bogies back in place tomorrow and take the whole unit to the club to test it running through some complicated point geometry. It'll also allow a look-out for any wobble. At some stage I'll have to fit running boards to the bogie sides, or I may not bother.....

The brass bogie carcass is attached to the folded-up brass bolster [underneath, and glued to the coach underside] by press studs. I no longer use the metal ones supplied by MJT as they are too tight a fit and prevent easy movement on curves. I’m experimenting with plastic ones this time. They are easier to file for a slightly looser fit and are only .09mm thicker. Obviously they cannot be soldered in place and so they are superglued. Shouldn’t be a problem as, once all is painted, I can see no reason to ever have to remove them in normal use. I’d much rather use a nut and bolt, or a small self-tapper, but the transverse torsion rod is in the way and tightening them would be tricky.

I should have added that the clerestory roof windows have also been plated over as was the norm by the early ‘30s.

With the bogies attached, a test run at the club was successful. Ne'er a wobble nor any problems with points and reverse curves. All good news as finishing the build can now proceed. Fitting the flush glazing is going to be tricky though as there is so little room between the compartments. However, a final coat of primer is the next task and then the main body colours will be laid down. Glazing and compartment fittings come late in the day.

A couple of shots to show the size of this thing, particulalrly when coupled to Hornby's (Electrotren) allegedly ex-Taff Vale 0-6-0. You can also see that the white-metal bogie overlays have now been glued in place.

Fitting the brass compensated bogies was well worth the cost and, with these mixed-marriage builds, always help to eliminate the unwanted effects of anything not being completely square. In this case though, everything is pretty symmetrical.

It's been an age since an update. Poor weather delayed spraying the body but the storm having passed, and the weather now cold but quite settled, I've been able to lay down to two main colours and then paint in the door drop-lights and apply the brass work. Pleased with progress so far, I sat down tonight to apply the lettering and numbers. Fortunately, by this time, the Great Western no longer applied 'Third Class' to every door in all-Third coaches [that would have been 20!], so it was simply a matter of running numbers, 'G W R' and the double crest shield. A quick job.

However, I then discovered an absolute rookie error. Spending all of my time on disguising the join, I overlooked the fact that, at the centre of the coach, where the lettering goes, the waistline lozenge moulding should be a long one and not two short ones. A brief panic followed. However, careful chisel and scalpel work reduced the two to one and the body is now put to one side to let a repaint in that area settle and cure. It'll be fine.

The photos show the body before the remedial work to rectify the panelling issue.

Overall, the joint lines are now far less visible, too. So far, so good….

With the sides painted and lettered, a coat of satin varnish was sprayed on to seal the decals and give the sides a uniform appearance. The windows were then glazed. All 60 of them! Separately! This was not a five minute job obviously and each insert was initially fixed in place with Johnsons’ ‘Klear’ which, when it had dried, was reinforced by a smear of epoxy along each of the insert’s bottom edges, binding them to the body side. Incidentally, the interior of the coach had been painted in Burnt Umber to simulate a lightish wood finish.

With the widows in place, a basic interior could now be applied. At the very least, compartment partitions would be required to avoid being able to see an entire coach-length of windows when looking through one side. I used card for these, adding basic seats from strip wood. The compartment tops are painted in Burnt Umber to match the sides and the seats and seat backs a dirty dark red. The photo below shows the interior. It is basic, but the interior will be dark once the roof is in place and only the bare outline will be visible.

And a shot of the lettered and glazed side. The underframe and ends have been sprayed matt black but the step-boards and solebar are still in chocolate.

With the body essentially complete, and all of the really hard work done, all that was left to do was paint and attach the bogies, paint the step boards and solebar, attach the buffers, spray the ends matt black and paint the ‘plumbing’, attach the roof and form the handrails for the step-end, attach the lamp irons and touch-up any last-minute flaws. A lot of necessary but quite straightforward tasks which didn’t take more than a couple of hours. The end handrails were bent up out of nickel silver wire and the lamp irons were brass etched attachments. The roof was fixed in place by gluing at the ends only, using a liquid poly adhesive. I also decided, late in the day, to attach brake pull-rods underneath, although once fitted they cannot be seen. And that was pretty much it!

The photos below show the finished product.