Ashover coaches part 2: adding a brake

 Work has continued on the build of the Ashover coach kits. There are now five...

A couple of the kits came from a friend at the Sussex Downs group who was having a clear out, but with them was a partially assembled kit. After a little partial disassembly to resolve the issue I'd found with the floor width and to "open" some doors and windows, it was completed (front left in the photo below), except that the footsteps and the bogie brake gear are missing. The bogies can probably run without brake gear (only the lack of brake handles is noticeable) but as the wheels look a bit coarse I may pick up a new pair of bogies at some point. 

The final kit was built as a brake. After posting some options in the last update, my friend Tim Sanderson pointed out that he had built some variants of these coaches including a brake to the same design as my "option C". This involved an extra pair of doors (which I had left over from those I had "opened"), but the cuts were minimal and all joins were at doors or door frames. Tim had explained these conversions in the August 2002 Railway Modeller.

So armed with Tim's article I set about cutting as shown - the end door, panel, and first window were cut from each sides (opposite ends so they are the same end of the coach, if you see what I mean). The windows were then cut away, and the door/panel swapped to the other side of the coach to put the panel outer, and the door plus the additional door set into the side. I made the cuts with a scalpel (new blade), light cuts from the front then deeper cuts lined up from the rear, leaving a surprisingly clean cut.

As with Tim's conversion on reassembly new framing was needed over the double doors (in one piece) and between them and the rest of the coach (to match the other side of the doors). These were made using 40 thou (1mm) plasticard cut to strips the same depth as the coach side, the frame being the thickness of the plastic. There's no significance in the use of black or white plastic, just the scraps that happened to be on the bench!

One other change I made was to the door windows. The end doors on these coaches slide behind the blank panel, and the broad cross-member is probably related to the sliding mechanism. However, the luggage compartment doors would probably hinge outward as per a normal carriage door, there being nowhere the inner door could slide anyway. So I cut away the cross-member and made their windows into normal drop-frame carriage windows, with a couple of them partially open. Also as seen below, small pieces of plastic microstrip were added to the frames to represent the outward-opening hinges. 

Given the preservation era of Hexworthy I see this vehicle being mainly for the carriage of push chairs and prams, and to give access for wheelchairs, let's assume a big ramp is carried inside. So the saloon has the usual bench along 4 windows, ending in half-height partitions, then a space by the 5th window which could be for wheelchairs or prams. There's a partition separating the saloon from the luggage compartment but the double-doors would be convenient for disabled access. I do need to sort out steps for this carriage too, bearing in mind the double doors away from the end. 

Next I need to decide how to tackle the roof. It is tricky as the roof will be fitted last (after painting, glazing, etc) and needs to fit neatly, but with little support needs to be rigid enough without appearing too thick. It doesn't help that the doors and end seem very slightly lower than the top of the sides. 

• Some kits came with a thin sheet of plastic, which I have curved by taping to a can then dunking in boiling water (left). It will need trimming to fit, but experience says this will need significant bracing if it is not to sag, and could still be at risk of warping. 
• Alternatively, the tall drinks can cuts easily to form a pre-curved thin metal roof (middle). This won't warp, but would need some strength to prevent it bending or getting squashed in the middle, and would need sticking down very firmly. It also may be more tricky to add rainstrips to. 
• Another option is the Dundas moulded plastic roof for the Vale of Rheidol coaches (right). This is about the right width and too long, so would need cutting down. It's a little thick but not excessively so, and rigid enough without bracing. However, the moulding has recesses just inside the end (presumably for the ends of the coaches they are designed for) and so cutting to length could leave a gap over the end. I only have a pair of these so would need to order more.