HR Open Carriage Truck

Lochgorm Kits HR d.47 Open Carriage Truck
 

I managed only a peek into the packaging of this latest offering from Lochgorm as I unwrapped my presents on Christmas Day, it was not a day of modelling opportunity. On Boxing day however I managed to sneak an hour or so to make a start on what I intended to be my Festive Season project. The above photo shows the stage I reached by New Years Day when I more or less ground to a halt as the wheels haven't arrived yet.

I made a few changes to the kit, in particular I removed the buffer beam, which was attached to the floor, and used it as an inner beam. The buffer beam overlay was discarded though I salvaged the coupling plate which I soldered to a new buffer beam that I substituted. This extends upwards to meet the floor which, taking note of the "Tatlow" drawing included with the instructions, I made flush with the top of the bottom side-rails. Apart from this modification I made only minor changes and additions to the design of the kit.

HR d.47 OCT  Brake Details


 

Below the sole bar of the OCT is a busy place. The brake cylinder and its associated parts were built from tube and various metal sections as these parts are not included in the kit. The truck was Westinghouse fitted too but I don't think the fittings would have been visible, being mounted under the floor, so I probably won't model them; the underneath will be busy enough when the brakes and brake rigging are in place.
The truck weighs in at a hefty 150g at the moment so it'll not need additional weight and there's still a good deal of detail to be added below the sole bar.

I bought a very nice S E Finecast Austin 7 Open Tourer kit, which I thought would make a very apt load for the carriage truck, but I now realise that the wheel track of these little cars is only 3' 4" which means that the wheels would fall between the wheel plates mounted on the deck of the truck which enabled cars to be loaded from the platform. However I'm sure the loaders could have overcome that problem with a little ingenuity, a plank maybe? I considered the option of a die-cast car as load for the carriage truck but found that a good die cast model, as opposed to a toy, is not only expensive but hard to find, so I opted for a kit which I'm sure will set the truck off a treat. I've made a start on the car too.