Another Bachman street car conversion?!

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Back in April 2024 I bought a Bachman Street Car from ebay. At the time I had not seen StuartJ's post about his conversion! What I had in my head was a conversion to a typical Colonel Steven's backwater railway balcony carriage with some hints to the W and U carriages thrown in. It was also bough as another excuse to have a go at painting a carriage in Stratford Brown with lining.

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The body was kept pretty much as is with some of the holes filled. The roof and balconies, however, were redesigned to give a more Wisbech and Upwell carriage feel - as usual, these were drawn up and laser cut. The balcony ends are a snug fit into the plastic moulding of the body and were epoxied on.

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[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

The solebars were then detailed up with Cambrian plastic nuts and bolts, with reference to the W and U carriages and the curved ends of the roof were sawn off and replaced with LASER cut ply ends which were carefully glued and clamped to the existing roof with high strength epoxy. I am reminded of a saying from a boat building friend of mine "He who dies with the most clamps wins".

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Following this the carriage was primed ready for painting - the balcony railings are LASER cut from 1.5 mm mild steel using the department's fibre LASER.

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[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

The carriage was then painted in Revell AquaColour MudBrown using an air-brush and a lot of swearing (I've since discovered I was using the wrong sort of air-brush for this sort of application) and lined using a bow pen and humbrol enamels. I wish this was a little neater - I'm still learning.

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After this the roof was covered in shirt material - the plastic has a texture moulded into which would be impossible to replicate on the wooden sections so the shirt material was the quickest way to get a uniform finish. Using old shirts like this is handy as the grid lines help to keep the waft and weave square to the roof!

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[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

The roof was painted white and the interior was painted in Railmatch GWR carriage cream, with olive green used for the seats in a nod to the DVLR's original carriage livery.
The carriage was then re-glazed. Rather than the original plastic moulded glazing, I LASER cut individual windows from thin acrylic which were glued into the window recesses with glue'n'glaze. This means that, as the carriage passes, the light reflects in different directions from each window so you can tell it is not a single sheet. It also tidies up the interior a little. It also allowed me to add some LASER etched detail into the end windows.

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With the balcony railings attached, Brandbright bogies fitted and shortened Accucraft chopper couplings fitted the carriage is now in service. It has recently acquired GER style transfers to bear it's running number "DV 19" from Endon Valley Decals. I'll order another sheet with "SECOND CLASS" to put near the ends on each side. A bit of light weathering and some brake gear and it'll be complete.

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[ge_rik]

I don't think anyone would have guessed its origins if you hadn't told us.
Another great addition the fleet.

Rik

[Peter Butler]

It is on record somewhere that I have a general disliking of balcony coaches, but this one is a stand out model and certainly one I could live with. Great job.

[LNR]

Every time I see one of those trams for sale I think about how I could convert it (being a sucker for tumblehome doesn't help). Ideally I would like two, to be able to add possibly another two or more windows. Your work has strengthened that view, an attractive and thorough job. Thanks for sharing.
Grant.

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Another great addition the fleet.

Thank you!

I have a general disliking of balcony coaches, but this one is a stand out model

High praise indeed! It is funny what we like or don't like. I grew up with my grandad's Marklin Maxi collection which, I think, predisposes me towards balcony carriages, that and the thrill of riding out in the open and getting soot in your eyes...

I think about how I could convert it (being a sucker for tumblehome doesn't help)

I know what you mean - it is a shame that there are so few carriage kits with tumblehome at the moment.

possibly another two or more windows.

That is a great idea - proportionally I think that would look very elegant. I'm sticking with this length as my limit at the moment as I don't know what constraints on space I'll have to work with when I eventually build my railway again. I think a short version, 4 windows, would look quite hansom too. Perhaps if you take two windows off one to build a long carriage, I could rescue the remains!

Thanks all for the kind words on this build. It was a fun little conversion project. If anyone wants a set of the plywood parts for their own conversion, let me know!

[StuartJ]

Very nice! It may even inspire me to finish mine!

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Hah! Your thread is what inspired me to get on and finish mine!

[StuartJ]

Every time I see one of those trams for sale I think about how I could convert it (being a sucker for tumblehome doesn't help). Ideally I would like two, to be able to add possibly another two or more windows. Your work has strengthened that view, an attractive and thorough job. Thanks for sharing.
Grant.

As we've discussed before, they are quite reminiscent of the Mt. Lyell coaches once you put 'railway' balconies on them. They are quite small in 16mm scale though.

Alternatively, with two extra windows and different 'tramway' platforms/balconies they are also quite close to the Manx Electric Nos.57/58:-


Manx Electric Railway - Saloon Trailer by Stuart, on Flickr

[SimonWood]

Unlike Mr Butler I love a balcony coach , and this one is an absolute beauty! Like you I use shirts for roofing, however I've always avoided the check pattern fearing it would take a lot of paint to hide it - but doesn't seem to have been a problem at all, and I hadn't thought of the advantage in eyeing up the squareness of the weave. Great tip.

[LNR]

they are also quite close to the Manx Electric Nos.57/58:-

Certainly some similarities there Stuart, thanks for posting. Would you happen to know the width of the car body of the model.
Grant.

[GTB]

The carriage was then painted in Revell AquaColour MudBrown using an air-brush and a lot of swearing (I've since discovered I was using the wrong sort of air-brush for this sort of application) and lined using a bow pen and humbrol enamels.

The lining looks pretty good to me. A few more models and you'll have the knack.

Can't say I've heard of an airbrush specific to acrylic paints. The ones sold by Revell look like normal single and double action types.

Revell and other acrylic suppliers have thinners for their products. Acrylic formulations are complex and in my limited experience are very touchy about being thinned. I have enough problems with airbrushing modern enamels..........

Graeme