Model Coach (Possibly Mk2)

[RichmondCommu]

G'day everyone.

Just over 25 year's a go my wife and I were clearing out the house that we had recently purchased and came across a model of what I'm pretty certain was a Mk2 coach. From memory the coach appeared to have been built to something akin to 7.25 inch guage and was a detailed model with the roof missing in order to show off the interior. The Mk2 was either a A, B or C. The coach also had its own display cabinet complete with a small length of track.

Having long lost my interest in railways and with my dad not interested in the coach it was dragged out of the garage and dumped into the skip. 25 year's on and I rather regret what we did and so I'm interested to try and trace it's origin. The owner of the house had passed away six months before and we never had the opportunity to find out anything about him so I don't whether he built it or whether he'd taken possession of it.

Any ideas anyone?

Kind regards and merry Christmas.

Richmond Commuter!

 

[ArchieWoodbine]

Sounds like it may very well have been display model comissioned by BR during the development or early introduction of the coaching stock - perhaps shown to the public as part of a touring station display; or presented to a group of senior BR stakeholders for comment?

There's perhaps half a dozen of similar models in the warehouse at the NRM (York) - a cutaway mk.1 sleeper springs to mind, but there's some from a few different eras. Their catologue is too numerous (and the search feature too inadequate!) for me to link you an example I'm afraid, but do keep a look out if you happen to visit.

 

[30907]

7.25 inch gauge is a common miniature engineering (sit-and-ride) gauge, approx 1:8 scale, so the model would have been 8ft long without its display case.
Here's a modern example, though not directly relevant.
http://17d-miniatures.co.uk/7-1-4-Coaches.html

I don't rexall the models at NRM being so big.

 

[edwin_m]

7.25 inch gauge would indeed have been a fairly impressive size. A lot of the models you see in the NRM were built by apprentices as a sort of training exercise, but I think they would be about half that gauge. I believe the early Mk2s were designed in Swindon and if the model was located there is might give a hint on its origin.

 

[brel york]

The later models in the nrm were not built by apprentices , they were built at york works trains school by a gentleman called Garry hall , 2nd and 3rd year apprentices helped him when they came back to the school periodically, he built numerous models from 455 - 150 and a model of brels international train which went to Germany for an exhibition