Building a Lineside Hut Gloster Wagon Company "Bowsider " circa 1879
Kit £121 [ no bogies or buffers ] Jig kit to assist building of bowsides £12
Coaches 19 and 20 were supplied to the FR in 1876 and 1879 respectively. They had wrought iron frames and the bogies were provided by Boston Lodge. Original compartments were Third/Second/First/First second/Third with 44 seats. The first class compartments were luxurious.
I have painted the coach in Col. Stephen's livery, to match the remainder of my FR stock, and taken some liberties with the FR crests and the coach number [19]
The kit comes with a lot of parts!!
This is the jig for the external bowside on the right and internal compartments 3rd, 2nd, 1st on the left.
The compartment ends and dividers were glued to the base.
A useful jig was provided to keep them all vertical
The coach side was inserted into the jig.
Note the strips of masking tape in each jig space.
The base was glued to the side ..keep the weight on!
Ready for the second side
Body completed
Teak stain for the droplights and a coat of Phoenix
clear satin varnish on the wood before the gloss coat.
Then paint the overlays and back into the jig to glue them to the sides
The window clear plastic is fitted and the blue internal panel
covering
Then the internal overlay is applied. I did not use the internal jig,
just clamped these in after staining
Carpet fitted
2nd class seats fitted
FR pictures!! James Spooner in foreground
End overlays fitted
Balcony and solebars fitted
Roof supports in place.
These are so flimsy that I made my own stronger replacements
There is a jig to help with the balcony rails.
Decals are provided with good instructions
This is the second Lineside Hut kit I have built. The instructions are
are logical and contain useful advice. All the parts fit. The price is reasonable.
I made my own small bogies using IP 20mm wheels because, unlike the prototype, this kit does not have a space underneath the floor for the bogie to fit into. IP engineering buffers, and FR door handles and flat grab handles from Brandbright.
The biggest weakness is the roof. The kit supplied parts are too flimsy to hold the roof in a straight line. I eventually decided to glue down the roof permanently after "aralditing" in the bogie retaining bolts.
Maybe doubling the roof by using two thin sheets would improve it, or using strips of wood.
Andy Cooper November 2018
