2010 and 2100

Two very important WHR(C) carriages have been missing from my plan - the service/brake carriage 2010 and the new Pullman obs 2100. Well they are missing no more.

On Friday, the etches arrived from worsley works and spare moments during the weekend have been utilised to construct them up to chassis and sides, with roofs ready for application asap.

So, firstly 2010... this is a pretty standard carriage really and so went together just like all the other saloons, it's not the prettiest of designs, but is very important to my planned rakes being a brake vehicle.

and 2100... well this is a different kettle of fish entirely, especially the obs end. The chassis was relatively easy - tabbed battery boxes went on and the skirt at the front (similarly tabbed) required forming into a curve with a buffer beam overlay then added on top. The bogie pivot holes were enlarged and 10BA nuts soldered over them.

The usual system of L shaped assemblies incorporating a 10BA captive nut were put together, although in this instance the obs end ones were just affixed to the carriage main body on the sides only, being curved at the front. After tapping the threads to remove any errant solder, these were put to one side and the doors were folded up and soldered squarely to the sides.

Then I noted an error in the kit... (not Allen's fault as drawings don't exist for the ends and photos were thin on the ground when the kit was being designed) ... on this occasion the roofline doesn't fit over the top of the doors, but is set back flush with them. So the doors came off again and the top fold-over section was removed. Then the carriage end was snipped to straight rather than the top overhang that is present on all other WHR modern carrs. This end was then attached to the doors and the sides and the L shaped section added at the correct ride height.

Then came the front end. Firstly the front has a curved wrapper to fit around the captive nut assembly, this was tacked in place and then joined to the carriage sides to check that all was level and true. It was, so the full semi-circle was soldered on securely.

A clever arrangement is then provided where rectangular section brass strip (provided in the kit) is attached to an assembly which then can be soldered to the front wrapper and forms a base for the domed roof too. Once it's fitted, two sections (which have kept the mini assembly nice and square) are then removed to ensure it looks prototypical. Without this clever assembly the front end would have been a nightmare, but this was actually pretty easy. Once the roof is on the join between the sides and this domed roof base will be more secure, but it's OK for now. So, a section that looked somewhat worrying, turned out nice again.

Colin