Bachmann 009 Rolling Stock 394-100 Ffestiniog Railway 'Tin Car' Saloon Third No. 119 FR Crimson & Cream

The Ffestiniog Railway ‘Tin Car’ Coaches from Bachmann Narrow Gauge are the perfect choice for anyone wishing to model this famous Welsh narrow gauge railway in OO9 Scale. Complementing the many locomotives, buildings and accessories from the Ffestiniog Railway (FR) that are already produced by Bachmann, the Tin Cars replicate the coaches that many visitors to the line will have travelled on since their construction in the late-1970s to their withdrawal from use in the mid-2010s, or even more recently in their second lives away from the FR.

These brand new models feature finely-detailed, injection-moulded bodyshells with integral roofs and solebars, all sporting additional details from rivets to door handles and steps; even the coach reservation board clips aside each door have been modelled. With a detailed interior, including toilet compartment details where appropriate, each coach runs on a pair of bogies boasting separate brake blocks and fitted with metal wheels. Standard OO9 couplings are fitted to the bogies by way of a NEM pocket.

The livery application really brings the Tin Car to life, employing authentic Ffestiniog Railway colours, logos and typefaces – extending even to the no smoking signs printed onto each of the large, panoramic windows. On this particular model, these are triangular and are reproduced in both English and Welsh language replicating those applied to the real vehicles.

Read more about the Bachmann Narrow Gauge FR ‘Tin Cars’

MODEL FEATURES:

• Bachmann Narrow Gauge OO9 Scale
• Era 9
• Vehicle is Preserved
• Pristine Ffestiniog Railway Crimson & Cream livery
• Running No. 119
• Profiled Metal Wheels
• NEM Coupling Pockets
• Detailed and Decorated Interior including Toilet Compartment
• Length 146mm (over couplings)

FFESTINIOG RAILWAY ‘TIN CAR’ HISTORY

The Ffestiniog Railway (FR), located in the Slate Landscape of North Wales – a Unesco World Heritage Site - has operated between Porthmadog and Blaenau Ffestiniog for almost 200 years. The world’s oldest Narrow Gauge railway and arguably the most famous too, since 1955 the line has operated purely for enthusiasts and tourists and is today one of the top tourist attractions in Wales.

Whilst the FR has preserved many of the vehicles used in the pre-preservation era, it has also been a prominent builder of new stock and from the late-1970s ‘Tin Car’ coaches were built to provide contemporary rolling stock for passenger trains. Originally known as ‘Domeliners’ owing to their domed roofs, the coaches were built using second hand underframes which originated from the Isle of Man Railway (IoMR), having been constructed for the IoMR between 1909 and 1926 by the Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage & Wagon Company. Sold for scrap and subsequently purchased by the Ffestiniog Railway, the company built its own coach bodies on top of the frames, creating a total of six passenger vehicles.

The Tin Cars were employed principally on the Ffestiniog Railway, but also saw occasional use on the restored Welsh Highland Railway, however by 2018 all had been withdrawn from service with the company favouring the ‘Barn’ coaches and the more recently built ‘Super Barns’ which are now the mainstay of regular services on both the Ffestiniog Railway and the Welsh Highland Railway.

With the exception of one vehicle, which had its bodywork scrapped in 2005 before its underframe was recycled once again for use under a Barn coach, the Tin Cars remain extant – four have been sold, two each to the Golden Valley Light Railway and the Moseley Railway Trust, and the last, an observation vehicle, has been retained by the FR for Departmental use.

The Bachmann Narrow Gauge model is formed from a finely-detailed, injection-moulded bodyshell featuring intricate panel engraving, along with hinge and door handle detailing and separately fitted metal wire grab handles. The body is mounted onto a diecast metal underframe, with engraved planking on the guard’s platform and rivet detail along the solebar and at either end. Further external features include the prominent handrail provided for the guard along with the vacuum pipe support bracket and vacuum pipes at either end.

Within the guard’s compartment a handbrake wheel is fitted and seating and partitions feature inside the passenger compartments, whilst below the solebar the models run on detailed bogies fitted with metal wheelsets with curved spoke wheels. NEM couplings are mounted to the underframe, into which standard OO9 scale couplings are fitted.

This highly detailed model is brought to life by the livery application which combines a high quality paint finish with crisp, fully legible printed details to create this ready-to-run marvel.

Read more about the Bachmann Narrow Gauge FR Brake Third

MODEL FEATURES:

• Bachmann Narrow Gauge OO9 Scale
• Era 9
• Vehicle is Preserved
• Pristine Crimson & Cream livery
• Running No. 8
• Profiled Metal Wheels with Curved Spokes
• NEM Coupling Pockets
• Length 96mm (over couplings)

FFESTINIOG RAILWAY CURLY ROOF VAN HISTORY

Three bogie luggage vans entered traffic with the Ffestiniog Railway between 1873 and 1876, the bodies for which were built by Brown, Marshall & Co. and these were fitted with bogies and brake gear at the railway’s own Boston Lodge works. Known at the time as ‘Turtle Roof Vans’ owing to their uniquely shaped roofs, but now commonly termed ‘Curly Roof Vans’, each van comprised a guard’s compartment with end platform, a large luggage compartment and a small compartment for dogs.

Of the three original vans, numbered 1-3, No. 1 was broken up in 1921 and No. 3 suffered the same fate at the dawn of the preservation-era Ffestiniog Railway in 1955. Van No. 2 however was rebuilt in 1920/1, receiving a new body which incorporated two third class passenger compartments in place of the dog compartment. The resulting van retained its guard’s compartment and external platform but had a reduced luggage compartment and was built with a conventional curved roof. Van No. 2 was later renumbered to No. 10 and has subsequently carried both numbers at various points in history – the vehicle remains in service today, currently as No. 10.

With no surviving ‘Curly Roof Van’ to the original design, in 2004 a replica of Van No. 1 was built thanks to the support of a generous sponsor. The replica van sports all the hallmarks of the originals, including the wide handrails with curved side rails fitted to the guard’s platform. The same pattern of handrail was carried by the original vans, although an alternative narrower version with straight side rails is also known to have been fitted to Van No. 3, and possibly others.