I have three of the Society kits and had intended to finish one of them in WW1 style but have been unable to find a picture of one. Is anyone able to point me in the right direction, please?
Duncan
You haven't found a photo because, AFAIK, the toast rack coaches were produced by Hudsons after World War One (i.e. during the 1920s) using up parts that were 'war surplus', either made too late and not used or bought from one of the MOD sales.
For transporting troops to the front lines the War Department opens were used with the men perched on the wagon load or hanging on to whatever they could. There were a small number of custom-built field conversions for carrying passengers, but these were reserved of officers only - most famously King George V who traveled in a converted D class wagon which one half had been turned into an enclosed coach with the other half forming a roofed balcony. I think that someone, possibly Stephen Sullivan, built a model of that one wich featured in 009 News.
Good afternoon,
Thank you for your reply. Yes, I saw photos of the troops being transported in D class wagons. There is a photo of the converted wagon with the King in situ on the Imperial War Museum's website.
I must have got the wrong impression from something I read in the passing about the coaches having been constructed and used during WW1 rather than being built from surplus WW1 equipment.
I might now do a "what might have been" or, alternatively, paint it in one of the WHR's rather wild colour schemes.
Duncan
Well I think that they were indeed identical in design to coaches supplied by Hudson to the War Department, for use on the military railways. However how many were actually supplied and if any made it to the front lines I have no idea.
Again I think the coaches were included in the Rendel, Palmer & Trittion designs for standard light railway rolling stock that were prepared for the Government in association with Robert Hudson in 1914.
Also I think the design was in the Hudson literature before the FR/WHR coaches were ordered in 1923.
However I have not seen photos of any in use in WW1 or indeed photos of any others than the six used on the FR/WHR that were built new in 1923.
Brian Meldon
Thank you.
I was doing a little online research yesterday and festipedia is where I read the reference to the Hudson design for use by WDLR.
I will keep looking. I have a collection of Festiniog Railway magazines and I am working my way through them to see if there are any further references there.
Duncan
I cannot recall ever seeing any reference to bespoke passenger vehicles of any sort (apart from local lash-ups) in any of the works I have on Light Railways of WW1. I do not believe any such items were ever put out to tender, or indeed were any tenders submitted. In any event, I would have thought it most unlikely that any such ideas would be seriously entertained as the keyword to the railways operating system was simplicity. Having bespoke passenger vehicles would defeat the object when troops could be carried just as easily in open wagons which would, nearly always, be available anywhere. As an aside, the French used dual purpose wagons for livestock and troop transport, something like, in French, 'eight horses/forty men' comes to mind.(Can't remember the exact figures.)
Rod
Re-hash of old joke - "..What about the smell?" "Oh, the horses will get used to it..." :)