More new 006.5 projects...

In my concerted effort to get 006.5 established as a workable scale I'm pushing on with more rolling stock projects, this time a pair of coaches that should work very nicely with Empire...

First up is an interesting adaption of an old Meridian kit, which now sits within the Narrow Planet family. The plastic moulded 'Brown Marshall' coach will receive a replacement plug in 006.5 bogie chassis and some etched metal footboards. You may think I'm bonkers, but I was about to draw up a Royal Arsenal panelled coach, and I noticed the similarity, not only in appearance but also dimensions, to the Talyllyn coach. The panelling should be diagonal, not straight, but apart from that I'm hoping it will make an attractive and well proportioned addition to the range, and should be fine n the sharp Busch corners.

The second new item is a little more obscure, and I've only found drawings, no photographs to work from - these in the 18" railways book by Mark Smithers, long out of print. The Chatham docks railway was also 18" and these coaches, built by the Lancaster Carriage works were described as 'convict coaches'.

The concept is a wire frame 3D print, like Mark has used recently on the much smaller gunpowder van, combined with etched inlays and roof. The prototype parts have been designed and will be ordered soon. I am unsure if this longer coach will cope with the sharper Busch radius, but I am expecting it to be fine on the wider radius curves.

Both of these new items use a bogie I've designed - if the concept works in 006.5 then I will be able to offer further bogie items including the distinctive Royal Arsenal vans and the Waltham Abbey wagons. More soon...