A workmans caban in 006.5...

Not all my 006.5 modelling is for the 6point5 range. Sometimes I just like making things for myself! I had a Busch braked skip wagon chassis left over from my last purchase. This was missing the magnetic coupling loop so I had removed the skip for use on the new layout, overturned and rusty in the field but the chassis languished on my workbench...

Then I wondered if I could build something on it - and the idea of a small workmans caban (a Welsh word for mess room / canteen - but more than that, a place where working men came together and talked, debated etc) came to mind. Hunting through my bits box I found a FR workmans coach - this looked promising. It's a touch wider than my usual loading gauge but still tiny. This is destined to be used on Canal Street Wharf initially, so the loading gauge isn't too much of an issue, and the idea that its a coupling converter, with a magnet at one end and a pin at the other, also means I can run mixed sets now. I set about modifying the kit...

I removed one plank from the window end, and then balanced this on the side of the door, reversing this for the second side, so that the doors are opposite one another. I then filed a 45degree chamber on the inside, so that they'd mate with the ends of the coach. The roof and floor were also shortened, and modified to fit the chassis.

I added some spacers to the top of the Busch chassis, and glued the floor to this - meaning the body is removable. I also added a stove chimney from styrene and in the picture below you can make out some handles and handrails. I also added a magnetic coupling to the plain end.

Next job some paint! Above you can see the relative merit of 006.5, it's diminutive size compared to what is also a small 009 locomotive, my version of Rocket, based on the Tomix Percy. More soon...