Russell Coal - or now to spoil a Rapido OAA…

This started out as a curiosity - the N gauge society offer an ex-TPM kit of the Russell coal container and I had pondered its potential for Cwmbach. Less than £2 I added it to my last order…

With a little work including running a blade along the top edges of the inside to thin their appearance, it’s a neat and distinctive model - but it was originally designed to use a Farish Poole VBA chassis - long gone with no ‘cheap’ way of acquiring any - and before Will (at Coventry Rail Works) was offering things that might work I looked at the Rapido OAA as a potential donor. I had a set previously, and sold them on - but I recalled the underframe being fully modelled. This would look great with the container removed…

The conversion was not as easy as I had hoped! The frames are moulded as part of the sides, so I had to razor saw off the bodywork! The resulting chassis was light and very flimsy it I continued in the vein of there is no turning back… I had hoped the frames were seperate so I could better represent the prototypes solebar, but alas, this wasn’t possible. The black paint hides this a bit… the container was primed and given a wash for now, because I’ll probably replace it with a neater built kit in time. The chassis was given a sprinkling of incorrect but representational markings before some dirt…

The result? I think is passable, and interesting. They don't really work as a train on Cwmbach as they’re a touch long really, meaning you can’t fit as many on… the modelling itself was challenging and frustrating - and didn’t quite capture that feeling of being in the model. All that said, it did mean I have another pair of virgin Rapido OAA to tinker with… one has already been started as a Redland example. For now, until next time, more soon…

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