GRAHAM FARISH   MODELS -V- REAL LIFE PULLMANS   Versions Of The OO Models Take One! The first versions, made circa 1950s, had metal under frames that badly distorted and ruined otherwise good plastic bodies. Those early models had factory applied heat printed names. On the dining car, a choice of: Iolanthe, Lydia, Minerva, Pauline, Phyllis. A small number were also printed with Golden Arrow insignia. The brake coach carried "T.C. 94", where "T.C." was an unreal abbreviation of "Third Class Car No XX". There was also a Pullman car produced in blue, to act as a Wagons-Lits coach - not very convincing though. Takes Two & Three! The second issue of models, circa 1960s, and a third, circa 1970s, had plastic under frames which did not suffer from distortion. The difference between these batches was in the bogies - only the final batch of coaches had plastic bogies. Both of the plastic under framed batches came with a selection of names on paper. For the dining, or kitchen, car these names were: Alice, Belinda, Fingall, Gladys, Ibis, Iolanthe, Joan, Lydia, Minerva, Niobe, Penelope, Phyllis, Rosamunde. For the brake there was a choice of the following un-real styles of car naming: No. 27, No. 36, No. 54, No. 55, No. 62, No. 63, No. 67, No. 68, No. 69, No. 70, No. 71, No. 72, No. 77, No. 78, No. 79, No. 80, No. 81, No. 82. Prototypes For The Cars     The Dining Car The dining car was based on a 22-seat K-type kitchen car design, represented by the real life cars: Fortuna, Iolanthe, Irene. Other similar real life coaches were as follows. In these cases the panelling at the outer ends varied, although between windows it was as modelled: Aurelia, Cynthia, Fingall, Octavia (I), Plato (I), Rainbow (I), Rosamund, Zenobia. (When later different coach designs were introduced also named as "Octavia", "Plato" and "Rainbow", the original cars listed here were renamed.) With slightly different roof and inter window panel sizes, delineated on the models by indented vertical lines, the following were also similar: Argus, Geraldine, Marjorie, Medusa, Pauline, Sappho, Viking. With only single panels between the windows and fewer panels at the ends: Marcelle, Kathleen, Sybil. Finally, with roof ends that were not as modelled, as well as the different inter-window panelling, but still bearing a resemblance: Cecilia, Chloria. Prototypes For The Brake The brake end was modelled on a unique pair of coaches. Built originally in 1920 as kitchen cars "Ansonia" and "Arcadia", these coaches had 12 wheels and queen post under frames. They were rebuilt as brake firsts in Birmingham during 1924, keeping their names. Windows were blocked off and 23' 8" was assigned to baggage, leaving four square windows on each side at one end. There was no end corridor connection, instead a lined panelling section. At this time the coaches carried the Pullman "White" livery. In 1934 the cars were down graded, repainted in the more familiar umber and cream livery and renamed as "Car No 94 Third Class" and "Car No 95 Third Class". A corridor connection was added at the brake end at about this time. The match-boarding panels were sheeted over with metal around 1950, and hinged flush baggage doors were fitted. The names were also altered to "Car No 94" and "Car No 95". "Car No 94" was scrapped at Shoreham in 1955. "Car No 95" was withdrawn in 1962. There were four other similar vehicles, with variations on the size allocated for baggage and consequently a differing number of side windows. The side doors were also staggered rather than being in the same position on both sides of the vehicle. "Car No 40" and "Car No 41" had 22' for baggage with five square windows. "Car No 46" and "Car No 57" had 33' 10" for baggage and only three square windows. Real Life Usage     The Brakes The brake ends always ran in their pairs. For the modelled subjects, early Pullman "white" livery was carried in the Harrogate Pullman, Eastern Belle and Clacton Belle trains. The Bournemouth Belle used the coaches in both "White" and later umber & cream liveries. The Diners Kitchen cars "Fortuna" and "Irene" ran in the Harrogate Pullman service, and then, renamed as "Car No 161" and "Car No 162", in the Devon Belle. "Fingall" is preserved. The diners "Octavia" (I), "Plato" (I) and "Rainbow" (I), were built in 1924 and sold to Italy in 1925. The first two mentioned returned in 1928 and were renamed. It's unclear what became of "Octavia" (I) - some records have it renamed as "Diamond", a coach which was rebuilt as bar car for the Golden Arrow and other trains. "Plato" (I) became "Pearl", then later "Car No 249" in the Devon Belle. "Rainbow" (I), which did not return from abroad, ended its days in Egypt. A number of dining coaches were built for the pre-1932 Golden Arrow forerunner, the Dover Pullman Continental Express. These all carried "White" livery: Argus, Geraldine, Marjorie, Medusa, Pauline, Sappho. "Viking" was also built to the same design at that time, but was used elsewhere. "Argus" ended up in the Devon Belle, with some of the other cars, renamed as follows: Geraldine - Car No 166 Marjorie - Car No 167 Pauline - Car No 171 Viking - Car No 169 Modelling Compromises     The Brakes The brake ends should have had a 12 wheels, with 6-wheel bogies instead of re-using the 4-wheel bogie from the dining car. Also the end door area was indented in the same style as the diner cars, but on the real coaches the access door area was flush with the sides of the car. Brakes & Kitchen Cars Small windows were modelled at the ends just below the roof - the prototypes had recessed panels in this position. OO Versus N Models The OO-gauge models are almost identical to the N-gauge models. However, the corridor ends and roofs are different: All N coaches have corridor ends, the OO bodies are flat ended. In reality it was only the brake coach outer ends that lacked a corridor end connection, and that was only before about 1934. The N coach roofs have ventilator detailing, the OO bodies have only rain trap lines. In reality neither is correct and the brake car vent positions were different to the kitchens. Re-Modelling The Cars     The OO Brakes 6-wheel bogies can be fitted with the aid of white-metal kits from 247 Developments. The kits are based on the Pullman style bogie seen on several different coach types. We are told the kit is also suitable for some GWR modelling applications. The first image below shows packs supplied recently to us - on enlargement you can see the contact details and prices for obtaining these. The kits require low-melt solder to assemble and the bogie pivot holes need to be enlarged with a file or drill. We fitted them with Hornby plastic wagon/coach wheels and metal coupling assemblies - available as spares from Hornby. The finished kits were then painted all over matt black with Howes Railmatch paint. The resultant ride height and wheel clearance were a perfect match for the kitchen coaches. No adjustments or other alterations were needed to the coach, simply swap the bogies and fit the new ones with the same screws as the old. The second picture shows the finished product with our own names also added to complete the re-modelling.   OO scale 6W Pullman bogie kits.       OO brake model with Precision Labels L3B names and 247 Developments 6W bogies.     Any Models As well as the small names for the OO cars in our L3B pack, the L12 pack provides N-gauge full side panels.   N-gauge diner as supplied.       N-gauge models with a Precision Labels make over - see our L12 pack.     The Future   Bachmann bought out Graham Farish and shipped all the tooling to China. They have started to release revamped models with much more detailed printing and finer wheels, but there has not been any re-issue of the Pullman models to date. Hopefully, it won't be too long before the N-gauge versions are on sale again. Link: www.Bachmann.co.uk Our thanks go to Peter Berry, Roger Keen and Terry Bye (Pullman Society) for their assistance with this article.