Building a Parlor Car

[jlancasterd]

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Someone commented a few days ago that the Ffestiniog Railway workshops at Boston Lodge produce some remarkable work.

Some of you might therefore appreciate this series of photos covering the building (in 2004, for a private customer* who will run it on his garden railway!) of a 2-foot gauge parlor car based on the design of the Sandy River RR car 'Rangeley' - still extant up in Maine. Unfortunately I don't have any shots of the underframe being built as the welding bay is very inconveniently laid out and the welders don't welcome interruptions. Everything shown, except the wheelsets, was built in-house.

All of the construction photos were taken with a Digilux 2. The two of the finished car, included for completeness sake, were done with a Fuji S3 which was bought as a stop-gap and traded in on my DMR...

Incidentally, the car has dual air and vacuum brakes and a full kitchen including microwave oven, ceramic hob, wine store and fridge... Under test on the FR it proved perfectly possible to serve a full 4-course meal for 8 people whilst on the move...

*The CEO of Chiltern Railways - who started his railway career as a volunteer on the FR.

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[jmr]

John,

 

so, I guess the chap has a decent sized garden. Very nice documentary series.

[stuny]

John -

 

Very nice series, all well expsoed with proper DOF and solid composition. Please ask the owner if he'd like to adopt me.

[jlancasterd]

Hi John

 

Yes, he does! The line has some very sharp curves but he's able to run this parlor car with a former Darjeeling Himalayan 'B'-type 0-4-0T that he obtained from a fellow in Texas(!) and two replica Darjeeling Himalayan steel carriages also built at Boston Lodge. I gather that it's not unknown for Chiltern Railways board meetings to be held in 'Carrabasset'.

 

John

 

John,

 

so, I guess the chap has a decent sized garden. Very nice documentary series.

[wda]

John this is a fine and interesting series of pictures. What a project!

 

Do they still construct wooden framed vehicles at the workshops?

 

David

[oculus_ny]

Fascinating and well-shot.

[andybarton]

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Really good series.

 

Do post more!

 

[hm1912]

Great series. I can't believe that this is for someone's private garden. Talk about disposable income....

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[jlancasterd]

John this is a fine and interesting series of pictures. What a project!

 

Do they still construct wooden framed vehicles at the workshops?

 

David

 

Yes they do - The FR did construct a series of all-metal passenger cars in the 1970s, with bodies jig-formed and welded up from sheet steel. However they found that these bodies corroded fairly quickly in the sea air - the first mile of the line is along a causeway with the sea on one side and the carriage shed is almost on the beach. They have therefore gone back to an earlier design consisting of a hardwood-framed wooden body mounted on a sturdy, welded steel underframe. These bodies are easier to construct, easier to repair, easier to modify if requirements change, and last longer.

 

It's also possible to use a proportion of recycled timber in constructing the framework - you'd be surprised how much good timber (including valuable stuff like well-seasoned teak four by eights!) gets thrown into skips or burned on demolition sites in this country because redevelopers can't be bothered trying to sell it. Members of the FR Society have become adept at reacting to offers like 'if you can get a lorry here in 24 hours to take it away you can have it free of charge...' Needless to say this also helps to keep costs down, but cars are still costing from £60k to £80 these days depending on type.

 

The car in the background of the first shot is a standard FR saloon carriage under construction, and now in service. We have built two new first class observation cars since then and a new service car (brake/luggage/toilet/kitchen) is currently being built, to be followed by two saloons for the Welsh Highland Railway.

 

It's said (not entirely in jest!) that Boston Lodge is the second busiest carriage builder in the UK these days - after Bombardier

[silvergull]

What a great series. What great vehicles. As a wooden boat nut, I really appreciate the craftsmanship going into those coaches. Kudos for mentioning the valuable resource that reclaimed wood can be.

 

Nice photography, too!

 

Cheers,

 

Jim

[jlancasterd]

What a great series. What great vehicles. As a wooden boat nut, I really appreciate the craftsmanship going into those coaches. Kudos for mentioning the valuable resource that reclaimed wood can be.

 

Nice photography, too!

 

Cheers,

 

Jim

 

Thanks Jim

 

If you appreciate the craftsmanship deployed on 'Carrabasset' you might like to look at the series 'Here's one we prepared earlier' that I'm just about to post...