Kit-bash a slip coach
The slip coach was a purely British railway operation and one which, in theory at least, defied all normal safe operating practices. Chris Leigh shows you how to create one from a Hornby model.
the slip coach was a typically british invention. chris Leigh shows you how to create one from a hornby model.
A orderslip coach was a specially equipped vehicle that was detached from the rear of an express passenger train in to serve an intermediate station without stopping the main train. It was first practised by the London Brighton & South Coast Railway at Haywards Heath in 1858 and was subsequently adopted by several other companies, including the Great Central and the Great Western. It was a practice which went against normal safe operating. After several serious incidents of trains becoming divided, notably on the Highland Railway, all passenger trains had to have continuous brakes. From that time, if a train divided accidentally, both parts would normally be stopped by the parting of the continuous brake hoses. In slipping a coach or coaches, the train is deliberately divided with the continuous brake overridden by special valves which sealed the parting hoses. These valves prevented the main train from being slowed or stopped as the slipping took place, while the valve on the slip coach would let the guard restore the vacuum and apply the brakes as necessary, allowing the coach to roll to a stop either at the station platform or at a designated point, from which it would be collected by the station pilot. The purpose of slipping was to allow intermediate stations to be served by an express without stopping or slowing the main train. The big disadvantage was that there was no way of reversing the process for the returning train going in the opposite direction. It had to stop so the slip coach could be reattached. Passengers in the slip coach were also unable to access the refreshment vehicle or dining car in the main portion, as