Lockdown provided the ideal opportunity for Tony Wright to build this Southern Pride BSO, a kit he’d stowed away for over 20 year
Though the advent of the Bachmann Mk. 1s towards the end of the last century rendered kit-building of many of the necessary types to produce prototype trains unnecessary, several diagrams were not covered. One of which was the common Brake Second Open (BSO), a type seen in numbers in expresses on the East Coast Main Line in the 1950s/’60s and ’70s. My model of 'Little Bytham' in OO gauge is representative of the latter part of the first decade.
I’ve built several Mk. 1 BSOs from the likes of Comet kits, and now, of course, we have Hornby’s excellent RTR rendition. However, along came lockdowns, and I began searching through my pile of boxes of un-built kits for something to keep me occupied. Thus, I found this Southern Pride BSO, which I must have had for over 20 years!
I must point out that I don’t think this style of Southern Pride kit is still available – that of plastic construction with pre-printed sides. I believe brass sides are now the type, though the main plastic components remain the same. The advantage that the pre-printed sides give is that they’re ready-‘painted’, and lined.
Anyway, I’m sure others have stashedaway kits of this type and they appear on the second-hand market occasionally, so this account might be of interest. The basic construction is very similar to the current kits, too. The following pictures show how I got on...
Permanently in place in its express; because the finish ends up glossier than proprietary cars and the colour is not exactly the same as Bachmann’s or Hornby’s BR maroon, it’s sandwiched between two carmine/cream carriages. An ideal layout carriage? I think so.
All the basic bits laid-out prior to beginning construction. Bachmann B1 bogies were supplied with plastic wheels. These wheels were substituted with metal equivalents, and the tension-lock couplings instantly removed.
As with any locomotive or rolling stock item I build, I always thoroughly road test it before it’s completed; that way it’s easier to make minor adjustments. Here, the SP BSO is the third car in the express. The locomotive is one of the Mike Trice V2s, which appeared recently in BRM.
Door furniture is supplied in the kit in the form of an etched brass fret. After carefully drilling the appropriate holes (the positions of which are marked on the sides), the handles and grab rails (the vertical ones, 0.45mm brass wire) were fixed with minute amounts of superglue. Too much superglue and the glazing fogs!
And coupled to another Bachmann car. Had I not lowered the SP car, it would have been substantially higher.
Buffers, couplings and concertina gangways (Modellers Mecca, supplied in the kit) now in place. As with many RTR Mk. 1 cars, the roof ribs were far too prominent. These were rubbed down with emery paper.
The basic ‘box’ body was made up very quickly, with the sides, ends and floor pan glued together. The roof was just put in place to check the fit.
The bogies temporarily in place. The metal wheels I used were old Jackson ones – I still have scores. I doubt if these are still available, though Markits will supply what’s needed. Brass washers were glued to the bogies to give a clearance fit around the 6BA bolt pivots.
I always make my own couplings. They consist of no more than some PCB sleeper strip, some 0.45mm brass or nickel silver wire and 30A fusewire to represent the vacuum brake and steam-heating pipes. The gangway cover came from a Bachmann Mk. 1.
My coupling system viewed from the side. When painted matt black, it’s quite discreet. The Southern Pride car (to the left) is coupled to a Bachmann Mk.1 here.
As supplied, the Southern Pride cars ride too high, perhaps to ensure clearance on tighter curves? I lowered the pivot pads by careful filing with a rough file.
This is a ‘towing’ coach; the towed one merely has a hook attached through its headstock. By pulling off the headstocks, like the prototype, there is less chance of a derailment caused by bogies snatching under load.
The underframe detail was supplied in plastic and as part of the brass fret. Very comprehensive, it was simple to put together.
Ventilators were cast metal, glued into pre-drilled holes (plotted from the scale drawings supplied). Train alarm gear was part of the fret, the periscopes were plastic, as were the short, end rainstrips.
In use on 'Little Bytham'. Though having the sides pre-printed makes getting an excellent finish easy, at every stage during the construction, the greatest care was taken not to get stray glue on them – not always easy! Because of this risk of surface-contamination, I omitted the door hinges. The carriage destination boards were from Ian Wilson’s Pacific Models’ range.
Now complete with any patch-painting (enamels) applied. Numbers/letters were from the HMRS ‘Pressfix’ range. The underframe was weathered with dry-brush-applied enamels.
No interior was supplied in the kit, but it was easily made from Plastikard and Southern Pride’s own range of plastic chairs and tables, sprayed with car acrylic red primer once complete. I didn’t have quite enough of the double tables, so substituted single ones on one side. It’s impossible to tell with the roof on. The holes in the floor accommodate the two long screws, which eventually hold the roof in place.
The interior was lightly glued in place and passengers added. Some mutilation to lower limbs and posteriors is often necessary to achieve the latter. Superglue on their bottoms holds them in place.