ex-NLR 4 compartment first class carriage 6336 for Freshwater

Built by the North London Railway in 1864 as a four compartment, all-first class, 4 wheeled carriage, this vehicle was purchased second hand, over 30 years later by the Isle of Wight Railway (IWR), along with six other carriages. It was numbered 46. It retained the varnished teak livery, but bore the garter motif of the IWR, with its number in the centre. One of the first class compartments was down-graded to second class. When the Southern Railway took over in 1923, these 60 year old carriages were quickly withdrawn and disposed of, still in IWR livery, although it had officially been renumbered to 6336 and the second class compartment would have been down-graded again to third class. Over 50 years later, the body of 6336 was discovered as part of a bungalow at Hayling Island. It was acquired by the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, restored and mounted on a luggage van chassis, and returned to service 11 years later, in the olive green Southern Railway livery it had never previous worn.

So, this carriage is almost completely wrong for my 'Freshwater' layout based in the late 1940's-early 1950's, but Etched Pixels have a 3D printed model of the body, and David Eveleigh produced a 2mmFS etched nickel-silver NLR chassis, so I thought it would make a nice quickie addition for the layout. Well, not as quick as I had hoped, of course.

Here is the 3D printed body as it came, and the chassis under contruction, just three years ago: 

 

The body received a coat of primer, and the chassis completed, and sprayed black earlier this year. It is seen in company with an ex-LBSCR Stroudley carriage, which I will decribe in a later blog: 

There then followed some rubbing down, painting, addition of Fox transfers (two sheets needed because lots of 6's and 3's are used here). Some glazing and passengers were fitted, and then some gentle weathering. Finally it is ready to take its place in the stock box.