Remove any flash and file away any imperfections from the top of the resin corridor connection.
Colour the resin corridor connection with a black permanent marker or spray satin black paint.
Do not get paint on the back of the corridor connection.
Bachmann BR MkI Standard and Pullman
Some carriage interiors fowl the lateral movement of the draw bar and needs that area of the interior floor to be carved away otherwise the carriage will be pulled off the track on tight radii or the draw bar locating finger may be broken off.
Any flash can be removed with a finger nail or a nail brush. Any distortion of the draw bar can be corrected by dipping it into a container of freshly boiled water and then applying pressure to it on the edge of a flat surface.
Sit the carriage on a length of flat track. Put a set square on the track, set the corridor connection against it and check that the corridor connection is perpendicular to the track. On many of the carriages the corridor connection slopes out at the top so this has to be corrected.
Alternatively fit the Keen Systems MkI corridor connection and floating end plate, see below.
Buffer height of the model carriage should be 14mm from the top of the rail to the centre of the buffers.
Place the fixing plate into the corridor connection with the hole upwards.
With a 2mm drill bit mark the end of the carriage through the hole in the fixing plate.
Remove the fixing plate and drill a 2mm hole in the marked position.
Insert the end plate and check for a free movement, if needed adjust the hole upwards or sideways.
Remove the end plate. Place the spring over the spigot, insert the end plate, then fit the fixing washer to the spigot.
Make a spacing jig in the shape of a two pronged fork from 1mm plasticard. Place this between the inside face of the carriage and the fixing washer and press the washer onto the jig.
Remove the jig and test the movement of the end plate. The end plate should move freely and sit vertically.
The attitude of the end plate can be set by adjusting the position of the fixing washer to ensure the end plate is an equal distance from the bellows.
The BR MkI standard bogie.
When the return spring gets stretched there is a tenancy for the draw bar to drop and slip out from under the sole bar. To prevent this glue two pieces of 1mm thick plastic strip to the top of the bogie.
Remove the bar from the rear of the bogie. This prevents the bogie from rubbing on the return spring and helps prevent derailments.
Some later productions of MK I carriages have a pip moulded on the top surface of the of the bogie. This has to be removed.
Fit the Buck Eye couplers to the coupling pocket and fix with a small amount of super glue after following the instructions above.
Separate the body from the chassis. Then prize the existing corridor connection from the end of the carriage.
Glue the new corridor connection onto the carriage end. Place the fixing plate into the new corridor connection as a template and with a 2mm drill mark the position of the hole.
Remove the fixing plate and drill a 2mm hole into the end of the carriage. Ease the hole so the end plate moves freely in and out.
Reference: British Railway Carriages by Keith Parkin
1960 was a time of change with British Rail MkI carriages.
The bottom of the end plate was changed.
The Commonwealth bogie was introduced.
Outside window frames were added to new build and refurbished carriages.
1963 saw the introduction of the B4 bogie and first saw service on the XP64 carriages which led to the introduction of the MkII carriages.
Open up the return spring hole with a 1mm drill bit.
Additional instructions for the Restaurant Car, Full Break & Pullman
Using plasticard, glue a packing piece to the front edge of the bogie pivot post, 10 thou for the Full Break and 20 thou for the Restaurant Car.
File the front edge of the coupling pocket so it is just behind the back of the buffer beam.
For the Restaurant Car, the MKI Pullman and possibly some others, file this side of the arm thinner so it is just below the height of the bogie pivot post.
Resin products are not always perfect. The producers will often try to get the most out of a mold before a new mold has to be made. So the product may need to be corrected with the use of a small file and a scalpel.
First do a trial fit for the draw bar to see how far the bar will move round the guides. The make some tiny adjustments as below and try the fit again. Continue the tiny adjustments until the draw bar passes over the centre point freely with very little end float.
A recess is filed over the hole at end of the draw bar so the end loop of the spring will fully loop around the draw bar.
File of any pips flat then open up the hole with a 1mm dril bit.
The pocket bottom is made from a length of 20th x 6mm plasticard cut from a sheet. The infill piece is cut from a length of 1mm x 2mm plastic strip.
Using a small file or a scalpel carefully remove a tiny amount of plastic from this edge at the bottom of the coupling a little at a time until a pair of couplings will pass easily through each other with a minimum of side play.
Too much rotational side play will cause carriages to lock up and derail when pushed through reverse curves.
File the bottom of the coupler shoulder flush with the tang.
Clean off any flash from the resin drawbar with a blunt blade or your finger nail.
Then set the buckeye so the bottom of the coupler is flush with the bottom of the drawbar coupling pocket. Fix with a small amount of super glue.
The Pullman body is easily removed from the chassis by opening up the body sides and pull out the chassis.
Gently prize the corridor connection from the carriage body.
Glue the new corridor connection on to the carriage.
Remove the end plate. Place the spring over the spigot, insert the end plate, then fit the fixing washer to the spigot.
Make a spacing jig in the shape of a two pronged fork from 1mm plasticard. Place this between the inside face of the carriage and the fixing washer and press the washer onto the jig.
Remove the jig and test the movement of the end plate.
The end plate should move freely and sit vertically. The attitude of the end plate can be set by adjusting the position of the fixing washer to ensure the end plate is an equal distance from the bellows. Now re-assemble the carriage.
Prize the water pipes out of the ends of the carriage.
Remove the bogie and draw bar from the carriage.
Before removing the draw bar from the chassis fix the spring to the chassis with a small touch of super glue. Now leave it be for a long while to be sure the glue has set.
Now remove the draw bar and the
spring will stay in place on the chassis.
Remove the bogie.
For the MkI Pullman unsolder the wires from the current pickups.Then prize the bogies from the chassis.
Remove the bogies.
Remember to glue the end of the spring to the chassis before removing the draw bars.
Remove the three screws from the chassis.
Keen Systems replacement Draw Bars