Welshpool & Llanfair 3rd-class coach

16mm scale, gauge 0/1, Welshpool & Llanfair 3rd-class coach
Accucraft Trains
33268 Central Ave.
Union City CA 94587
Price: $610 for 2-car set
Web site: www.accucraft.com

Mostly plastic model of a W&L “Pickering” 3rd-class coach; complete interior; truck-mounted chopper couplers; die-cast trucks; supplied with blackened, gauge-0 and gauge-1 wheelsets. Dimensions: Length over end beams, 22″; width, 41/8″; height, 63/8″. In 16mm scale, this works out to 34’10” x 6’6″ x 10’1″, respectively

Pros: Accurate replica of prototype; excellent paint and graphics; good interior detail; high level of external detail; gauge 0 and 1 wheelsets provided
Cons: Minimal underbody detail; lining on body incomplete; window-attaching adhesive visible inside

The Welshpool & Llanfair Railway is one of many preserved narrow-gauge lines running in Wales. It opened in 1901 and closed in 1956. Preservation commenced in 1963 and today the 2’6″-gauge line is alive and well, running between Welshpool and Llanfair. In 2007, the line took delivery of the “all third” Pickering coach, a replica of one of the line’s original coaches, which was scrapped in 1931. The replica was built by the Ffestiniog Railway for the W&L.

Accucraft’s model is of the replica, not the original coach. It has a plastic body, fully glazed, with a complete interior consisting of longitudinal benches on either side of the coach. The body is painted chocolate and cream, with a gray roof and black undercarriage. Unfortunately, a lot of the fine lining that can be seen on the prototype has been omitted from the model. Plastic railings protect the end platforms. There are fold-down aprons for access to the next car and the end beams are complete with safety chains. There is little underbody detail on the model.

The car has unsprung, cast-metal trucks (bogies), fitted with truck-mounted chopper-type couplers. These couplers are prototypically correct (though the prototype’s are body mounted). However, they would be compatible with nothing running in North America. If you intended
to run this car with US-compatible equipment, the couplers would have to be changed.

Our review sample came with gauge-1 wheelsets installed. However, a complete set of gauge-0 wheelsets is also included in the package. To change them, the journal-retainer plates on the bottoms of each truck must be removed, the journals dropped, and the wheels replaced-a fairly simple task.

All things considered, this is a beautiful, accurate model of an interesting prototype. Whether it’s run with a prototypically correct locomotive or in a more creative amalgamation of rolling stock, it will enhance any train of which it is part.