S108: GWR G20 SALOON (LATER CONFIGURAITION)

Diagram G20 Saloon Late Configuration (Departmental). LE7N profile (Lewis System).

31 ft 3/4 in Body, 19 ft 0 in wheelbase

Original version

Designed to be used with the Ratio 613 long chassis.
Optionally, etched brass ends (Shire S113M ) are also available along with cast springs and axleboxes (MJT 2258), sprung buffers (MJT 2335S) and gas lamp tops (MJT 2945). Note: if converting a Ratio kit, the gas lamp tops will have to be replaced as the existing ones are moulded into the roof in the wrong places for this vehicle.

These original Shire S108 sides are based on a preserved example of this coach located at Buckfastleigh, Devon. There is a photograph of the vehicle taken in 1945 in J.H. Russell's G W Coaches Part 1 (page 59, figure 67 ) clearly showing it in departmental service. In G W Coaches Appendix Part 2 by the same author (page 31, figure 79) there is a drawing of a six wheeled vehicle, identified as diagram G20, which has the same window pattern as the 'Shire' Saloon in the 1945 photograph. Removal of the central axle later in life would not be inconsistent with observed GWR practice. In the 1945 photograph, the lower and waist mouldings are uninterrupted between the outer door panels but vestigial marks can be seen suggesting that the mouldings have been altered. The G W Coaches Appendix states that all G20s were condemned from passenger service by 1939.
The G W Society at Didcot has restored an identical saloon. It is mounted on a 6-wheel chassis from a much later departmental van. The G W Society team has restored the mouldings so that the coach is close to the 'original' condition of the drawing in the Appendix. Shire has re-tooled the S108 to this earlier configuration and designated it S108M.

(OO Gauge / 4mm Scale)

Grey parts on diagram are from Ratio kit.

For more information on this range of etched sides, how they can be used to represent various GWR coaches and the Lewis System for categorisation of coach profiles click here.

Price: £12.00


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