B-Mann J&S convershion to 1:20.3

[dwbeckett]

Easy question, Hard ansure, Has anyone done this and how hard was it to do. I have Nothing to run with my Two 2-8-0 or my Shay.

Dave

[kstrong]

Jack Thompson did that to some USA (or somesuch) cars, and they turned out rather nicely.

http://4largescale.com/Thompson/index.htm

Of course, Jack rarely touches anything that doesn't turn out well...

He added around 1/2" of material to the bottom below the windows to raise the car a bit. They're still somewhat "off" for a proper 1:20 passenger car, but not too bad. 

As for the Bachmann coaches, they'd be somewhat similar, though a bit longer. The width would be fine for 1:20, though it would represent the older c. 1870s coaches with single seats on one side of the aisle, and double seats on the other. You'd still want to add around 3/8" to 1/2" on the height, and the windows would ultimately still be a touch narrow looking, but if you're not a purist, it'd look good enough. I'd be tempted to add another three windows to the car to give it just a bit of extra length. 15-window coaches were fairly common on the narrow gauge. 

Personally, though, if you had a small collection of them, I'd put them on the auction block and use the proceeds to buy the AMS 1:20 J&S coach. Yeah, they're a bit pricey at nearly $200 each (compared to the $50 for the B'mann coaches) but considering you'd need at least three coaches to add the height and length to the B'mann coach to get it close, plus the labor of doing so, it's well worth the trade-off. The reality is that many narrow gauge passenger trains were seldom longer than two or three coaches long, anyway, so you really wouldn't need many to be prototypical. 

Later,

K

[dwbeckett]

Thanks K, I have 3 coach's and 3  combine's ( willl become a two door baggage ) The convershion sounds perty strait forward So I think I will give it a try. Working a station currenty.

Dave