Henrietta

LHRR "Henrietta"
Coach

Bachmann 97001
Brought to LHRR: 2018
Re-Build Completed: 2025

Soon after I bought my Toby the Tram, I spent time searching to see if Bachmann made a Henrietta to go with him. They don't. So, I bought an Annie to make my own.

Basis

Rev. Awdry's original basis for Henrietta was a Great Eastern Railway (GER) Wisbech and Upwell Tramway 4-wheel coach (see the first photo). However, his first model of the coach was a kit also used for Annie & Clarabel that he modified. I appreciate that I will be doing essentially the same thing he did.

The Build

The build of Henrietta has started out with a large scale Bachmann Annie.

First, I cut and sanded down all the details on molded plastic details that I did not want on the coach. Door handles, grab rails, hinges, and foot plates were all removed. (picture 1)
More plastic was removed next. There were 3 windows on each side that could not actually be seen through. So, I cut them out. To do this, I drill a hole in the space to be removed first, then I use an Xacto blade to carefully chip away at the plastic. (pictures 1-3)
Then (pictures 4 & 5), I added styrene to the model to fill in the cavity below the windows so the exterior of the coach can be solid (see ref photo 3 above).
Each end was cut off the model next (picture 6), but the base was kept so it could be reattached to the original chassis without issue.

After months of leaving this project alone, I returned to it and realized that I'd make a couple errors (based on the prototype). So, I had to take a few steps back before I could move forward.

I ripped off the styrene I'd glued to the sides of the body. Plus I cut away the rest of the plastic on either end of the body. That idea just wasn't going to work.
After more demo, I was able to move forward again; I re-added the styrene under the windows in a different way (resulting in the different end-profile for the coach). I also had to do a lot of space filling with styrene and plastic putty. I think this photo is from round 3 of putty.i
I turned my attention to the chassis so the body had a chance to dry. I managed to pull off the buffers and hooks with only one fatality.
To do this I gripped each piece tightly with pliers and twisted until the piece moved. This broke the glue connections. After that, all I needed to do was pull straight out.
** This method did damage every piece, so I do not recommend it! **
Next I removed the running board from either side of the chassis & fabricated new styrene floors for the open-air ends of the car. I even cut down some screws so the floors are attached.
You can also see in this photo that the buffers and hooks are missing. What you can't see is that the end of the hook I broke is still attached to the frame.
Test fitting everything I've done so far. Looks pretty good!
I drew on the pieces of styrene I cut out for either end of the body with pencil. This planning made it easy to cut everything out at once.
Gotta cut straight lines!
One of the ends with the "windows" cut out, door removed, and door detailed. After this, I shimmed the larger of the two pieces with spare Xacto blades and laid the door itself directly on my work surface then glued it together. This way, the door sits back a bit from the exterior wall. I think it worked pretty well.
Test-fitting my first body end. They both ended up needing trimming.
At this point I got the body built. I glued the ends to the main shell, trimmed, and filled in holes with plastic putty. This photo is another test-fit. It's starting to look like Henrietta!
After test fitting, I fabricated grab rails and door handles for the ends. This was from drilling holes and making sure pieces fit.
When I do this type of thing, I measure each grab rail separately and number them all if I'm not going to install right away. There are also numbers on the underside of the body, telling me what goes where.

Once the body was appropriately filled and sanded, I gave it a few coats of primer.
By now, the roof has been painted & given a matte topcoat.
Once the chassis was put back together, that got a topcoat, too.
All the railings were designed in CAD and 3D printed. I had to do some manual clean-up of them, so they ended up getting a matte topcoat to hide some of the scratches. (This is a test fit.) You can also see that I had to go back and fill in some gents and holes still. Opss.
Nearly complete: Henrietta has had many bits installed: grab rails, door handles, window glazings, stairs, and the roof. It really looks good (so long as you don't look too closely).

(Below) I'm finally done! This is a comparison: what the car looked like originally now. It's hard to see, but on the far side there is a decal that says OPERATED BY LHRR. This follows the lore of my railroad.

The Result

BEFORE (source: Bachmann)

AFTER

Note: Toby had a whole train at one point, not just Henrietta. This included Victoria, Elsie, and a brakevan. Perhaps they will all be reunited with Toby & Henrietta...
https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Elsie

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