British Hospital Wagon Kit

British Hospital Wagon Kit

Sm32Review by George Riley/photos by the author

Swift Sixteen sells a series of 16mm scale British World War I, War Department Light Railway (WDLR), kits for 60 cm (235/8-inch) gauge wagons to complement their “Tin Turtle” 40 H.P. petrol locomotives (reviewed in the January/February 2018 GAZETTE). The most recent addition to this line is the WDLR Hospital D Wagon. This modification to the standard Class D open bogie wagon (two-truck gondola) allowed the Royal Hospital Corps to transport stretcher cases. Interior racks allowed upwards of sixteen stretchers to be hung in tiers inside these cars.

The kit for the Hospital D Wagon sells for £75.00 (roughly US$104.00), and consists of cleanly molded resin castings for the upper works, under frame, trucks, and end-mounted equipment boxes. Also included is a fret of photoetched details, brass rod and tubing, along with investment- cast-brass couplers, and brake wheels. Nylon-filled wheel sets, steel axles, and a bag of pins round out this complete kit.

Assembly was straightforward, and rapid. The various etched details were pinned and glued to the larger resin upper work parts to complete the body. I used ACC Gel glue throughout with complete success. The wheel sets have to be pressed onto their axles and mounted in a brass tube before being fitted into slots in the truck frames. The frames then have cast resin axle-box assemblies and brake shoes to be added. The trucks are then completed with the addition of the couplers and brake staff sub-assembly. While the instructions recommend that the trucks be soldered, I found that ACC worked just as well. My completed model is a detailed free-rolling, and robust car. I was particularly pleased with the realistic, exquisitely molded, textured “canvas,” cover on this model.

Swift Sixteen
10 Waun Rd., St. Dials
Cwmbran, Gwent

NP44 7JN
United Kingdom


March/April 2018This review appeared in the March/April 2018 issue of the Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette