This small fleet of 2-car units exemplified the Southern's thrifty approach to its suburban electrification projects.

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The cars themselves dated back to 1908-9 when they were built by the Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage and Wagon Co. as Trailer Firsts, comprising part of en order for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR)'s pioneering South London Line a.c. overhead electrification project.  It was soon obvious that there was not enough first class traffic on this route so the LBSCR redeployed these lavishly furnished cars as locomotive hauled stock on their main line routes.

By 1930 these cars, displaced from main line services by more modern stock, were extensively rebuilt as four 2-car d.c. electric units for the newly electrified Wimbledon-West Croydon branch line where they led uneventful lives until 1954 when they were replaced by newly built BR standard 2 EPB units.  Full of character, they would make an ideal unit for an electrified branch line feeder on your layout!

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What's in the box -

This Eastleigh Model Rail 2 WIM kit gives you all the 4mm scale 3D printed parts you need to build a complete (unpowered) 2-car unit - sides, ends, roofs, interiors, underframes and bogies.

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What else you'll need -​

• Couplings - the kit is designed to use a pair of Symoba copulers to join the two cars together. The outer bogies have pockets for NEM couplers though in practice these units usually operated singly. 

• A motor bogie.

• Wheels and bearings - the bogies are dimensioned to accommodate '00', 'EM' or 'P4' gauge 14mm disc wheelsets with standard 26mm 'pinpoint' axles and the sideframes have holes to fit brass 'top hat' wheel-bearings.

• 8BA/M2 nuts and bolts.

• Glazing

• Paints and transfers

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