Miller's Coal Merchants

[Liam]

I've hit a bit of a crisis. Having seen some of the wagons in Bachmann's 009 range, I became really tempted to make another 'cake' setting it on the Welsh Highland Railway, and creating a scene with permanent way gang doing some work on the track. But I'm now convinced that I should make the two ideas into one cakebox. I guess it's not called challenge for no reason!

 

With the 00 track already laid, what I think is the best option is to set it at the interchange for coal for the estate of the Lord of the Manor. Coal is emptied out of the standard gauge wagon into coal staithes, shovelled into sacks which are loaded into the narrow gauge wagon(s). The coal merchant also has his office at this interchange of gauges. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Liam]

Decision made; I'm sticking to just OO gauge.

 

During the layover time at Kidderminster today while I was at me railway I popped in to Footplate and bought an Oxford Rail 7-plank wagon, which I think might work out better than a Baccy 16 tonner.

 

 

As this next photo shows, the sides on the plank wagon are thinner than on the 16 tonner, so for the doors to be open to show the unloading then cutting the sides with a sharp craft knife or whatever knife will work.

 

 

Note to self: the plank wagon really does need weathering, especially the inside. Well wagons were hardly given spa treatments in the 1950s were they!

[1722]

I have one of the Oxford 7 plankers and, for the price, think they are excellent. Can I point you in the direction of Mark Branson's excellent blog post on here which will give you plenty of ideas of painting and weathering them which should help.

 

Liking the looks of this CBC entry - how is the crane coming along?

 

Chris

[Liam]

Hello Chris

 

Thank you for the kind words and the link to weathering plank wagons. I've got some Humbrol black weathering powder that I was planning to use but now it looks like other items will be needed!

 

I don't think I included a crane on my 'it will have' list. Do you perhaps mean the coal depot? If so, as it involves using Tamiya thin glue, which I hear should be applied outdoors, then I'm going to wait until the weather is warmer to build it.

 

I must admit that not long after leaving Footplate I had the "I swear there's something I should have bought. . ." feeling; now I know what that something is!

 

Cheers,

[1722]

Coal depot is exactly what I meant, sorry!

[Marly51]

Interesting to read everyone’s take on the challenge. Look forward to seeing your model develop. Inverness Lakeland didn’t have the cake box and we are in the back of beyond, so ordered one online. I know we don’t have to necessarily supply the model in a cake box, but would be good if it needed transporting. Just holding off getting started on the baseboard and scenery until it arrives.

Edited December 31, 2017 by Marly51

[Liam]

Thanks Marly. I must admit that this is the first project I've undertaken that will give me the satisfaction of finishing and perhaps exhibiting!

 

Isn't there a Hobbycraft in Inverness? I was originally planning to get my cakebox from Hobbycraft, but one day walked past a branch of The Range, so popped in to see if they had any 8" by 8" cakeboxes, and alas they did . . .

[Marly51]

Well what do you know - join a forum and find out there is a Hobbycraft not too far away. Thanks Liam. We lost our only art supply shop last year, but there’s still a very good model shop in Dingwall.

 

Marlyn

[Liam]

After a long break, progress has resumed on this with the construction of the coal depot. It's my first Ratio kit and for a beginner I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, but unfortunately I didn't have enough time at the club last night to finish it. Once completed it will be suitably weathered.

 

 

Some coal I acquired from Didcot last year will be crushed and sprinkled on the staithes. Does anyone know where the best place to get some shovels is?

 

The Oxford Rail plank wagon is soon to enter Abbotswood Works, where the superintendent Mr Bullock will ensure that it receives a proper coat of filth.

[Stubby47]

Shovels (& other things) here :

 

http://severnmodels.com/epages/eshop1179816.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/eshop1179816/Products/D.5

[81C]

How about one of these.? 

It was part of a bundle of wagons off Ebay.

 

[Liam]

How about one of these.? 

It was part of a bundle of wagons off Ebay.

 

WP_20180216_11_27_18_Pro.jpg

Hi 81C

 

Thanks for notifying me of that, but the reason why I've called it 'Miller & Lilley's' is because that was what the name boards were that Ratio provided in the kit. Fancy printing it on paper! The name may change, but as the setting is early nationalisation I've already gone and bought an Oxford Rail 6-plank wagon which will have the door open to show the coal being unloaded.

 

But thanks very much anyway,

[Liam]

So this is the situation so far.....

[81C]

Hi 81C

 

Thanks for notifying me of that, but the reason why I've called it 'Miller & Lilley's' is because that was what the name boards were that Ratio provided in the kit. Fancy printing it on paper! The name may change, but as the setting is early nationalisation I've already gone and bought an Oxford Rail 6-plank wagon which will have the door open to show the coal being unloaded.

 

But thanks very much anyway,

It's a Dapol wagon, originally I thought it was just a made up name they had printed on it but found it on line 918 of the attached list.

 

•   Private owner wagons index.xls   318KB   490 downloads

Edited February 16, 2018 by 81C

[Liam]

Apologies for the lack of progress recently, I've been extremely busy! So I've glued some cork down and will do the same for behind the track. I'm unsure how to create the road/concrete, would texture paints work? I need to go to Footplate anyway for some lubricant for my extremely noisy class 20...

 

At club night last night with the help of a fellow member I completed the coal staithes and have just got to add the guttering to the foreman's hut. They're still at the club, but I should have it back on Thursday evening.

[Guest ShildonShunter]

Hi Liam I have been following your progress throughout this thread and your cakebox challenge is coming along nicely. I like those ratio kits easy to build paint and weather. Liam there is no rush just enjoy and have fun modelling.

[Liam]

Thanks Kevin, most kind of you to say so. If only this project wasn't in my GCSE year, but such is life. I'm enjoying it when I can anyway.

 

The coal depot has been finished, but I need to insert the glazing as I forgot when I was gluing it.

 

 

I've also glued cork tile behind the siding, and here is what it looks like currently:

[Guest ShildonShunter]

Looks good Liam I like the wagon you purchased and the coal hut looks really good.

[Liam]

Nothing much has happened on the Cakebox recently, mostly due to exams, but yesterday in a craft store in Birmingham I picked up some DAS clay to create the texture of the yard. What are people's experiences of using DAS? I would have got some plaster of Paris, but they only had a huge roll of it and a lot would be wasted, so I went for DAS clay instead.

 

I also bought a Peco buffer stop kit at Bridgnorth on Monday - a pleasant hour or so will be spent building it on a (hopefully) sunny day in a few weeks time.

[MAP66]

Your coal yard scene looks very promising, looking forward to seeing the end result.

In answer to your question on using DAS. I have used DAS air clay on my CBC as I find it very easy to work with and mould into shape. I normally apply some diluted PVA glue onto the surface of where the DAS will be applied as this makes it stick better and helps make it even more pliable. You have plenty of time to create shapes like divets, rutts and tracks in the ground surface. Make sure that once opened and after use you keep the packet sealed tight by wrapping in cling film or stored in an air tight container. When exposed to air it starts the curing process and it will harden after an hour or so, so if you don't keep an opened packet sealed it will get ruined.

 

Once applied and dried you can paint with pretty much any type of paint and it will receive all types of modelling scenery products like scatters, static grass etc.

 

Hope that's been of some use, happy modelling.

Mark

[Liam]

Thanks Mark, that's some very useful information. Also handy that you can alter the surface, might make a pothole or two to make some puddles with Aqua Magic.

[Liam]

This should stop any runaway wagons in the siding....

 

[Liam]

A bit has happened in the last few weeks. I've put the DAS clay down and painted everything grey. The slight gap is where the buffer stops will go - does anyone know a good way of removing fishplates?

 

 

Now it's just a case of gluing everything down and adding some tufts of grass and black weathering powder where appropriate.

[MAP66]

Hi Liam

 

Good to see that your making progress with your CBC and you seem to have tackled the DAS without any problems. Looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

With removing fishplates try carefully griping the end with a pair of needle nose pliers and gently pulling off. Or you could try with the track held down firmly, then using a steel ruler with the square edge up against the shoulder end of the fishplate try pushing against the shoulder until it comes off.

 

Good luck

Mark

[Andrew Cockburn]

This looks quite interesting, I look forward to seeing it develop further. As for the matter of removing a fishplate from track, the best method I find is to grip the rail gently with a pair of pliers (small in my case), then remove the fishplate by either pulling off with fingers, or (gently) with another small pair of pliers, the latter method would seem applicable in this case, ie where the track is already fixed down. Hope this helps.

Edited August 23, 2018 by Andrew Cockburn