4 mm Lowmac wagons for road vehicles or Traction Engines

[Gordieb01]

Having just assembled a Keil Kraft kit fora Fowler Plowing engine I have been searching the internet with no luck for a suitable 4mm wagon to mount

it on.   Preferably a GWR or LMS type such as a Loriet or Hydra type wagon in the GWR telegraphic codes. There seems to be a couple of O gauge options such as Connoisseur Models who produce a "Hydra" wagon (photo attached).  However it seems that nothing is available in 4mm,  firms like D&S and Falcon Brassworks may have had options in the past but no longer seem to be available.   Can anyone suggest an available kit in this scale?

 

To me it seems that the RTR manufacturers are missing a great option for this type of wagon to carry all sorts of interesting loads.  However it seems they are largely interested in only the modern scene for wagons and only pay lipservice to pre 1950s types, mainly different types of planked opens and a few livestock wagons..  (my modelling period is the mid 1930s).    It would be great to see a few of the other interesting wagons from this period as well eg,  Corals for carrying plate glass and a whole lot of other specialised load wagons.

[Steamport Southport]

I believe the Dapol Lowmac (ex Airfix) can be quite easily backdated to an earlier type. It's an updated version of a Great Eastern designed wagon.

 

You could also try a Cambrian Models G41 Loriot W. I think that one can be back dated as well.

 

http://www.cambrianmodels.co.uk/gwwagons.html

 

They're the only two that come immediately to mind. Apart from the Airfix RTR Lowmac. Now made by Hornby. That's a World War Two design though.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/129522-Hornby-lowmac/

 

 

 

 

Jason

[Fat Controller]

I believe the Dapol Lowmac (ex Airfix) can be quite easily backdated to an earlier type. It's an updated version of a Great Eastern designed wagon.

 

You could also try a Cambrian Models G41 Loriot W. I think that one can be back dated as well.

 

http://www.cambrianmodels.co.uk/gwwagons.html

 

They're the only two that come immediately to mind. Apart from the Airfix RTR Lowmac. Now made by Hornby. That's a World War Two design though.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/129522-Hornby-lowmac/

 

 

 

 

Jason

The Loriot was intended for tracked vehicles; they'd be unloaded by putting a stack of sleepers on the ground parallel to the wagon side. Traction engines and such-like were difficult to steer with such precision, so required loading over the end of the wagon.

Wagons such as machinery carriers were very rare in comparison with vans and opens; the whole fleet for the 'Big 4' would probably have been not much more than a thousand or so. The former Airfix, now Dapol, kit for a GE-designed, BR-built vehicle is a better choice than it would seem, as there were some big machinery manufacturers over there (Ransomes at Ipswich, for example)- such wagons would work through to their final destination without trans-shipping.

[217 RIVER FLESK]

There is of course the old Wrenn 'Lowmac WBB' as well, but I'm not sure of it's accuracy & again I think this is based on a BR build

[jwealleans]

Brian's right, of course, about the rarity of things like Lowmacs, but if you have an industry or site which justifies them then there's an argument for them being concentrated. There's one photo in the 'Britain from Above' series, which predictably I can't now find, showing a dozen of them outside the Ruston Hornby factory.

[31A]

Years ago I made a Keil Kraft ploughing engine with the intention of using it as a load for a Lowmac, only to find that it was far too big!  In order to make it fit within the loading gauge, you'd have to cut off the chimney and the rear wheels.  They may well have had to remove these pats from real ploughing engines when transporting them by rail (possibly with these pieces loaded into a separate open wagon), but I've got in mind that the kit may be to 1/72 scale rather than 1/76 which would make it even bigger. than it ought to be.  I didn't actually do that as I was quite pleased with the engine as I'd made it!

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The RTR choice from Hornby already mentioned, usually presented as  a 25 ton BR lowmac EP derives directly from the 20T GCR Mac N of 1913 of the same overall size and general app[earance, and is readily backdated by removing the automatic brake gear and  shaving off the bottom flange of the side channel structure to reduce its depth to 1'overall once a new lighter flange is added. Or just repaint, if like me you cannot really spot the difference between 4.7 and 4mm, especially as your eye is drawn to the lovely load.

 

I feel this is the more suitable vehicle for the proposed substantial load than the 14T GER Mac K from the kit, although this is fairly easily uprated to a GER 25T Mac G by addition of a heavy flange to the bottom edge of the plate structure. (You get a little extra flat load deck on the ex GC design at 16' against 15' on the GE types.)

 

It's all in the Tatlow LNER wagons books.

 

As so often with model railway productions, it is an oddity that the two readily available items happen to derive from the same group, but there it is.

[Fat Controller]

Years ago I made a Keil Kraft ploughing engine with the intention of using it as a load for a Lowmac, only to find that it was far too big!  In order to make it fit within the loading gauge, you'd have to cut off the chimney and the rear wheels.  They may well have had to remove these pats from real ploughing engines when transporting them by rail (possibly with these pieces loaded into a separate open wagon), but I've got in mind that the kit may be to 1/72 scale rather than 1/76 which would make it even bigger. than it ought to be.  I didn't actually do that as I was quite pleased with the engine as I'd made it!

The chimneys on such vehicles would have provision for folding down, or removal. If the wheels were too big, they would be removed and sat flat on the wagon bed- this is still done when transporting combine-harvesters by road.

[jwealleans]

I think I've used this before on here to illustrate a hinged chimney, but here it is again because it looks nice:

 

 

Hattons were doing ploughing engines on special offer until recently as we looked into acquiring some for Grantham.

Edited June 5, 2018 by jwealleans

[Gordieb01]

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions guys,  If I go for a Hornby/airfix model then I may have to go for a smaller item than the Keil Kraft traction engine..

 

Perhaps a Horse drawn vehicle...

[Nick Holliday]

Although probably not large enough to take a ploughing engine, there are a couple of lowmacs from the Southern that are currently available in 4mm. Gramodels do a resin casting for the body of an LSWR example, while rue d'etropal has an LBSCR one on his Shapeways site.

[PhilJ W]

The Keilcraft kit is 1/72 scale but Oxford produce a similar die-cast ploughing engine in 1/76. Also bear in mind that ploughing engines usually operated in pairs and were also accompanied by a living van and of course the plough.

[autocoach]

Gramodels price list is a little old.  Are they still doing business?  I would be interested in an LSWR Lowmac or two if they were still around in 1947.  And has anyone had any recently acquired and built their resin railway models?

[Worsdell forever]

... Also bear in mind that ploughing engines usually operated in pairs and were also accompanied by a living van and of course the plough.

 

Don't just buy 2 of them, they were pairs with opposite handed winches and rear wheels.

[Wickham Green]

Gramodels price list is a little old.  Are they still doing business?  I would be interested in an LSWR Lowmac or two if they were still around in 1947.  And has anyone had any recently acquired and built their resin railway models?

Gramodels were at a show a couple of weeks ago ( Railex ? ) so they're still around ...... 

[Skinnylinny]

Gramodels certainly reply to emails but my attempts at ordering by email were frustrating at best. Despite being told several times over several weeks that my order would be going out in the next few days, after three months (!) I cancelled my order and received a refund.

Edited June 13, 2018 by Skinnylinny