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Hi Castle. I'm mending thanks. You take care mate.

Ah the TKt 48; something like a 72XX but with all the pipes and more on the outside!! That lives in Wroslaw I think?

The Pt47s were actually express engines; can't believe that but I suppose they are rough due to age. They are too big for the Wolsztyn table and driving them tender first is really, really rough

Try to go again in the autumn or spring mate; not full winter as it is bl**dy freezing but just nice and cool! Stay a couple of extra days and explore if you can; well worth it!

Did you get to service the '49 at Poznan Depot?

I've got a really great book of B & W pics (Polish) that my Polish friend gave me. He collected me from Wolsztyn and then drove us back to Krakow via Wroslaw!

Any how this is a bit OT but I believe there is a Polish  4mm OL 49 kit that one can purchase (built I think is about £800) and Marks Models do some coaches.

P

Edited by Mallard60022
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Hi Phil,

 

We did get a go at servicing the Ol at Poznan - really clever bits of kit including the long plungers and so on to do the oiling up. No pits and crawling in the dirt for these guys! I would love to go at another time of year but I suspect the job would preclude it...

 

The TKt was at the Jaworzyna museum. Only a collection of about 40 locos on site although some are basically scrap...

 

I would love the Ol 49 kit but it seems a bit pricey built. Do you know where it comes from and if it is available unmade at all?

 

I know its all a bit OT but I pray people's indulgence and hope its ok with the moderators. Its just nice to keep all the Didcot related steam adventures in one place. Two more instalments to come, Jaworzyna (Poland's Didcot) and my narrow gauge safari.

 

Good to hear the wings are flapping again!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

 

Edit for spelling.

Edited by Castle
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He was just sniffing out where a GWR 2.6.2. ventured a few years back!!

Jaworzyna - is that the place over in the border country with a little diesel shed next door and a little lady selling tickets from her old van?

So like Britain about 1965ish I feel!

If you Google OL49 loco kit it might bring up something and at least some links to loads of Polish spotters stuff! I've lost my old link and pics I'm afraid.

P

Edited by Mallard60022
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Oh dear just been looking at footage. I'd forgotten that Helena's whistle sounds a bit like a Bulleid and that the Pt47s have a horn as well as a whistle!

Loads of stuff on film.

P

Edit to enter the word whistle.

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Castle, what a great account of what is clearly a very special experience! I liked how you brought in GWR moguls to make the rest of us understand - it immediately made thing clearer and more familiar for me!  :locomotive: Thanks for taking the time to share the story. 

Edited by Mikkel
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The TKt 48 is a smashing loco and very nice to ride on with a roomy and comfortable cab and a lovely ride - definitely several steps up the hierarchy from a 72XX (I rode on a TKt 48 back in 1975 in the south of Poland where they were still one or two crews per engine and they were generally very well looked after).

 

All the 'German designs' are basically war reparations from the two wars and are ex DR locos - the Ok1 Class is a Prussian P8/DB Class 38 although by the mid 1970s many had acquired tender bogies from scrapped USA S160s (some of which were still in traffic then).  The OK22 is a Polish design which was intended to replace the Ok1 but which was not reckoned to be very successful and thus - like various other 'replacement' designs - never achieved its intended purpose.

 

Even back in the 1970s PKP were very welcoming to organised groups and I had a great time back in '75 even getting the chance of driving a 2-10-0 around Poznan shed yard where the crew were rather impressed by the British habit of stopping on a rising brake.

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Do I sense a rare phenomenon here?

 

A GWR devotee seeing the light and acknowledging there are other good railways......??

 

 

 

hat, coat, running fast.....

 

 

 

Stewart

 

 

Hi All,

 

Do I sense a common phenomenon here, a non GWR fan assuming that anyone with a love of the Great Western never looks above the parapet and appreciates anyone else's railways?

 

I'm not having a go at Stewart here, he was making a joke and I laughed when I saw it! However, a steam engine is a steam engine and they are all to be treasured in my book - I ended up at Didcot because it is the closest place with the sort of projects on that I wanted to get involved in and I model the stock there as I have unlimited access to it. This might be Little KESR if I lived near there or Little KWVR or Little Mid Hants. I'm not saying that I don't think that my project engine is the best one in the world but that's because she is MY project engine, you get attached to the old girls!

 

I think that this rabid following of the GWR thing has become such a stereotype that it has now got to the stage whereby its becoming much more of a thing for everyone not modelling the Western. How many times have you heard someone say or write 'oh no, not another GWR layout' and yet have you ever seen someone write 'oh no, not another BR (LM) region layout'? I often wonder if something as superb as Liverpool Lime Street would have received the accolades it has if it were based on a GW or BR (W) prototype... I have a passion for railway preservation and I have a passion for model making. I don't care if it is a diesel, electric or steam, if its good, it gets a Castle 'like'. As preservationists and / or model makers we are in the same game together so let's enjoy each others company, achievemnts and skills and not get hung up on this sort of thing.

 

At the end of the day though we all know that a Black Five is just a Hall with outside motion, a Duchess is an inside out King with extra wheels, the A3s and A4s were transformed by the use of GWR long travel valves, the boiler technology on the BR Standards owed a great deal to Swindon practice and, well, I can't think of a Southern gag right now because I'm such a Western geek but I'm sure there is one. The net result is that Swindon engineering rules the universe and everything else is a mere pale copy or a development of Churchward's technology. Green paint, copper caps, brass safety valve bonnets - yippie!

 

What do you mean there are other railways?

 

How very dare you!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

 

Purveyor of multi region, multi national tall tales of steam. Stereotypes reinforced at no extra cost.

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He was just sniffing out where a GWR 2.6.2. ventured a few years back!!

Jaworzyna - is that the place over in the border country with a little diesel shed next door and a little lady selling tickets from her old van?

So like Britain about 1965ish I feel!

If you Google OL49 loco kit it might bring up something and at least some links to loads of Polish spotters stuff! I've lost my old link and pics I'm afraid.

P

Hi Mallard,

 

Quite right - I could smell the prairie all the way - like GWR bloodhound!

 

That is the place - train rides in an unfitted van for the punters!

 

I have had a look but I can't find anything definite on the Ol... I will keep looking though!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

Edited by Castle
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Hi Brian and Mike,

 

The TKt is a lovely engine - bags of character too with those big dumbo ear smoke deflectors too!

 

Edit: I also love the spring loaded seats that can be swung round so that you are almost sat outside the cab - I kid you not!

 

I am very jealous of you and Brian's chap driving one of those monster 2-10-0s, they look the business.

 

Now, let's see if I can find me a 9F to play with...

 

All the best,

 

Castle

Edited by Castle
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I had no real interest in 'foreign stuff' until I got the chance to go to Poland for my ** birthday. However, I now realise that lucky b****rs like Stationmaster were 'over there' in the 70s and others were in Germany and France enjoying their steam well after we kicked it into touch. 

If anyone wants to borrow my little Polish Steam Loco spotter's book (a bit like an Ian Allen mini Combine) or my book of B & W pics just P.M. me. The latter is superb.

#P

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Hi All,

 

Wolsztyn experiences Part 3

 

Polish Didcot - More Tall Tales of Poland

 

As there is a public holiday in Poland on the Thursday and Friday of our trip, there are no main line steam services on these days. To make up our 5 steam turns, Howard organised two unusual experiences which really made our trip to Poland a little bit different to the usual WE thing.

 

The first if these was to Jaworzyna museum shed. This really is the Polish version of Didcot. An original PKP roundhouse has been set aside for the museum and is now home to one of the largest collections of locomotives in Poland. These range from beautifully restored examples of rare machines to scrapyard examples held for spares.

 

The journey from Wolsztyn is extensive and took a few hours but enabled you to see a great deal of the Polish countryside and also the rail network. This for example is the recently and very beautifully restored station at Wroclaw Glowny.

 

post-14393-0-72862700-1377715255_thumb.jpg

 

This is the sight that greets visitors at Jaworzyna - good isn't it?!?

 

post-14393-0-44152600-1377715377_thumb.jpg

 

This is their current live locomotive used for demonstration runs on site. She is a TKt 48 No. 18. This is a monster 2-8-2 tank locomotive for hauling some serious heavy freight. Think 72XX with all the factory extras...

 

post-14393-0-24195800-1377715467_thumb.jpg

 

The driver's view is about like this. It is a lovely engine to drive and again, it steams on a candle like its Ol 49 brethren.

 

post-14393-0-04908400-1377715924_thumb.jpg

 

Here we are out on their demonstration line, the starting point for which is the other side of the turntable... Carefully over the turntable at 5mph then a quick sprint, hit the brakes and then take her back. Punters in the 4 wheel van out the back, loose coupled of course.

 

post-14393-0-73728300-1377715808_thumb.jpg

 

Jaworzyna is also home to a number of interesting locomotives including this which is Tr 202 No. 28. These are also known as the 'Liberation' class. This 2-8-0 type was built by the Vulcan Foundary and was sent all over Europe after WW II to help with the rebuilding work. The engine shares a lot of similarities with the WD 2-8-0 and 2-10-0 designs by Robert Riddles.

 

post-14393-0-22507200-1377716529_thumb.jpg

 

There are also a pair of Tr 201s there (Nos. 296 & 51). Which we would more readily recognise as an S160.

 

post-14393-0-24990500-1377716674_thumb.jpg

 

Tucked away in the shed was this little beauty - an 0-6-0 tank of Prussian descent that had outside Stephenson valve gear.

 

post-14393-0-79728300-1377716982_thumb.jpg

 

Also there was this - Tp 2 No. 34. This little German freight 0-8-0 was probably the closest thing to traditional UK practice I saw the whole time I was there!

 

post-14393-0-47560000-1377717136_thumb.jpg

 

Despite all the fantastic work by the gang at Jaworzyna, another fascinating element of a visit there was to go out the back to see the unrestored scrap locomotives out the back. I am far too young to have seen Barry Scrapyard at its height but having been able to take photographs like this I now feel that I have been able to see what it was like...

 

post-14393-0-04746100-1377717298_thumb.jpg

 

post-14393-0-89972300-1377717540_thumb.jpg

 

post-14393-0-88056300-1377717613_thumb.jpg

 

Get over there while it is all still there guys and girls - it really is that good!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

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Hi All,

 

Wolsztyn experiences Part 3

 

Polish Didcot - More Tall Tales of Poland

 

As there is a public holiday in Poland on the Thursday and Friday of our trip, there are no main line steam services on these days. To make up our 5 steam turns, Howard organised two unusual experiences which really made our trip to Poland a little bit different to the usual WE thing.

 

The first if these was to Jaworzyna museum shed. This really is the Polish version of Didcot. An original PKP roundhouse has been set aside for the museum and is now home to one of the largest collections of locomotives in Poland. These range from beautifully restored examples of rare machines to scrapyard examples held for spares.

 

The journey from Wolsztyn is extensive and took a few hours but enabled you to see a great deal of the Polish countryside and also the rail network. This for example is the recently and very beautifully restored station at Wroclaw Glowny.

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

This is the sight that greets visitors at Jaworzyna - good isn't it?!?

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

This is their current live locomotive used for demonstration runs on site. She is a TKt 48 No. 18. This is a monster 2-8-2 tank locomotive for hauling some serious heavy freight. Think 72XX with all the factory extras...

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

The driver's view is about like this. It is a lovely engine to drive and again, it steams on a candle like its Ol 49 brethren.

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

Here we are out on their demonstration line, the starting point for which is the other side of the turntable... Carefully over the turntable at 5mph then a quick sprint, hit the brakes and then take her back. Punters in the 4 wheel van out the back, loose coupled of course.

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

Jaworzyna is also home to a number of interesting locomotives including this which is Tr 202 No. 28. These are also known as the 'Liberation' class. This 2-8-0 type was built by the Vulcan Foundary and was sent all over Europe after WW II to help with the rebuilding work. The engine shares a lot of similarities with the WD 2-8-0 and 2-10-0 designs by Robert Riddles.

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

There are also a pair of Tr 201s there (Nos. 296 & 51). Which we would more readily recognise as an S160.

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

Tucked away in the shed was this little beauty - an 0-6-0 tank of Prussian descent that had outside Stephenson valve gear.

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

Also there was this - Tp 2 No. 34. This little German freight 0-8-0 was probably the closest thing to traditional UK practice I saw the whole time I was there!

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

Despite all the fantastic work by the gang at Jaworzyna, another fascinating element of a visit there was to go out the back to see the unrestored scrap locomotives out the back. I am far too young to have seen Barry Scrapyard at its height but having been able to take photographs like this I now feel that I have been able to see what it was like...

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

Get over there while it is all still there guys and girls - it really is that good!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

As far as I'm aware the TKt 48s in the south were all used on passenger work - that certainly seemed to be the case when I was there in 1975.

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Hi Mike,

 

That is interesting. Perhaps they are a bit like the 9Fs here - designed for freight work but found to be good for passenger work? The PKP designation system for locomotives means the the 'T' bit of TKt 48 stands for Freight so that must have been the original intention for these fine machines.

 

It must have been brilliant to see these beasts in service! I'm still too young to have seen that and remembered it as well unfortunately!

 

As an aside for everyone, the numbering system was something I found quite interesting while I was out there so here is the basics for non Polish steam enthusiasts. The three first letter options being:

 

P - fast passenger (Polish: pospieszna)

O - mixed traffic (Polish: osobowa)

T - freight (Polish: towarowa)

 

The captital 'K' stands for tank locomotive, the lower case letter 't' is the wheel arrangement (2-8-2 in this case) and the 48 denotes that it is a Polish designed locomotive that approved for production in 1948. There are some other arrangements for foreign designed and built engines. There is a rather comprehensive Wikipedia page about it here:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PKP_classification_system#Steam_locomotives

 

All the best,

 

Castle

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Nice castle. Thanks. This is not the Depot I thought. I've never been down there but the GWR Prairie did. The other 'Museum' is about and hour and a bit drive east of Krakow I think and almost in the Carpathians. I believe that steam loco's for the Krakow steam special 'circuit' come from there. In the summer the railway operate steam specials that go around (literally) the outskirts of Krakow just for fun. 

P

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Hi All,

 

By the way, Hazelwood Model's kits for the POLLEN Es should be on Little Didcot tomorrow after I have got some chemical blackening to sort the load chains out - I haven't forgotten the GWR you know...

 

All the best,

 

Castle

Edited by Castle
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Back to reality - sort of.

Just thought, imagine being allowed to drive a Castle on the Gloucester to Newport route. Sort of similar to the Poznan run (well not really but you may get my meaning?) Dreams, dreams.

P

Gloucester - Swindon would probably be better, more hills (and I have ridden one over that route - as my avatar shows ;) ).

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Hi All,

 

An outbreak of hay fever? Part One

 

I was contacted by Hazelwood Models a little while back following comments on RMWEB about their Pollen C and having looked at Little Didcot, they sent me a print of the original end POLLEN E wagons kit to have a look at. This has led to more detailed survey of the Didcot wagons to improve the models. It has also led to the development of the 1930 rebuilt pair. Exciting stuff and it is really great for Hazelwood Models to have involved me like this so thanks to them is due. It has been really enjoyable and interesting to work with them on a kit. Firstly though, to the full size beasts...

 

The POLLENs were a series of wagons that were designed for taking outsize loads of all kinds. The basic design was that of a pair of vehicles that could be split and each had a turntable that allowed them to act as bogies under the load. They were built around the beginning of the twentieth century. There were several versions from POLLEN A - D and there were 4 and 6 wheel versions.

 

post-14393-0-24272400-1377959806_thumb.jpg

 

The last version if the POLLENs was the E series to Dia. A6 which was completed on 1909, which comprised of a single 4 articulated vehicle set that was initially intended to carry naval gun barrels. There was a special girder that went across the two turntables and secured the load for transport. They were numbered Nos. 84997, 84998, 84999 & 85000. The total load for a gun barrel was 100 tons but it the load was spread over the 4 wagons then loads of up to 120 tons could be accommodated.

 

post-14393-0-45884500-1377959835_thumb.jpg

 

The operational scope of these wagons was expanded in the 1930s when the two centre wagons without buffing gear (Nos. 84998 & 84999) were rebuilt to a similar design to the two original end wagons and resulted in two pairs of wagons for outsize load traffic.

 

post-14393-0-37702900-1377959859_thumb.jpg

 

And that is how they remained - for a LONG time! These wagons proved so useful that nobody could think of getting rid of them. And so they soldiered on being used as and when traffic dictated. So successful were they that they were still in active service into the 1990s and as such they were probably the oldest registered freight vehicles still in service by quite some margin.

 

post-14393-0-65470800-1377959875_thumb.jpg

 

Alas, time eventually caught up with the mighty POLLEN Es but thankfully instead of a scrapyard finale, they were secured by the National Railway Museum and delivered ironically not to York (their last operational base), but to Didcot where they remain to this day. A star turn was made of these wagons a few years back when the crew for the Sherlock Homes II film used 81E as a set and they briefly carried replica gun barrels again, binging a century long story full circle.

 

This is the first time I have worked with 3D printed material so it was going to be an interesting experience. The prints as received are excellent and show very little of the stepping and furry texture that I had associated with this process. There is a little bit, but this I guess is no different to a bit of flash on an injection moulded plastic kit. The photograph below shows the kit as received. It has the two main bodies and two turntables, a set of NEM couplings, 6 wheel sets, a smaller spruce in White Strong Flexible (WSF) with the flangeless replacement centre wheels on and a smaller Frosted Ultra Detail (FUD) plastic spruce with connectors, buffers and brake handles on. This is the kit for Nos. 84997 and 85000 which are the original end wagons only. Beware that the converted centre wagons are quite different.

 

post-14393-0-95703700-1377959886_thumb.jpg

 

The close up shows the prints as received. The detail is excellent and the rivets are very clear. It is surprising just how many complicated curves and shapes there are in these vehicles - I visualised them in my head initially as two plate frames with a few bits in between but it 'ain't so!

 

post-14393-0-71126300-1377959903_thumb.jpg

 

The turntables simply clip in place and will rotate without fettling or modification - I have to admit to feeling a bit of a fraud as it is so easy to do...

 

post-14393-0-45365300-1377960422_thumb.jpg

 

The couplings also click into place without aggravation. Not that I need them as I use scale couplings but being a curious sort, I just had to see if it worked out the box like this. Now I REALLY feel like a fraud - I haven't fettled a thing yet!

 

post-14393-0-35672200-1377960677_thumb.jpg

 

The turntables move very easily but being a coward, I figured that a bit of extra movement was probably required as I didn't want to build my layout one day and not be able to run them. All I did was to take the clips off the bottom of the turntables and shape the lower platform a bit to allow for the extra travel. I put in a bolt to act as the pivot as I had now negated the designer's clever and compact arrangement (sorry mate!). As a side effect however , it now means that I can easily lift the turntables off and replace them with unloaded ones and after I asked about it, these are now available separately on request. A bit more travel had also been added to the turntables on subsequent prints too.

 

post-14393-0-14394100-1377960788_thumb.jpg

 

The axles need slight modification as they have to have the pinpoints on the axles removed with a mini drill and grinding disc. This has to be done carefully so that the heat doesn't melt the plastic insulation collars between the wheels and the axles. At last - some model making - I had to do something to make something fit! Hazelwood suggest the use of a file to do this but I'm a bloke and I had a power tool...

 

post-14393-0-13088200-1377961041_thumb.jpg

 

As I put the bolt in as a new pivot, I had to remove some of the thickness of the middle axle. You will see here that the optional flangeless centre wheels have been fitted to see what they were like. I am yet to decide whether I need to use them or not but the net result is that they work if I do think I need them!

 

post-14393-0-67724200-1377961182_thumb.jpg

 

So that is the basic kit 'built' but with a few minor Castle mods to suit my personal requirements. The buffers fitted after a bit of minor fettling and a dollop of cyanoacrylate to taste.

 

post-14393-0-05417500-1377961343_thumb.jpg

 

Then I thought about what my wagons were going to carry. It turns out that after looking at Paul Bartlett's site, the idea of a bridge girder had lodged quite firmly in the fuzzy area known as my mind. I didn't want to just do any old Peco bridge sides - I felt that was too much of a cliche. A search of a local model store's website brought up these beauties. They are produced by a company called Central Valley and are of a 72' HO scale structure. In the kit you get two of these species for the bridge sides, the track bed and the lower girder structure to carry the track bed. As there are 4 POLLEN Es at 81E then two bridge sides for £12.25 sounded like a bargain! Another suggestion from Hazelwood is to use girders from the ex - Airfix turntable kit as a prototypical load. I have never seen a picture of this but they must have been transported to the sheds somehow and if you had a set of wagons like these, wouldn't you use them? Any thoughts on this would be interesting...

 

post-14393-0-64499300-1377961456_thumb.jpg

 

They make into pretty nice models in their own right and don't look out of scale despite the HO origins. After all, how big is a bridge? If someone says it is not the right size for a railway bridge then I will claim it is for a road / foot / canal / mouse (delete as applicable or as comedy requires). I figured that some packing to reinforce the thinner plate steel of the turntable decks would have been used so a sample size piece of balsa wood was cut to form the packing that I imagine would be old sleepers.

 

post-14393-0-57996300-1377961701_thumb.jpg

 

A bit of component balancing resulted on this picture.

 

post-14393-0-34698500-1377961977_thumb.jpg

 

I then attempted to add some weight to the vehicles as the 3D printed material is very light. It took quite a bit of careful positioning of the Liquid gravity and some very judicious cyanoacrylate pouring to get the weight in place. Not a problem with the kit - much more to do with the complexity of the prototype and really the only fiddly bit of the build so far. Rolled sheet or chunks of lead would have been a better idea I guess but I had Liquid Gravity so that is what I used!

 

post-14393-0-12716000-1377962382_thumb.jpg

 

Because I am a fussy, I took the thing a stage further and added etched brass D/ C brake handles (no reason to not use the moulded ones other than I had some that I wanted to try them out!) and a few etched odds and ends were used to do the brake details on the inner frame and the brake handle cross shaft that were not included in the kit. Most modellers will not be bothered by their omission I am sure but I was asked what I COULD do with this kit! This is one side...

 

post-14393-0-40576400-1377962173_thumb.jpg

 

...and this is the other. The end caps for the second cross shaft were not on my print and having revealed the error, the products have been updated to include these. This really highlights the brave new world that this product represents and kudos to them for using constructive criticism. I still think it is weird to think that you can interrupt kit production straight away like this and update it! Rather stranger, the 3D drawings were executed by Don at Penaluna Design Studios in Port Elizabeth, South Africa being assisted by me stood in a siding in Oxfordshire via Hazelwood models and then printed by Bart Veldhuizen and his team at Shapeways in Eindhoven! So we have a truly multi - national product here to get a British prototype model - cool isn't it?!

 

post-14393-0-32168600-1377961884_thumb.jpg

 

I added four brass 'L' shaped angle brackets to the bridge girder for the lashing chains and tensioners to be fitted to and then I broke out the paint. A few layers of the traditional Halfords grey primer followed by a quick rub down with a bit of 1500 grit set of dry paper and a few passes with a file soon sorted out any of the furry texture that was still present after painting. This was the one thing I was a bit dubious about but it came out really well in the end. It really wasn't difficult... The black patches were a combination of black decal sheet and paint dependant upon where they were situated as the depth of the rivets were a little too large for the very old black decal paper I have to stretch even with setting solution. The livery information came from Russell's book Great Western Wagons as this is the only shot I have seen of the wagons in early BR livery. It took a while to work out what was going on but after a while it clicked - they had marked the pair of wagons as if they were ONE wagon. IE all the information was there but it was spread over the sides of both members of the pair. Easy when you know how!

 

post-14393-0-97340300-1377962554_thumb.jpg

 

A spot of markings cobbled together from so many different sources I lost track (!) and some weathering powders got me here. There are some moves afoot to produce a decal pack for these vehicles. The photo shows that the wagons seem to have been coated in a thick layer of grease and oil to protect the working parts as they probably spent a lot of time in store, outside, at the end of a siding. The etched chains and hooks were purchased from Ambis Engineering and the scale chain came from them too I think. The completed chains still need blackening here.

 

post-14393-0-68033100-1377962708_thumb.jpg

 

And this is the finished product.

 

post-14393-0-77280400-1377962763_thumb.jpg

 

post-14393-0-10256700-1377962814_thumb.jpg

 

post-14393-0-63857000-1377962877_thumb.jpg

 

Well that was different... They make up into great little representations of the prototype with little effort and can be fiddled with and detailed with ease. They are not cheap but they are also not something the RTR people or mainstream kit manufacturers are likely to produce any time soon. As well as the existing full 4 wagon original 1909 format, a new version of the 1930 rebuild of the ex centre wagons have now been completed with a little help from yours truly and these are now in a box headed my way so look out for part 2 very soon!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

 

EDIT: Like an idiot I didn't put up the contact details for Hazelwood Models(!). They have offered orders via the e-mail address below at 10% off kit price.

 

hazelwoodmodels@hotmail.com

Edited by Castle
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You know it is lovely to see Didcot practising old skills, I often find something on your thread to awe or surprise me, you give a great insight tino what is otherwise a lost practise. Thankful there are a lot of Heritage railways. But your thread gives a view the public never benefit from. Thank you.

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Hi Jaz,

 

Thanks for the really kind words - I do appreciate it! I also appreciate how fortunate I am to have the kind of access that I do to the collection at 81E and the steam adventures I have as a result of it. It is a pleasure to be able to share it with fellow enthusiasts here on RMWEB either on Little Didcot or by organising the tours or whatever else I do. There would be little point in have a collection like the one at 81E if it wasn't shared with other interested people...

 

All the best,

 

Castle

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I have always re-read your modelling posts to extract every scrap of detail, but the POLLEN one will get read a few times more - mainly  because there is one sat at home awaiting my return.

 

Where did you get those securing chains?

 

I think I will be using a pair of Dublo turntable sides/girders for a load.  I won't need any liquid gravity then.

 

Best wishes from the sand.

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