GWR 2-plank open wagon
The GWR adopted iron, and later steel construction for underframes quite early, compared to most other railway companies. For reasons of variety and aesthetics, I wanted to have a mix of wooden and metal underframed wagons, and my 1908 period was partly chosen for this reason - there were still a few GWR wooden underframed wagons around.
One such is this 2-plank open, built from the WEP etched brass kit. Overall, it is a nice kit, and I built it pretty much as intended, but there are one or two issues with it that needed attention, and opportunities to upgrade, that I will discuss here. The build, and especially the buffer modification was inspired by @wenlock's build:
I didn't take a series of photos during the build with this one, so I will go through a few pictures of it taken when it was physically complete but before it was painted, and comment as we go.
There are a few weaknesses with the kit. The top edge of the sides and ends is made by a thin strip that folds down from the outer faces of the sides and ends, supposedly to meet the inner sides and ends. I found they didn’t meet very well, and as a result, there was a kind of groove along the inside corner. I decided to make a virtue of this, filing it to a consistent shape all along with a square needle file, with the idea it might suggest the capping strip of the prototype.
I found the inside bearing units (one of which is pivoted to provide the compensation) made the wagon sit at different heights at each end. I had to rebuild the non-pivoting one to reduce it’s height. Overall I don’t much like these compensation units; they seem fragile and error-prone.
Another weakness is the way the solebar details (washer plates, etc.) are etched as outlines into the metal, rather than being separate pieces added on. I added etched crown plates (the semicircular ones over each axlebox) from Ambis, and plasticard washer plates for the others. Because the Ambis crown plates were a slightly different size to the etched outlines for them, I used a bit of filler once all the soldering was done, which you can see as a white area below each crown plate.
The kit gives a representation of the spring bump stops, over the centre of each spring, but it is 2D and at the back of the solebars. I added bump stops made in plasticard. I also made label boxes from plasticard, and the horse hook was added from brass wire.
The kit's etched detail for the shoes that take each end of the springs represents the later type, with a gap between the solebar and the end of the spring. On these earlier wagons, the shoes were a different type, with a solid face, so I used a bit more filler here, and filed the face flat, which gives a reasonable representation of the prototype.
A challenge faced by the kit designer is to use etched brass, which is a thin, sheet material, to make the chunky volumes of a wooden wagon. Actually, the kit is quite clever in this regard, and it mostly works well, though it took some careful fettling to get the sides, ends, floor and solebars in the right relationship. The ends of the headstocks in particular require care, with a bit of filler needed afterwards here and there to ensure the prominent ends look like they are made from solid wood, rather than the hollow metal structure they actually are.
On the brake side of the wagon, all the same solebar detail work was needed. The vee-hanger in the kit is on the back face of the solebar, when it should be on the front face. I replaced it with an etched brass one, and added some nuts from plasticard. The brake lever in the kit is straight, and the ones in prototype photos I have seen are curved. I was able to form the curve by very careful bending with pliers. The lever is too long, taking it in front of the end of the buffer beam. I shortened the lever at the ‘wide’ end, which was a mistake because it meant the joggle where the lever fits around the axle box is in the wrong place. Next time I would use a different lever, or shorten it at the handle end, and rebuild the handle.
One other thing to say, visible in this photo, is that the location of the door hinges and side knees is etched into the main side metalwork, as a guide to positioning. This is helpful for getting these parts in the right place, but the etched lines form an outline outside, rather than under, where the added part goes, and so are still visible when it's all complete. I didn't attempt to fill these etched lines, as I thought I would end up just filling all the other detail and making a mess. The etched grooves aren't too prominent, especially once everything is painted.
The kit is supplied with whitemetal buffers. I decided to replace these as I wanted turned steel heads. This was also an opportunity to attempt the heavy ribbed type of buffer guide, rather than the plain ones provided.
The basis was a set of Slaters Midland Railway buffers, which have moulded plastic bases, turned brass guides, and turned steel heads. I added the ribs from slivers of plasticard. The first stage was to cut a strip of 10 thou, with the width of the strip the same as the length of the buffer guide, between the base and the wider part at the outer end. Triangles were cut off from the end of the strip, and the right-angle corner of each triangle trimmed off so the rib could fit neatly where the base of the brass guide flares and meets the plastic base.
The brass guide was held in a vice, and each rib added, holding it with tweezers, dipping its long edge into a small puddle of thin CA glue, and placing it on the guide. Once they were all attached, the whole buffer was flooded with more CA glue to fix everything solid. When set, the slight curve to the ribs was carved with a sharp scalpel.
There isn't much to say about the wagon interior, except the kit gives some nice detail.
There are some aspects of the kit which aren't quite right, but which are not really fixable. There seems to be too much space between the top of the springs and the solebars, so the axle boxes are too low. This is difficult to fix as the spring position is set by the axle guard / solebar etch. The solebars seem too far apart. On the prototype the body doesn't have much overhang past the solebars, but the kit has very little at all. The difference is subtle, but it slightly affects the character of the wagon.
I painted the wagon with a red oxide primer from a spray can, which formed the basis of the GWR red livery. The lettering was done with Pressfix transfers, and weathering was a mix of dry-brushing with pinks and greys, to give the slightly faded look, and washes of greys, browns and black for the dirt and escaped axlebox grease.
I haven't given this wagon a load, and the plan is it will act as a runner for a couple of 4-plank wagons carrying overhanging loads of deals, yet to be built.
Despite the various issues with the kit, I very much like the character of this wagon, which is so different to the later, metal-framed GWR types. The wooden brake shoes, curved lever, and massive ribbed buffer guides, with the all-wood construction, are firmly 19th century, at least in GWR terms, and contrast with the later wagons described in previous posts. I am grateful that WEP have produced a kit for this relatively obscure prototype, for all it's weaknesses - it nicely fills an important position in my wagon plan for Netherport.
Nick.
Edited by magmouse
I found my build notes after posting, so I could add some more detail to the description.
-
6
-
16
-
2
19 Comments
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now