From this post forward you will (I hope) notice a marked improvement in the quality of photographs. This is a result of a generous bonus from my employer this year and me treating myself to a camera so that I don't have to use a phone any more!

I have been working on improving and back dating a pair of Lima horse boxes, at the same time as finishing a few other horse box kits from other companies. These were going to be the subject of the next post but as is usual I have got distracted onto another project. Thankfully it also belongs to my 'started but never finished' piles so I am at least reducing my work in progress!

Long time followers will possibly remember previous posts about Graham Farish by Bachman Macaw Bs. They were bought way back here and I posted previously about progress on the models that form the subject of this post here. I finally finished the single wagon that also featured in that post more recently here. The pair with the long wood load, that effectively creates an articulated pair of bogie wagons, had been put to one side and still is not strictly finished because it doesn't have any couplings and will have to return to the 'wagons that are finished but still require couplings' pile with around a half dozen other vehicles facing the same predicament. My stock that has couplings currently has three links (or two in the case of my functional screw coupling representations) but I plan to use AJs and have to continue my trials with these, especially, discovering how to set and adjust them more easily.

Unfortunately I am learning to use the camera and I get a lot of reject pictures. Fortunately the memory card is plenty big enough to take several and hope for a good one. I got one good one in this case.

As mentioned in the previous posts the wagons are representative of J21 so don't match the diagram of those pictured in the photograph that inspired the model in Russell Freight Wagons and Loads... After several attempts to cut down the wood I had to a smaller section I admitted defeat and acquired some 3mm square strip. This gives a scale section of 18" square and three lengths of approximately 90' scale length were cut and fixed with 16BA screws through the bolsters with the head recessed into the underside of the wagons. The nuts are held captive in the wood and in theory it is possible to separate the wagons, even now the chains are attached. I hope the need will never arise though. The chains are produced by cutting the fine etched container securing chains from N Brass Locos up to suit and soldering carefully to join into with Fleetline fine chain in a similar manner to that used on the load on the other wagon I have from the same source. Although it still requires the couplings to complete it does have a screw link coupling (one from an etched brass fret, and not a working one) fixed between the wagons.

The wagons in the background are Mathieson. They have been re-wheeled and the couplings have been replaced. Weathering has been started and they await loading and some more variation in tone, especially to the underframe.