A number of London & Birmingham Railway wagons were illustrated by Samuel Brees in his 'Railway Practice' published in 1846. This wagon is not specifically attributed to the L&B, however it is presented alongside a drawing of an open goods wagon (probably by Joseph Wright) which is. Brees rather unhelpfully labels this one 'Another Wagon'.
Despite this lack of information (and the supporting text is of no further help), it does follow a reasonably standard design for early railway wa
A recently completed early South Eastern Railway wagon by Joseph Wright c.1850. A fiddly kit as I had to re-think the usual construction process as it only has one rigid end. Once I'd figured out that I had to cut a floor first, then attach the rigid end, then the sides and finally the two end doors it went together well. Needless to say the first effort found it's way back into the crucible!
Charmingly quirky wagon in that it has a pair of end doors at the dumb buffered end, and the opposit
A slight departure from my usual 1840s stock, but I was given the masters to cast into a kit and also a set of transfers to go with it, so it seemed rude not to pursue it to completion!
The wagon is cast white metal in 4mm scale from some excellent (as always) masters by Simon Turner of the Birghton Circle. I don't profess to know much about South Yorkshire collieries, or the South Yorkshire Coal & Iron Company. The wagon will never run on my layout as it is in fact a Christmas present f
I'm beginning to feel like a bus, I don't post anything for ages then a string of posts one after the other. I'm keeping the posts minimal to provide a bit of bite sized interest and to avoid boring you all with the same background for all the photos. Please bear with me, it's all I've got at the moment!
A few images of some early London & Brighton Railway stock. The open sided second coupe break (surely far too many titles for such a basic vehicle?) appears to be waiting for an
I finally got round to painting my SER cattle wagon kit. It has sat in my 'must finish that one day' tray (admit it folks, we all have one of those), for about a year, completed and even in primer but sporting the wrong axleboxes (don't ask)!
I think the fact that I fitted it with the wrong axleboxes put me off it a bit. However, despite being a complicated casting it's not a bad little kit at all. I couldn't face changing them so I completed the model and if you didn't know you wouldn't kno
I had a chance (or was it that I finally got around to it?) to finish these three, two for the GNR and one little wagon with no owner (hashtag sad face).
The first two are the Horsebox and Open Carriage Truck designed by Archibald Sturrock and built by Joseph Wright for the Great Northern Railway. Horses were conveyed in this box three abreast with their heads in the overhanging section above one of the dog-boxes. Hinged removable partitions separated the horses, and left the animals
As a little side project to my current 'bete noire', (that being a kit for some Eastern Counties jointed carriages; more of which later), I have found space in one of the moulds for a diminutive c1850 coal wagon by William Alexander Adams.
Born in Chile, W. A. Adams joined his father William Bridges Adams at the age of 15 in his carriage works in Drury Lane, subsequently becoming a partner when the workshops moved to the new purpose built Fairfield Works at Bow. He left for Fox Henderson in
A short entry to illustrate two different approaches to cattle wagon design, and how much cosier horses had it!
The first constructed by Charles Cave Williams c.1851-52 for the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway who numbered them 1751-1790. They were well made vehicles and in some cases saw a good twenty years of service, but when William Stroudley took office he introduced his own design and by the 1880s they were being broken up and replaced. All had apparently gone by 1884
Well, it's been a useful fortnight in the sun, took some plans, Plastikard, tools etc with me and have managed to almost complete the masters for three new kits. In the pic attached is a W.B.Adams luggage van with sledge brake 1850s, an SER open cattle van, and an 1840s London Brighton Railway enclosed second. The contrast in size between the cattle van and the second is ludicrous. I think the cattle had the better deal, at least they could stand up!
A motley selection of early wagon masters is the result of some time off work. Well, it keeps me off the streets....!
The larger round end wagon with end doors (middle row) is a SER open by Joseph Wright c1850. A very interesting wagon and very similar to those built for the London and Birmingham Railway a few years earlier. The L&B wagons are unattributed however, since Wright made carriages for the L&B it's entirely possible that the wagons were supplied by Wright as well.I'll tack
Just finished the undercoat on one of my new kits; South Eastern Railway open cattle wagon. Next a coat of red, black ironwork and a generous splash of limewash to keep the foot & mouth at bay!
SER ‘coffee pot’ no.126 was busy today with a little shunting. Well, at least that’s what I pretended it was doing since I don’t have enough track laid yet to actually do any shunting so perhaps we should call it a ‘photographic charter’!
The loco was made at Bricklayers Arms in 1848 but not finished, (possibly due to a dispute with William Bridges Adams over patent infringement). Completed at Ashford in 1850 ( after Adams had gone bust) it made itself useful until September 1866 whe
Well it's not every day you have the excuse to use the word triumvirate but today I'm feeling lucky!
These three are a bit late for my own layout, but never too late for the glass cabinet screwed to my living room wall. The Beadle wagon is a recent addition to the range, crisp masters by Simon Turner, lettering transfers by POW sides.
The Lime wagon and Booth Bros. wagons are revivals of excellent Woodham Wagon Works kits, masters by Burgundy many moons ago, but I made a
Just to demonstrate how much better the well-to-do had it in the mid 19th century, these three 1st class carriages would have conveyed the wealthier passenger, often with their own road carriage on a truck and their horses in a box at the end of the train.
The first is a coupe carriage of the London & Brighton Railway. An extra fee was charged on top of the first class fare for those who wished to travel in the end compartments. This was more for privacy than the view (and if run
Having just finished London & Croydon Railway No.5 'London', (details to follow in another blog soon), I've turned my attention to a long standing ambition to make a kit of W. B. Adams jointed stock for the Eastern Counties Railway.
It's early days but the ends are done and the two sides of the composite section are almost complete. There's still plenty to do and I have a friend kindly etching some elements of the fragile bow springs. I had hoped that these masters would be suitable for
I’ve wanted one of these for ages so I’m pleased to be able to complete this tiny L&BR horsebox this weekend.
The excellent masters were made by Simon Turner from a drawing published in Samuel Brees’ magnum opus. The kit is very simple and went together well.
Also took the opportunity to photograph a couple of other ‘bits’, my 0-4-2 banking engine, again from a drawing in Brees who claims it to be ‘Hercules’ of the London & Croydon railway. Unfortunately we now know
Thanks to some great work by Simon Turner who has been supplying me with excellent masters, I have managed to start to add a few new kits to the range.
They’re not ready yet but we’re up to the primer stage with the GNR horsebox, GNR open carriage truck and a general purpose 2 plank wagon by Smith & Willey of Liverpool c. 1845.
A London & Birmingham Railway horsebox is in the final stages and I’ve a L&BR ‘break waggon’ to build as well.
I have been
Another vehicle to add to the London & Birmingham Railway layout I will never have! However, that’s never an excuse not to make a model of whatever you fancy is it?
This little van is from a drawing by Joseph Wright of a water ballasted ‘break waggon’ pre1845. The drawing gives his London address which makes it a very early vehicle, so just right for Bricklayers Arms (if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s for completely the wrong railway), but let’s not worry about that.
Excel
Why is it I always seem to build rolling stock in threes, does anyone else have this quirk?
Firstly I completed my Norwich & Brandon Railway corn wagon kit. This one was from a lovely drawing in the HMRS collection of a frankly very rare beastie. An act of parliament authorising the construction of the N&BR was passed on 10th May 1844. The contractors were Grissell & Peto, consultant engineers Robert Stephenson and George Parker Bidder. Officially opened on 29th July 1845
Ok folks, here’s a little challenge.
How many of you still have your very first scratch build from all those years ago that you could dust off and post on RMweb?
I’m prepared to start things off with my little GWR saddle tank made from balsa wood well over forty years ago. It doesn’t even have wheels, just dowel rollers hence the need for the 25ton machinery wagon. I couldn’t tell you how old I was when I made it but it would definitely have been single figures. I’m surpr
In 1850 (or thereabouts) the LB&SCR under the direction of J. C. Craven constructed some very large open thirds on a 13ft wheelbase. These carriages were essentially enlarged versions of the little 7ft 6in wheelbase open carriages of the early 1840s with their distinctive outside framing. The Brighton did not appear to be in any great rush to provide more comfortable accommodation for their third class passengers but gradually these opens appeared with roofs, some with individual pillars in
