Jump to content
 
  • entries
    122
  • comments
    870
  • views
    104,176

Turning Back the Clock - N6 Horse Box


MikeOxon

1,824 views

NB There is a newer version of this post at :

 

In my OP in this Blog, I referred to the need for plenty of horses and the facilities to support them. As part of "Turning Back the Clock", I decided that an essential railway vehicle would be the Horse Box, so I chose to build the Wizard Models/51L etched brass kit of the GWR diagram N6 box.

 

I felt that the N6 was a suitable design for a beginner in etched-brass construction, as the prototypes, dating from 1890, were of a particularly simple, straight-sided construction, albeit with quite a lot of panelling on the sides and ends. The panelling is, of course, taken care of by the etching process but this model did not need any 'tumble home' to be formed, so everything looked pretty straightforward.

 

I decided to start with the chassis and puzzled for some time over which was the ‘groom’s end’, when looking at the chassis parts. I eventually realised that the fold-out steps on the solebars are the key to this, though not mentioned in the instructions. Next, I realised how little I knew about brake gear, so had to give myself a crash course on 'safety loops' and the like.

 

N6_brakegear.jpg.bfe08a15afc57395a3c35c32c454fcc6.jpg

safety loops in place!

 

I struggled for some time to understand how to bend the handbrake lever stirrup and realised (too late) that it is necessary to fit this before fitting the pivoted axleguard assembly, as it is then impossible to solder the tab on the inside of the chassis, without removing the axleguard assembly again!

 

N6_handbrake.jpg.9357fa54ffc7e3a3f0b71b6c663ebee8.jpg

 

 

Once the chassis was complete, I built the body as a separate item. this proved straightforward and the detailed overlays fitted easily over the inner body shell.

 

blogentry-19820-0-56367600-1390740420.jpg

 

 

 

N6_bodyside.jpg.3101625a3bc725e8c41b5fdb41f5b1d6.jpg

 

I had some difficulty in persuading the roof to sit flush to the ends, near the centreline of the body, so I soldered a pair of small right-angle brackets inside the body, to hold the centre of the roof in place – easy to do with the body and chassis assembled separately.

 

I added the various white metal fittings and found that the spring and axle box assemblies tended to foul the rocking compensation of one axle. A fair bit of filing down was needed to keep everything working! Eventually, however, I had an attractive model to play its part in generating the 'feel' of the of the earlier period I am trying to represent.

 

N6_intrain2.jpg.dad0f7b10270af73f6e859809ff49834.jpg

still awaiting lettering and grab rails

 


That's one more small step on the road back to the 19th century.

 

Mike

Edited by MikeOxon
Restore images

  • Like 7
  • Informative/Useful 1

3 Comments


Recommended Comments

Very nice horse box, Mike!

 

 

...I felt that the N6 was a suitable design for a beginner in etched-brass construction...

When I read that, my first thought was "This guy must be mad, that really isn't a beginner's kit." Then I remembered that my first all brass kit was one of these as well. Nothing like throwing yourself in at the deep end, is there?

 

Nick

Link to comment
"This guy must be mad..."

Well, there's probably something in that :)  I'd built loads of plastic and white metal stuff and actually found the precision of the brass etches a welcome change. And I certainly learned a lot about undergear!  Now that I'm retired,I enjoy a bit of a challenge.

Link to comment

Well Mike,

Nice to see that your efforts have been transferred into a blog

Hope to see and hear more from you.

At the moment I have both N5 and N6 GWR etched brass horseboxes part built and am currently 'faffing about' with the brake gear which is quite intricate.

Anyway, if mine turn out as good as yours I will be very pleased with myself

Michael

Link to comment

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...