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North Wales coal wagons by Dapol and a box van

Jongudmund

Entry posted by Jongudmund

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A short while ago I saw a Dapol advert in one of the modelling magazines for a new 2-wagon set of Black Park Colliery, which operated pits in Chirk and Ruabon. As my Dad was born in Ruabon (and likes wagons) I told him about it. On one of his trips to the Wrexham area he took a small detour to the Dapol shop to look at (and buy) the wagons. What I didn't expect was that he also bought me a set. To complete the coal train he also bought me a wagon Dapol have done from the Llay Hall colliery in Wrexham, Now this has particular family significance as it is the pit where my great uncle Ishmael worked as a collier, so when Dad saw it he bought one for both of us.

 

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The first thing I want to say is that Dapol has vastly improved the quality of its wagons. I have some from a few years ago and compared to Bachmann and Hornby they were distinctly third rate back then. Well, not any more. I was very impressed with the finish and detail on these. Coal wagons are fairly plain and can look really cheap (and the ones Dapol used to do did look very cheap), but these don't.

 

They also come with coal loads, which manage to not look too plastic and fake. That's quite a hard thing to pull off.

 

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I'm not sure how these are going to fit on the DCC train set when it is built. As previously mentioned, the engines and rolling stock in the set are more suited to a Northern England lay-out. Realistically Northern England had plenty of its own collieries and I can't imagine they would have transported much coal up from North Wales. Sending coal to Newcastle is, after all, the classic idea of a waste of time.

 

More in keeping with the North England theme is another wagon I have acquired recently - a Hornby Railroad "NE" box van. Here it is with the coal wagons.

 

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Now this wagon is very basic, but considering I bought it for just £4 brand new from a city centre toy shop, it's alright. The idea is to use it to practice weathering because at that price it doesn't matter if I make a mess of it. Of course, whether I ever get to weather it is another question. If When I build the train set, you'll probably see pictures of it rolling round still in it's shiny just out of the box state. But it's one for the project list.

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MikeOxon

I've only just caught up with this blog and am finding it a fascinating read, since my own railway started out as a trainset, although rather a long time ago!   i agree with others that a 'blog' is good for following the development of a railway, over a long period, and it also provides yourself with a 'diary' of its construction.

 

You obviously have loads of ideas, so I look forward to seeing them evolve :)

 

Mike

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Jongudmund

Thanks Mike, I appreciate that. It's slow progress I'm afraid, for various reasons as noted in the post about the Lego train set. I am due another post about possible track plans, so keep an eye out for it :)

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