Wenlock's Blog

What I like about brass is that it is so forgiving of mistakes   I don't understand why so many people, who are happy with plastic, seem reluctant to use metal, when it is often much easier!

 

I spent ages looking for some brass tube of the correct size, without success, before I finally took the plunge and rolled my own boiler (in 4 mm) - another fearsome task that proved much easier than I expected.

 

I do admire your soldering of all those rivet strip details, though.  I confess that I resort to superglue at that stage, because I like to position things with my fingers.  Solder and bare hands don't mix.

 

It's looking splendid so far and I'm sure the chassis will be much more straightforward.

 

Mike

Ah! That sinking feeling when you think everything is going swimmingly, and then you realise you've really screwed up. I know it so well! Happily you saved the day.

 

I do like these wagons - they fall into that nice gap between being unusual enough to add a bit of interest from the usual opens and minks, but not so outr

Glad you managed to sort out those rolled sections, Dave.

 

Brass can be forgiving but I'm in the habit of folding things the wrong way along half-etched lines, and it's rare that you can bend it back the right way without the joint breaking. I did this with the Castle slide-bars last week, followed by much swearing. But luckily some wooden clothes pegs and patience got everything lined up and soldered back together the right way. I look forward to seeing your finished Cordon.

Some very neat rolling there.

It's progressing into a nice build.

pleased to hear I'm not alone in misreading instructions

 

nice work

Ah yes, Gas. And a cordon. Would that be a "cordon sanitaire", or is that just me? (Be quiet, Adrian.)

 

Joking aside, was there any rhyme or reason to the telegraphic names for various vehicles?

Between dressing the edges and rolling, you missed out the bit where you punched out a 1000 rivets, presume on half etch, but still very neatly done, especially after rolling both ways! Model shaping nicely. I think the gas tanks like the cordon carried pressurised oil(?) gas for supply of the tanks on the gas-lit carriages, the station platform gas lamps would be suppllied by the local town coal gas supply?

Yes, I concur with Northroader. Town gas was uncompressed - the Metropolitan made use of it initially, carrying it on big bellows-like bags on carriage roofs until the mid-1870s, but it was uneconomical and the bags needed replenishing every three hours or so. The Pintsch system worked at 140psi and a typical incandescent burner consumed 7cu ft p/h (Atkins et al), so cordons were parked wherever carriages could be conveniently recharged, and the tanks replenished every few days by a trip down to the nearest resupply point.

What I like about brass is that it is so forgiving of mistakes   I don't understand why so many people, who are happy with plastic, seem reluctant to use metal, when it is often much easier! I spent ages looking for some brass tube of the correct size, without success, before I finally took the plunge and rolled my own boiler (in 4 mm) - another fearsome task that proved much easier than I expected. I do admire your soldering of all those rivet strip details, though.  I confess that I resort to superglue at that stage, because I like to position things with my fingers.  Solder and bare hands don't mix. It's looking splendid so far and I'm sure the chassis will be much more straightforward. Mike

Thanks Mike! Yep it's certainly lucky that brass is a forgiving material!:-) I'm always a bit wary of using super glue during construction in case something needs soldering later on. I'm sure I read somewhere that it gives off cyanide gas when it's heated!

 

Ah! That sinking feeling when you think everything is going swimmingly, and then you realise you've really screwed up. I know it so well! Happily you saved the day. I do like these wagons - they fall into that nice gap between being unusual enough to add a bit of interest from the usual opens and minks, but not so outr

Hi again Adrian, I looks like I need to read up about early 20th century gas delivery! I'm going to have to think of a suitable excuse to run the cordon on my branch!:-)

 

 

I think you've already got the perfect excuse in your gas-lit branch set. Park it up by the stop blocks by the bridge for easy access to your carriages, and send it down the line every few days for topping up.

 

There are a number of photos of DD5 No.7 at Lambourn, even in the late 50s to top up gas-lit horseboxes. See the Atkins bible and here: http://www.time-capsules.co.uk/picture/show/1302/Lambourn-Railway-Station

I think you've already got the perfect excuse in your gas-lit branch set. Park it up by the stop blocks by the bridge for easy access to your carriages, and send it down the line every few days for topping up.

 

There are a number of photos of DD5 No.7 at Lambourn, even in the late 50s to top up gas-lit horseboxes. See the Atkins bible and here: http://www.time-capsules.co.uk/picture/show/1302/Lambourn-Railway-Station

 

Thanks Adrian, that's good news! Impressed that you're still thinking about modelling at 3.00am, that really is dedication to the cause!:-)

 

 

Hi Dave, that's a nice "save", I'm impressed that the initial roll in the other direction can't be seen at all. 

 

I always learn something from your posts and the subsequent comments. Cordons for horseboxes, eh? That means I can have one too! :-)

 

Have a good xmas!

Thanks Mikkel, happy Christmas to you too! Glad you find the posts useful, even though in this case it shows what not to do! :-)

 

Looking forward to seeing a Cordon for Farthing in 2016 :-)

 

Best wishes

 

Dave