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 1846 but by the end of the year he joined in partnership with George Alcock establishing the Midland Works in Soho.

The partnership was dissolved in 1850 but Adams continued the production of wagons, writing several papers on the improvement of 'railway carrying stock' championing the use of wrought iron frames over the more traditional timber. The distorting effects of concussion from the solid elm buffers and the comparatively high cost of repairs rendered them no better than their ubiquitous timber framed cousins. However, Adams had his fingers in many pies and his scheme of purchasing and leasing wagons under the Midland Wagon Co. was very successful.

The wagon is a very straightforward cast white metal kit, the pinpoint bearings sit in the axle boxes which are part of the outside frame axle guards creating a rigid chassis. I toyed with the idea of an internal compensation unit but with such a small short wheelbase wagon it hardly merits the extra effort. The model runs perfectly well without compensation although with such short buffers the coupling hooks almost touch!