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Midland Meandering!


wenlock

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In my quest to add variety to the stock appearing at Sherton Abbas, I've treated myself to a couple of Midland wagon kits from Slater's Plastikard.  https://www.slatersplastikard.com/linePage.php?code=7030  and  https://www.slatersplastikard.com/linePage.php?code=7029

 

I built the kits in exactly the way that the instructions suggest, so rather than give a blow by blow account of the construction, here's  a picture of the completed wagon

 

Midland 8 Ton 3 plank drop side wagon.

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Inspired by Stephen's  excellent thread https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/113035-more-pre-grouping-wagons-in-4mm-the-d299-appreciation-thread/  I decided to "improve" the wagon by modifying the axle boxes, adding door banger blocks and re-positioning the number plates on the sole bars.  The wagon was then painted using Humbrol enamels and lettered using the transfers provided with the kit.

 

D305 Midland wagon

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The wagon was then weathered by applying dilute washes of enamel paint and then dry brushing highlights and rust.

 

Finished Wagon

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The box van was built exactly as the kit manufacturer intended apart from a little modification of the axle boxes to a more appropriate shape.  I forgot to take any pictures of the box van before I painted it, so here it is after the first coat of paint!

 

Painted box van

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After Weathering!

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I thought I'd close with a few pictures of the wagons on the layout🙂

 

Midland wagons arriving at Sherton Abbas pulled by 517 class number 539.  

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I'm taking the layout to the Basingstoke Model Railway Exhibition  https://www.basingstokemrs.org/exhibition.html  which is being held on the weekend of 14th and 15th of March.  It promises to be a good weekend, do come over for a chat if you're attending the show!

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

 

PS  There will be something Great Western in the next blog entry for a change!🙂

 

 

 

 

Edited by wenlock
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  • RMweb Gold
Quote

PS  There will be something Great Western in the next blog entry for a change!

Aw, don't spoil it...!

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Some excellent and subtle weathering, Dave.

 

It's healthy I feel to have some foreigner wagons even on a branch line, but it did make me wonder about the inferred location for Sherton Abbas. I seem to remember it being discussed on a blog entry here, but I can't find it afer a 10-minute perusal. The name is a bit 'Dorset'.

 

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28 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

It's healthy I feel to have some foreigner wagons even on a branch line, but it did make me wonder about the inferred location for Sherton Abbas.

Not really a problem, I susggest.

Firstly, Midland wagons got everywhere, especially the Dia. 299 open (although neither of these are such, the three-plank dropside was the second most common merchandise wagon on the MR, and they produced a fair number of vans).

Secondly, they could easily have reached Dorset via the SDJR, jointly owned by the MR. 

Given the Midland's tentacular access to many parts of the UK's major manufacturing centres, directly or via it's close working relationships, then these are possibly (probably?) the most likely "foreign" wagons to turn up.

But probably not as empties!

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50 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

It's healthy I feel to have some foreigner wagons even on a branch line, but it did make me wonder about the inferred location for Sherton Abbas. I seem to remember it being discussed on a blog entry here, but I can't find it afer a 10-minute perusal. The name is a bit 'Dorset'.

 

Hi Russ,

 

Yes "Sherton Abbas" although fictitious is set in Dorset.  I took the name from Thomas Hardy's Wessex novels and is what he renamed Sherbourne.   Here's a map that I found online, so hopefully is in the public domain.

 

image.png.2cbb9e1fafca5d07d2d4da66eb4ff122.png

 

1 hour ago, Miss Prism said:

Some excellent and subtle weathering, Dave.

Thanks Russ!

 

 

30 minutes ago, Regularity said:

but probably not as empties!

There are some rather nice wagon loads drying on the work bench as we speak:)

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I'm trying to put my finger on Penlan's jpg showing the wide variety of different company vehicles in a survey/census of one of the large Bristol goods depots c 1910, but I can't find it at the moment.

 

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20 hours ago, Miss Prism said:

I'm trying to put my finger on Penlan's jpg showing the wide variety of different company vehicles in a survey/census of one of the large Bristol goods depots c 1910, but I can't find it at the moment.

 

I'd be very interested to read that when you find it:)

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Here it is:

 

But beware that it is post-pooling so "anything goes". However, I believe the census may have been of GW yards in Bristol, excluding Midland yards, and there is an overall preponderance of "home" wagons. The other large pre-grouping companies are represented roughly in proportion to their total wagon stock, excepting the NE (many of whose vast fleet of wagons were confined to pit-to-staithe workings in the north east, and so non-pool.) 

 

Before the Great War and pooling, one does need a justification for foreign wagons but that's pretty easy in the case of the Midland - down in the backward rural south there would be continuous demand for the manufactured products of the midlands. I like the idea of the S&DJR routing but what in reality would have been the point of exchange between the GWR and LSWR for traffic to Dorset GW stations? Of course Bristol could also be the point of exchange, or even Bordesley - it would depend on how vigorously the Midland and Great Western agents in Wednesbury or wherever had competed to offer the best rate! 

 

Which reminds me of this gem from a Superintendent of the Line's circular of 1898 in the Midland Railway Study Centre collection:

 

"DUDLEY AGENCY

It is necessary that all parcels, letters, and other communications, for our Dudley Agent, should be fully addressed as follows:-

MR. FRANK WHITTAKER,

Midland Railway Company,

Dudley.

to prevent their getting into the hands of the Great Western Company's Agent at Dudley, whose name is Mr. E. Whittaker."

 

Some interesting ideas for unusal traffic in that notice, too - a number of others are online too - just search the catalogue.

 

I am flattered that you have taken note of the detail differences between the 1880s-built 3-plank wagons (angled headstock ends as door stops, 8A axleboxes, numberplate on left) and those built from 1897 (door stop on end of side, Ellis 10A axleboxes, numberplate on right). The covered goods vans, D357, seem to be the only other wagons using the standard 9'0" wheelbase, 14'11" over headstocks underframe to have the numberplate on the left (as you have modelled) despite that the vast majority weren't built until 1903.

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3 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

I am flattered that you have taken note of the detail differences between the 1880s-built 3-plank wagons (angled headstock ends as door stops, 8A axleboxes, numberplate on left) and those built from 1897 (door stop on end of side, Ellis 10A axleboxes, numberplate on right). The covered goods vans, D357, seem to be the only other wagons using the standard 9'0" wheelbase, 14'11" over headstocks underframe to have the numberplate on the left (as you have modelled) despite that the vast majority weren't built until 1903.

One off the best things about this forum in my opinion is the willingness of members to share their knowledge with others.   To not make the most of that knowledge and try to improve one's modelling makes no sense at all as far as I'm concerned.  I knew next to nothing about Midland wagons before I read your thread, so I'm delighted you think my wagons pass muster!

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Sherton Abbas is the terminus of the branch from King's Hintock - see Great Western Branch Line Termini Vol 3 by Paul Karau.

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19 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

Sherton Abbas is the terminus of the branch from King's Hintock - see Great Western Branch Line Termini Vol 3 by Paul Karau.

Quite right, a rare but nonetheless essential book for the branch line modeller!

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I'm pleased to report that wagon 60172 has been sent back to the Midlands and has returned to Sherton Abbas with a load:)

 

Irritatingly one of the packing cases hasn't cast properly and has a flaw on it's side which I'll need to rectify!  Why do I only notice these things after I've posted the picture:rolleyes: 

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More, more!

 

2139741275_DY2490D305No14211showingmethodofloading.jpg.adbe367fe9583649b0c6312380574d79.jpg

 

NRM DY 2490, released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) licence by the National Railway Museum.

 

... but the load would then be sheeted over.

 

Photo taken 9 Feb 1903, one of a series - somebody somewhere must have a copy of the illustrated guide to loading issued to goods station staff...

 

No. 14211 shows all the features of an 1880s built wagon, in contrast to the 1897+ wagon you've built.

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Wagon labels. Here's one for a wagon load of something Black Country-ish from Wednesbury to Bere Alston via Bath and Templecombe - a LSWR destination I know. You'll need to find your stock of the Great Western equivalent of this pronto. (Both images of labels in the collection of the Midland Railway Study Centre.)

 

Looking through that collection of labels, there are plenty of examples of coal loads from Midlands, South Yorkshire, and even South Wales collieries to Devon/Dorset destinations - admittedly mostly LSWR, with some going via Bath and Templecombe, and others via Bedford and Brent. Some are clearly colliery wagons (low numbers) others Midland 5-plank wagons (5/6 digit numbers). 

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I dunno, you have a few days away and look what happens ! 

 

Nice work as always mate.

 

G

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2 hours ago, bgman said:

I dunno, you have a few days away and look what happens ! 

 

Nice work as always mate.

 

G

Thanks Grahame:)  This endless rain we've been having has kept me indoors modelling, rather than playing on motorcycles!

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Some lovely wagons.  Nice to see some Midland wagons on your layout. The Midland goods wagons were my first introduction to historical railways in the UK.

 

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