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L&BR OCT etc.


5&9Models

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Why is it I always seem to build rolling stock in threes, does anyone else have this quirk?

 

Firstly I completed my Norwich & Brandon Railway corn wagon kit. This one was from a lovely drawing in the HMRS collection of a frankly very rare beastie. An act of parliament authorising the construction of the N&BR was passed on 10th May 1844. The contractors were Grissell & Peto, consultant engineers Robert Stephenson and George Parker Bidder. Officially opened on 29th July 1845 the railway had already lost its title to the Norfolk Railway following a merger with the Yarmouth & Norwich Railway a month earlier. In the meantime the Eastern Counties Railway was making great progress and eventually swallowed up the NR in 1848, the assortment of Eastern Counties lines amalgamating to form the Great Eastern Railway in 1862. Thanks to Simon Turner for making the excellent masters for this and the next two kits as well.

 

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The second is a Midland Railway end door goods wagon of 1847. The drawing reputedly originated from Derby works and is dated 1847 but beyond that we know very little. The wagon is certainly typical for the period with wooden head buffers, a simple drop lever wooden brake and doors in one end pointing to a period when wagon turntables were plentiful and turning such a vehicle before or after loading was commonplace. Often loads would be sheeted over and the high round ends provide support for a canvas.

 

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The third is a little different, an open carriage truck of the London & Birmingham Railway. This one has a delivery to make, a cabriolet by James Braby of Lambeth to his 1837 patent no.7279. The patent document shows several vehicles including a very charming omnibus, Shillibeer style, which I may well be tempted to model at some point. Braby started out as a road carriage builder but found himself drawn into railway carriage building like many of his contemporaries and supplied several early railways with carriages.

 

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They're photographed at Bricklayers Arms. Please don't ask how on earth they came to be south of the Thames in 1845...!

 

Now I have to find three more things to make!

 

 

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I'm very curious about the Midland wagon and would love to know more about the drawing. Essery's Midland Wagons has three sketches of early Midland wagons, drawn by A. Whitehead, but no sources are given other than "all dimensions and details are deduced from old sketches"; none look much like yours!

Edited by Compound2632
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4 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

I'm very curious about the Midland wagon and would love to know more about the drawing. Essery's Midland Wagons has three sketches of early Midland wagons, drawn by A. Whitehead, but no sources are given other than "all dimensions and details are deduced from old sketches"; none look much like yours!

I was supplied the masters for this kit by Simon Turner but I believe the wagon was built by Alfred Kitching for the Midland Railway. It was described by Richard Davidson in the HMRS journal Vol.20, No.1, pp20-23, Jan-Mar 2009. However, to my shame my HMRS membership doesn’t go back that far so I can’t look it up, sorry. I’m also not convinced by the accuracy of the ‘sketches’ in Bob Essery’s book. It’s a good book but the drawings of the early stock don’t stand up to close inspection. I might make a scratch built model from them but not a kit.

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Very nice. Each wagon with so much character. 

 

Can I ask how you did the shafts on the cabriolet? There's are a a couple of horsedrawn carriages I'd like to scratchbuild, but the curved shafts are a bit tricky. 

 

Edited by Mikkel
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15 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

Very nice. Each wagon with so much character. 

 

Can I ask how you did the shafts on the cabriolet? There's are a a couple of horsedrawn carriages I'd like to scratchbuild, but the curved shafts are a bit tricky. 

 

I carved them in styrene then cast them in white metal. Got loads of them now. Do you want any?

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