JaymzHatstand's Blog

Are the Hornby wheels the same diameter as the Romford wheels on the Parkside kits? They look larger in the photo (I do know that the Hornby wheels have a deeper flange), if so changing the wheels could be a starting point to sorting the ride height.

 

Paul.

The Hornby wheels are bigger, but oddly changing them made next to no difference, which is surpising, because looking at them they are maybe 0.5mm bigger. I tried the larger wheels in the Parkside bogies too, and still no change worth reporting. I may just have to keep them in separate rakes, although I do think I'll have to invest in some wheels of the correct diameter, as it does look a lot better with the smaller ones in, obviously I'll need spoked ones, not the discs in the LNER flat.

 

Cheers

 

J

The ratio bogies look a lot deeper top to bottom than the parkside ones, it might be worth standardising on one type. (Whichever you prefer)

 

The bottom crossmember (?) on the ratio bogies looks to angle down towards the middle whereas the parkside seems to angle up.

 

Parkside sell their diamond frame bogies seperately*, or they did when I scratchbuilt some warflats a few years back.

 

(* As do ratio I think)

 

There were drawings of the ramp wagons and warflats in Railway Modeller a while back, sometime in 1996 I think, I have the article somewhere if you need it.

 

(Or do you mean Gramodels are planning one, in which case I'll keep a look out)

 

Looking good though, what are you planning on loading them with?

 

Mike

It is difficult to be certain from the amount of the Parkside kit that is visible in the photos but there appear to be significant differences in the models. Firstly, the frames are much deeper on the Gramodels version and both the buffer shanks and jack mountings are bigger. Secondly, the fishbelly part of the frame on the Parkside model appears to start much nearer the centre.

 

Without measuring the models and comparing them against published drawings such as those in Railway Modeller March 1996, it is difficult to be certain. It is possible that these differences are due to the Parkside model being the WW1 version and the Gramodels being the WW2 version. However, I am not convinced that this is the whole story and I would not like to say which one is more accurate. The correct height from rail top to deck top is 4ft 1¾ ins, or approximately 16.5mm in 00.

 

Finally, do not worry about the damaged buffer. Many Warflats had the tops of the buffers removed after damage from vehicles running over them.

 

Tony

After having a quick check with my steel ruler, neither wagon are 16.5mm from rail head, one is above, the other below!

 

The actual detail differences aren't a problem, as you say Tony, as the Parkside one was converted from an existing design to serve a purpose (as the originals were) and the Gramodels one is bespoke, this should also account for the greater width of the Gramodels wagon. Unless it is just generally bigger, and one of the two models is out of scale (or perhaps both are)

 

Mike, the ramp wagon is listed on the Gramodels price list as TBA and I seem to remember talking about it when I bought the flat. It was in the research stage then I think. I'll have to investigate Parkdise bogies, they aren't listed on the website, but it can't hurt to ask! As for the RM article, I've got that too, along with both Model Rail features (and any subsequent bits) and the Rail Express Modeller segment.

 

In terms of loading, I've not fully decided yet, but I do like the idea of a block train of Churchills behind my black V2!

 

Cheers for the input

 

J

If you are modelling a block train of Churchills, make sure you remove the air inlet louvres and other fittings specified to be within the loading gauge. See here for instructions.

 

http://www.movcon.org.uk/History/Documents/DID/D-MCHS%200140.htm#Special Instructions

 

Tony

Wow! That's a brilliantly informative link, thanks for that! I was already aware of the loading gauge problems of Churchills in transit, and have built a couple of Airfix ones sans side pods!

 

I'll be saving those instructions to read at my leisure!

 

Cheers

 

J

The Parkside bogies are available separately at

I had bought the Gramodels warflat and ratio diamond frame bogies a year ago, and i fitted them with Hornby 3 hole disc wheels with peco tophat bearings, and so far have not come acrossed any difference in the hight or running with other wagons,

but i did scratch build a rake of 12 from the Gramodels 1,

all fitted with 3 link couplings, and yes they do look great with either Churchills or cromwells on them,( but i did for get to not put the side vents on ops!)

i will load up some pic`s for you to see what you think.

but they are in a nice BR green at the moment as i have run out of some paints,

 

Dan

Thanks for that GCRS135, I'll investigat the whitemetal ones next time I see the Gramodels stand, and Dan I'm looking forward to seeing your photos

 

Cheers

 

J

I just stumbled on this thread while looking for something related.

 

I notice two things that no one else has commented on:  the track on the right (under the Gramodel wagon) is significantly raised above the work surface, so this is not a fair comparison.  I won't claim that this is responsible for all of the height variance, but it does look to be a major contributor.

 

The Parkside deck has a noticeable curve/slope downward toward the end of the wagon, which combined with the above could account for all of the deck height difference.  You mention straightening the Gramodel deck, but perhaps you should also have done that to the Parkside.