jjnewitt

The axlebox is inclined. It's an LMS platefont box, probably a 9" x 4 1/4" journal one. They were pretty common and a number can be seen in the LMS vans collection on Paul Bartlett's website. Looks something like this Justin

It definately shows a J hanger but equally as important it has 7 leaf springs. If it were a Morton brake chassis with conventional springs they would be 5 leaf. Justin

I hope not. It remains to be seen how good they actually are. There isn't exactly a great track record of decent RTR buffers. Accuarascale will be doing very well to get halfway near your quality and anyhow I can't solder plastic to brass. I get that to. Plate wagons, gunpowder vans... It's probably going to continue. Sadly by the time the RTR market implodes (which it one day will) they'll be no kit makers left to provide anything different because they'll have got fed up.

Happy New year to all. Having had a review of Rumney Models trading operations I've decided to have a bit of a spring clean of the catalogue. Nothing immediate but some items are now slated for withdrawl and others will only be available in minimum quantities. Details are in my New Year's update on the Rumney Models website which can be found via this link. Cheers, Justin

Great news Dave. I've got a few wagons to in the finishing queue that have been waiting for these. Those masters look excellent. Justin

I might have done had that nice Mr Franks not got there first! I have done axleboxes and springs instead though, but I I doubt they sell in anywhere near the same quantities... Justin

That's another set of instructions I won't need to write... C'est la vie. There are enigneering drawings for the LMS D2093 version in Official drawings of LMS wagons No.1 by Wild Swan. The panel spacing is the same on these and the BR ones, which as far as I can tell are the same as the LMS ones except for changes in the brakegear. As has been suggested the GWR ones were different and by the look sof it the LNER ones as well. The wheelbase for these was 9' (apart from the final batch of BR ones built with BR clasp brakes which were 10') not 10' as someone mentioned earlier. Fun prototypes. Justin

Definately not £3.50. Thanks for pointing that out Chris. I have altered to something more accurate (£3.50)! Justin

Scaleforum is just around the corner and that means a new set of releases from Rumney Models. The ‘headline act’ this time is an underframe kit for the BR unfitted Grampus (B.34 - £15). This includes replacement baskets and door spring and step detailing for the body. For those who don’t want to go to the extent of building a complete replacement underframe the baskets, solebar and body side door springs along with the corner steps are available on their own as a detailing pack (B.109 - £3.50). There is a new underframe for RCH 21T Morton brakes hoppers (B.29 - £13), covering mainly private owner types and also a 17’6” x 9’ Morton brake underframe (B.32 - £11) for grouping era general merchandise wagons. To compliment the underframes are screw couplings (B.96 - £1.50). These are etched on 0.015” nickel silver to try and give a more prototypically robust appearance and come in sets of 4 with various length links. Completing the etched products are CSB carrier tags to suit Brassmasters hornblocks (X.03 - £1.50). The range of whitemetal springs and axleboxes continues to expand with RCH 2 part, LMS 2 part, LMS vertical Platefront, LNER cast and LNER welded axleboxes combined with 5 leaf springs along with LMS 2 part, LMS vertical Platefront, LMS sloping Platefront and LNER cast axleboxes combined with the LMS 7 leaf spring as fitted to wagon with the LMS clasp brake. All types come in packs of 4 castings which cost £2.50. Lastly are castings and etched details for later type BR Bogie Bolster C bolsters. These distinctive bolsters were fitted from around 1954 and can be used to detail the Bachmann model. There are two types covering diagrams 1/474 & 1/477 (F.03A - £6.50) and 1/475 (F.03B - £6.50). Each set consists of 4 cast bolsters with etched bolster pins and D links. Further details on all of the above can be found via the Latest Releases page on my website. Also just to reiterate that Rumney Models moved in July of this year. The new address for all postal correspondence is as follows: 3 Warren Terrace Trellech Monmouthshire NP25 4PH I hope to see some of you at Scaleforum, Justin

A quick interim update from Rumney Models before the next major set of releases in September. Firstly a couple of new items in the form of Express Dairy milk tank plates in both 4mm and 7mm scales. These include both the company plate and the distinctive round number plate that was attached to the baulks at the tank ends. The numbers were Express Dairy’s own fleet numbers and were generally grouped according to who built the milk tank. If you want something specific then please inquire or else you will get a random number picked from the box they are in. The plates are etched on 0.1mm stainless steel and nicely complement the United Dairies/Unigate plates released last year. Details on the 4mm plates can be found here, and the 7mm ones here. Prices are £2.50 a set for the 4mm version and £3.50 a set for the 7mm ones. Secondly Rumney Models is moving house. The new address for all postal correspondence is as follows: 3 Warren Terrace Trellech Monmouthshire NP25 4PH The house move will mean that I won’t be able to process any orders from now until the week commencing the 17th. Please bear this in mind. I will be able to respond to emails during this period though there may be some delay in doing so. Also a reminder that Rumney Models will be at Larkrail on the 15th July. I look forward to seeing some of you there. Justin

Also not wanting to start a bun fight but this isn't true either. Vacuum braked wagons may have been but uniftted opens (which amounts to the majority of those built) were fitted with 3 links. See pages 15, 17 and of David Larkin's Wagons of the Early Bristish Railways Era. I'm sure there are plenty of other photgraphs out there showing them before the retrofitting program. Justin

According to my records, no. I did a list covering milk tank diagrams and ownership details which can be found on my website. Whilst it focuses on the 6 wheel version it does list those that were converted from 4 wheel vehicles and the vast majority of these were for United Dairies. As brossard says the four wheel vehicles weren't a great idea and those that were built with two axles were either rebuilt into 6 wheel vehicles fairly quickly or the tanks reused on new underframes. Justin

They were built in the mid 1970s on redundant Palbrick underframes. It is a bit odd seeing a 16T mineral with LMS clasp brakes: http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/mineralmcv10ft Justin

The retrofitted 9' wheel base 16T minerals had L section tie bars of course so in this case you'd be better with angle. The L faced away from the W-irons. I don't think I've come across another wagon type fitted with angle tie bars. Eileen's do 0.8mm (which is just about perfect) L section brass or 1mm will do. Justin

Hi Mike. Nothing further to report at the moment I'm affraid. I still have the revised test etch and the castings to sort out. I'm finding myself pretty short of time at the moment and sorting out the Shochood B is a big job compared with other things that have been in the pipeline. The discharge pipes are in a little bag waiting for the chassis to be painted! Justin

New Items March 2017 With Scalefour North looming large Rumney Models is pleased to announce another round of new releases. Below is a round up of the new items. Links to the various products on my website can be found via the Latest Releases page. As per usual instructions for certain items are currently being prepared. One day I’ll have them all done before release time comes around but not this year. So to the exciting stuff… First up are some more additions to my range of whitemetal wagon axlebox and spring castings. Once again they have been produced from the highest quality masters printed for me by Alan Butler at Modelu. The new types cover BR brake van springs along with 7 leaf springs and heavy duty axleboxes for 20/21T wagons. The BR brake van springs are available with BR 2 part, BR Platefront, roller bearing and LNER welded axleboxes. These are also suitable for late build LNER brake vans. The 7 leaf springs come with BR 2 part, BR 2 part square, welded with horizontal lugs, welded with vertical lugs and RCH 2 part axleboxes. The axleboxes on the 7 leaf springs are based correctly on 10” x 5” journal prototypes. In all cases the axleboxes comes attached to the springs for ease of fitting and are slotted on the back for use with sprung suspension systems. The price is £2.50 for a set of four axleboxes and springs. The next couple of releases mark a foray into the wonderful world of oil tank wagons. There is a new completely open underframe for the Bachmann anchor mount tank wagons (B.71 - £15) which also includes a choice of ladders and an etched valve wheel for detailing the body. This is specifically a 14T underframe with BR axleguards and includes everything you would expect from a Rumney Models release. For those who feel like tarting up the Bachmann anchor mount tank without going to the extent of replacing the underframe there is a detailing kit (B.106 - £4) which includes ladders and valve wheel along with brake levers and lever guards. The detailing kit is sufficient for 2 wagons. Note that you do not need the detailing etch if you buy the underframe and it is my intention to do something similar for earlier cradle and saddle mounted tank wagons in the near future. There is also a new underframe for the BR built 13T china clay opens (B.30 - £10). These are intended for the Ratio kit but will also suit the Bachmann body. To complement the underframe and make fettling the ratio body easier there are replacement end stanchions (B.107 - £3). This will provide sufficient stanchions for 6 wagons. There are a couple of other small detailing etches. These cover BR built Shocopens (B.104 - £2) which includes capping and strapping strips along with label boards and lamp irons and the Ratio LMS van (B.105 - £1) which provides the diagonal strapping found on these wagons in BR days along with label boards and lamp irons. There is also a general wagon detailing fret (B.108 - £3). This has been made available due to several requests and includes all the little detailing parts that can be found on Rumney Models underframes such as number plates, lamp irons, swan neck vacuum pipe brackets and label boards for adding to RTR and kit wagons. There are enough parts to cover 3 or 4 wagons on the fret. Note that you do not need this fret if you are building wagons with Rumney Models underframes as the parts are already included. Lastly are some new items in 7mm scale. My BR tarpaulin bar fret (OB.92 - £7) has been reworked for the larger scale. As per the 4mm version there are sufficient parts for two wagons and both early and late types are covered. A pair of etched Grampus baskets (OB.109 - £9) is available to replace those in the Parkside kit. These will be coming in 4mm in due course. Also there is a detailing fret for wagons fitted with RCH 12’ lifting link brakegear (OB.110 - £12). This includes replacement brakegear, vees, brake levers and lever guards as well as items such as 21T hopper door handles and end steps along with 21T mineral wagon door springs. It is intended to detail the Parkside BR 21T hopper and Grampus kits but can be used on others. Finally a detailing etch covering vacuum brakegear parts for BR 21T hoppers (OB.111 - £2). This provides items such as vees for the vacuum cylinder cross shaft and links as well as vacuum cylinder brackets for turning the Parkside 21T welded hopper into a vacuum braked example. Finally, a note that I have created a Future Plans page on my website. This list items which, for one reason or another, I have decided to make available only once there is sufficient interest in them. If there is anything on there that you would like to see available then please let me know. Also note that these are all items for which the development work has been completed to my satisfaction, once there is enough interest they will go into production. Also note that I don’t intend to market everything in this way, just items that I am unsure will cover the costs of bringing them to the market. I look forward to catching up some of you in Wakefield next weekend.

Let's hope that is the case. The worry in all this from a modelling point of view is that there is no done deal for C&L yet. If the propsed sale doesn't go through (and until it's actually signed that could well happen) then C&L could close for good come April. Justin

I doubt there's anything much to be had in way of economies of scale, nor is there generally in the model railway world. The market just isn't big enough. No one is selling tens or hundreds of thousands of anything and I wouldn't be suprised if some of the C&L components were being order at minimum quantities. Personally I think the scale societies could easily take on distribution of items such as track components if required and indeed offer a decent service. The Scalefour Society has a public online shop with online payment via Paypal/credit or debit card along with a very good stores 'manager' in Jeremy Suter. The service is excellent. As with most things if there's is a necessity to do something then people will find a way to do it... Justin

I wonder how many stories like this were propaganda by men who've had unfamiliar foreign engines forced upon them. It seemed to happen all over the place. The 5600s were of course designed to haul coal trains down hills in South Wales which they did very successfully. The gradients on the Somerset on Dorset are steep but defiately no worse than the valleys and the trains no heavier... Justin

I don't think RTR manufacurers need to include etched cabside plates. Transfers are fine as long as they aren't bigger than they should be so that people can put etched plates over them if they like. Indeed I think it might have been more preferable for DJM to have created a raised 'mound' for the number plate and then printed on top of it, or just printed the number on the cab side. The plates on the Bachmann and Hornby models illustrated earlier look much better, DJM seem to have picked the worst possible option. My general point was that no one, RTR or etched plate maunfacturer really captures the big lump that is the GWR cab side number plate with it's quite shallow numbers and brass beading. Justin

That picture perfectly illlustrates the bulk of a GWR cabside plate! The real things are an inch deep over the beading and the beading itself just a 1/4" deep. They are substantial castings and even most etches fail to convey this. The DJM attempt looks terrible which is a shame as a lot of the model looks quite nice at first glance, if a little 'heavy' on the detail. Justin

Milk tanks had steam heating pipes fitted though which makes that arrangement possible, especially in Winter. The lack of steam heating pipes is a good reason for marshalling general merchandise vans, etc at the end of a passenger trains as tail traffic. Justin

Not necesarily. It would depend entirely on the class the train it was running as. Something like a class 8 or 9 goods would be unfitted and any vacuum braked stock in the train would be marshalled according to destination. Even on something like a class 5 freight once you got past the min fitted head both vacuum braked and unfitted wagons could be found mixed together. All the BR standard vans and variations of would have had lamp irons from new. Not before 1968, they weren't XP rated (9' wheelbase and 16'6" long). Yes post 1968. Vacuum braked stock could have lamp irons from new in grouping era as well. A large amount of GWR vacuum braked vans were fitted with lamp irons for example, though a quick glance through one of Russell's wagon boks would suggest not all. The GWR had its own XP rating and I don't think it was quite as all encompassing as the BR one. It's worth noting that not all vacuum braked stock was XP rated and so just because something was fitted it doesn't mean it would have had lamp irons from new. Passenger trains were of course not the only place where XP stock could be found behind the brake van. Vanfits in parcels trains would be a very obvious place. Justin

Lamp irons would have been required on all vehicles that were XP rated. Basically in BR days this meant vacuum braked wagons that were a minimum of 17'6" long with a minimum wheelbase of 10'. Such wagons could be used as tail traffic and so would need to have been able to display a lamp. Post 1968 and the end of the need to have a brake van at the ends of fully fitted trains all vacuum braked wagons would have needed to have a lamp iron fitted though whether they all got them is another matter The a Dapol 5 planks look nice but I don't think they've quite got the planking right. When they were new the top plank was the same width as the bottom plank and noticeably wider than the middle three. Given that there are published drawings of the LMS version of this wagon (Wild Swan) and no end of references it's a shame. Justin

Hereford to Gloucester is a possibility. This was a dotted red route and I've certainly seen pictures of Halls working local passenger trains and even a Britannia on a pigeon special. It's possible that Castles worked passenger trains, especially towards the end when Hereford Shed had an allocation. Talk of Castles on milk trains is all very interesting but I can't think of any creamery on a single track branch line where Castle's would have got to. All the lines talked about are double track main lines. Was there even a creamery on the GWR that was located on a single track red or dotted red route? Justin