wagonman

On the subject of Wigan area wagons, here's one I made earlier. This one is side doors only and has been "sold" to a small coal merchant down the line in Llandovery. For the sake of historical accuracy I have to point out that, while Mary Jones was a real coal merchant in that town, she never owned any wagons – so far as is known. If I'm prepared to rupture the space/time continuum enough to have a non-existent railway built to serve very real lead mines further up the Towy valley, I have no compunction in expanding the scope of a local business. This is a theme that can be expanded to inordinate length... The model is 7mm scale, scratch built, and in dire need of another go at the lettering which is frankly crap.

Rather than hack out the windows of a Ratio coach (and have to repair the bolections etc) Shirescenes do a series of etched brass replacement sides (and ends if you're feeling adventurous) including one of the 4wh low roof Saloons – can't remember which diagram. Beware when doing a cut-and-shut, the older 4 and 6 wheeled stock was 8' wide while most of the mainline clerestory stock were 8' 6" wide – the seven compartment C4 was an exception – and generally had slightly more generous compartments too. Russell vol 1, for all its faults, would be useful for you.

The actual wagon design – especially the end door arrangement – is typical of the Wigan area, and rarely seen elsewhere, though there's nothing to say a few couldn't have escaped south to the Nottinghamshire coalfield...

I suspect the 'brown stains' may be due to the fact that she is wearing gloves... On the photography front, don't forget that if you're after maximum depth of focus there are software answers available, at least on Windoze

Ah yes, Hereford Barton...

I have some of their 7mm kits on order...

Just being pedantic, but the GWR never used 3-way points. Even ardent fans like the Midland only used them in sidings. The GWR used plenty of tandem points though...

Those with longer memories will no doubt remember LMC lithos from the '30s, Hamblings ditto from the '50s and the apotheosis of the technique, Peco Wonderful Wagons. An idea with a very long pedigree...

In terms of kits the exSlater's ones are what it says on the box, the same too for the Cambrian ones if you disregard the use of common chassis mouldings. There were some oldies from the likes of Mikes Models which I don't have access to. Are there any others worth mentioning? I've not heard of a single Dapol special edition wagon that was dimensionally accurate. If I can be of any help let me know and I'll fish out my ruler... Richard

Breakfast-wise, I think that's what is known in the trade as a "heart attack surprise"! :-(

According to the Gauge 0 Guild list of Traders' websites, the email address is sirberkeley@hotmail.com

It'll end in tears...

I did say kit-bashing. The all-3rd would be relatively simple as all that's needed is the removal of one compartment. Oh, and a new underframe/bogies etc. The MSWJR did have its own new-build coaches which were similar to the MR design (again the 3rd almost exactly) except that they were electrically lit rather than gas. Some of them lasted to the 1930s. I did actually do a couple of these "modifications" many years ago but later gave them away.

Rob Just a thought, but as the MSWJR coaches were exMR (or new build to similar style) would not your kit bashing efforts be better directed at the Ratio MR kits?

Hi Russ Good to meet you this afternoon. Hope the garden railway wasn't too much of an anti-climax! On the subject of pill-boxes, there's the remains of one stranded on Kelling beach, an indication of just how far the sea has encroached in the last 70 years or so. Cheers Richard

I've signed up for one and hang the expense.

So good to see the proper gauge being used. Irish trains look really weird on under-gauge track, especially in 00. There are a few 4mm scale layouts using 21mm gauge – the late Tony Miles was a great exponent of this.

Resistance is futile. Give in...

I suggest you apply full lining to your model, then photograph it in B&W with a heavy blue filter over the lens – and then see what it looks like. I doubt you'll detect much lining...

Indeed, though as a resident of Cley I'm not sorry that this remains fantasy rather than reality!

Edwardian? Only if you mean Edward VIII...

Quite. The 17ft 6in underframe, later with 10ft wheelbase, was adopted by most companies for merchandise wagons, and by Hornby and Dapol for everything, alas. Which brings us back to the advice to use only the Bachmann models – or kit build...

No it wasn't. The 1923 Standard 12-ton wagon was 16ft 6ins over headstocks on a 9ft wheelbase.

From memory the Collett Goods used the Standard 10 boiler.

I've not seen a BG wagon with a number as high as this but there were lots of NG open wagons with numbers in the 2xxxx range. On that rather reductive basis – along with all the other evidence – I would plump for this wagon being NG. Richard