airnimal

Delightful modelling as always from your workbench. I find the outside pull rods wonderful and so atmospheric and not very often modeled. I have only built one model with this feature on a NLR brakevan. I can't wait for the next instalment.

Progress is very slow at present with just a bit of work done on the door catches and other ironwork on the solebar's. Just the interior details and all the nuts and bolts to add. JUST the nuts and bolts adds up to something like 260 individual holes drilled to accept the Masterclub nuts of different sizes.

I believe this gentleman is a politician who values see through policies.

Jim, you had me doubting my own sanity there. I have done a very small amount because of doing other things. But I have put the end stanchions on and the crown plates as well. It is a very slow process this time of the year with all the festive stuff to attend to. Looking forward to the Manchester show at the weekend. I have being going for over 60 years now and haven't missed one since I was 8 years old. It was probably here that I got my love of pre-grouping railways from. There were people there who still remembered the pre-grouping period because it had only gone some 30 years before. Happy days in the Corn Exchange watching Presson and other such delights.

All the talk of what will become of our models after we depart to that great engine shed in the sky intrigues me. I have 3 daughters who have spent many hours giving me grief over the the value of my humble efforts. I know what I have spent on the things I have acquired from other people but how do you put a price on something that you have built yourself. Because my models are to S7 will probably mean that they will not be worth as much as if they were finescale O gauge. Does it matter that all the none engine stock can easily be converted back to finescale with the help of a screwdriver. How does one value a simple wagon when a kit built wagon to not very good standards goes for £40 on e-bay. So how do I value a hand built model taking 50 or 60 hours to make that has won a competition or appeared in MRJ in the same ball park. Will there still be people around who will still want them. I have one or two that I have spent close to 200 hours building, what would that go for on e-bay ? Even the very finest don't go for the real cost that they probably cost to acquire. Unless your name is Beeson or Reynalds it is very unlikely.

Jim, I hope I have modelled it correct , but the wagon I am making is from the second drawing in book without cupboard doors. Both doors are seen here. This larger wagon has normal side doors even though they are on the small side.

Jim, thank you for the photograph of the small Arniston wagon. This is precisely the wagon drawn in Len Tavender coal trade wagon book. He obviously used this photograph to make his drawing. I find these small wagons have so much character I would love to models some of these but how do I account for them this far south of the border. I know I am modelling the larger wagon from the same company but the larger wagon would have a bit more chance of going a bit further from is home territory. That's my excuse anyway. I have not done a lot today because we have been out with my daughter and her husband taking 2 of our grandsons on the polar express on the Churnet Valley railway. This Santa special was packed out with everyone on board dressed in pyjamas and dressing gowns. The weather even played it's part because it snowed for the whole trip but it was a bit tricky driving both there and back.

Dave, the clamps were from the middle aisle of Aldi. They always have tools and gadgets that come in handy for both the modeller and the do it yourself man. They are only available at certain times but you can see any special offers on line. Lidi also have similar products on at certain times so it's best to check every couple of weeks what's coming up. Jim, this wagon is described as being rebuilt from a dumb buffered wagon with new timbers, and on a previous page of Len Tavender's book there is a smaller 6'6" wheel base one with the same number. Both are lettered the same with the same number but surly if the smaller wagon was rebuilt to such an extent it would be a new wagon altogether. There is no indication of colour on either drawing. The side door is very small for such a large wagon but with the end door being used for tipping this small door might not be used much. The hoops and holding bracket cause me problems when I tried to make them because of there small size. I found some small brass brackets in my bits box that looked similar but were slightly to wide. I tried to cut them in half to reduce the gap where the hoop sits but trying to hold everything together and solder everything square was a nightmare with my arthritic fingers. So in the end I gave up in disgust and just used them as they came. The gap either side of the hoop is to wide by about 10 thou which does bother me. I did say standards are slipping. I don't have any idea where these came from or what there purpose was originally for but they could be parts from a sailing ship. I help to clear a workmates uncle's workshop out about 30 years ago who was a ship modeller and he gave allsorts of bits that I never disposed of.

I have drilled holes through the top of the door to accept some .7mm Masterclub rivets to line up and fix the hoops. When I am making an open wagon I always include some form of bend in the sides to bow the sides outwards. I keep some form of packing in until I am ready for painting because they tend to get handled a lot and picking them up by the sides usually leads to problems later. Onwards and upwards now with the rest of the detailing. Jim, I forgot to ask if you know what colour this wagon would be painted.

Ian, thank you for the photographs which makes things a lot clearer particular the top one. I have made a new door and the hoops that sit on top of it. It is not fixed in place yet but it does look like the drawing and photographs now. I have drilled a couple of holes in the top timber so that I can put a peg in to strengthen the join when i finally come to glue in on because I want a small gap under it.

Jim, I hope I have worked out how this end door operates. Along with your help and looking closely at the drawing, the penny has finally dropped. I hadn't realised that the top piece of wood was fixed and there was a half inch gap between the top of the door and this fixed piece of timber. It is not very clear on both the drawing and the photographs how the door swings up on the plate attached to the top timber which from the drawing scales out at four and a half inches square. I presume that the plate that the hoops rests on has some sort of guide or groove to retain the doors position and the weight of the door helps keep its location when the wagon is discharging its load. I will have to make a new end door to now to accommodate this information to leave a small gap between the door top and this fixed timber. I think that the door was made from slightly thinner planks but was heavily braced on the outside for strength. I have made a pair of sides and glued them on and I will make the ends and the door to match these sides.

Jim, yes it does have the heavy framing on the end door but not the cupboard doors on the side. I need technical advice on this one. Although I have the Caledonian wagon book by Mike William's I don't quite know how the end door hoops work. I can see on the drawings that the hoops are welded to the ironwork on the door but where does the hoop go when the door is raised ? And what does the door pivot on and what is on the door inside ? I don't think I have ever seen a close up photograph of this feature or read about the way this works. Philip, I was talking to fellow member of the S7 society and he wanted to use cast resin to make some ex private owner Midland wagons that were bought by them at the turn of the century. He has cast some small parts at home and was wondering about doing the same but with wagon bodies. I don't think he wanted to farm them out to a manufacturer but to produce them at home.

I went to Warley on Sunday and enjoyed the experience. The journey on the train was fine going, coming back was the usual overcrowded nightmare. I talked to the S7 clan next to Ellerton road layout and discussed pattern making. I have only done complete wagon bodies and not ones that breakdown into individual components. I am not sure how and where the joins would go so as to make them impossible not to see when glued together. I am pondering on whether this is a runner or not. Anyway after finishing the bolster wagons I have looked around to what to do next. I looked at building a LNWR sign box for when I do get around to building that layout. But in the end I got out one of my favourite books, coal trade wagons by Len Tavender. On page 40 is a reconstructed wagon belonging to Arniston from Scotland. I don't know anything about Scottish wagons so I may fall on my face with this one but the end door is something different for me, so modellers licence is being used as to why it is down my way. A start was made with the basic underframe made from 60 thou floor and Evergreen milled strip. I had already made up the Slaters W-irons beforehand which I mounted onto a seperate sub floor that fit neatly between the solebar's. I also had Slaters brass sprung buffers in stock bought many years ago from the executive stand at the GOG show at Telford. The top of the floor has been rubbed with coarse glass paper to make a weathered look. The headstock and solebar's haven't been treated to the same because the drawing states that this reconstructed wagon has had replacement timbers when it was rebuilt. So these parts will only be lightly rubbed down before painting.

I finally finished this pair of bolster wagons now with the numberplates attached. These are from a sheet made many years ago by Barry Lane of the L&Y society. I have altered the plates to give a unknown number so hopefully this will not unset anyone but the purists. I have been given a pass out tomorrow to go to Warley. Hopefully it will be quieter than today. I don't have much on my shopping list so I will not need much pocket money.

I only noticed that the Workington exhibition was on after I had arrived home. If I had known in advance I could have probably have gone because I was half way there already. That is a shame because by all accounts it was a good show. As for a small shunting plank to be going on with, I have thought about one. My problem is I dislike the idea of flat baseboards. I much prefer open top ones to give a bit more contours to the scene which would entail custom made ones. I don't really want to start something I know I would be disappointed with because it would only be a waste of money that could be used for better things. I have nearly finished now with just the numberplates to do and a bit more weathering. Unfortunately it's not easy to see in the photographs because the black paint doesn't show up well and I don't have any better lights to illuminate the underframes. I am struggling with small parts nowadays because of old age and arthritis so it may be a blessing that my poor glueing doesn't show to much. I am sure if the photographs were better I would be horrified at the quality of my efforts.

I had a day out on Saturday to the Lake District to a friends new house and see the progress on the installation of his new as yet unfinished layout. The train journey was very comfortable and on time which was a pleasant surprise. I took with me several wagons to show him, but we couldn't run anything because the layout isn't wired up yet. But I was able to veiw all his latest loco and coaches that he is batch building. If i don't my act together and start my own layout i have been invited to run my stock on his layout, which is very kind of him. I have finished the axleboxes now on these wagons but I need a warm day to spray them. The brake handles have been blackened so we are on the home straight now.

I have now come to the hard part as far as I am concerned. The axleboxes and springs which are probably 40 years old or even older than that, and really not up to days standards. Because I use my own slotted W-irons the axleboxes also need the backs slotting to to the 7mm bearings. In the past I have filed off the cast W-irons and slotted the boxes . But I have also accidentally drilled through the face of the box rendering them uselessess. So I have decided to just use the front face of the box by cutting them off with a razor saw. I then hopefully will then glue this face to a Slaters Midland plastic box suitable modified. This is a lot of messing about that could probably be overcome by someone with a 3D printer, but as I have stated many times I am a Luddite.

The deck of a scratch built S7 bolster wagon.

I had a good day yesterday because I managed to get the tranfers on reasonable straight. I thought I didn't have enough but then I remembered that my good friend Peter gave me all his stock because he was having a clear out. I don't know why he had a sheet of pre-grouping tranfers when he models the BR period, but I was happy to accept this kind offering. I said I was unsure about the weathering on the planks, but I now think it's not to bad after all. I need to modify the axleboxes to fit the W-irons and paint the brake handle and dirty the bodywork to match the interior.

II have stained the other wagon planks with a thin wash of black ink to match the first one. The runners for the bolsters were given a small amount of rust to give it a weathered look. There is still lots to do but I can see some progress. I will have to go back to the opticians because my new glasses are not quite correct. I wasn't convinced when I tried them on yesterday but the optician said to try them because they may take awhile to get use to. Trying to read in them or modelling was not easy because I kept having to refocus all the time.

Thanks Jim, I have now painted the floor to to try and bring out the worn timber look. I am not sure I will ever get this right to my satisfaction. It's either to dark or the wrong colour and if I am going to c*ck it up it will be at this stage. The first photograph is stage one and the second one is after I have toned it down a little. The jury is out on it at present.

Thank you for the endorsements, it's very gratifying to receive such praise. I have told this tale before about when I was started modelling to something like proper standards. I joined the newly formed model club in my home town and the gentleman who was instrumental in the of the formation of the club was scratch building in 7mm. He was making LNWR rolling stock from plasticard. His painting and lining was fabulous but he didn't remove the burrs off the side of wagons after he had scribed them. He just painted over them and all the burrs showed through and ruined there appearance. I was just a junior and wasn't going to criticise someone who had more experience than myself, but it made such an impression on me that I never forgot that preparation was the key to finishing a model. So some enlargements from my current build which show up any blemishes really well. You can see when I trim the backs of the wheels to give a better scale look I have missed some small bits which will need trimming back. You can't really see them when viewing at normal distance but the camera never likes.

I started to paint on Saturday with disastrous results because the weather was to cold to paint outside and I don't have a spray booth in my workshop. Perhaps it is something I should consider for the future but like so many things I am waiting until we move house to see what sort of workshop I am going to have. It has all gone quite on the house selling front. Anyway I removed the poor paintwork and started again today with better results. Unfortunately I am out of the paint that I usually do the interior woodwork with as well as other things like making fluid. I am going into town tomorrow to pick up my new glasses so I may be able to get some then.

I have lived in Stockport all my life and followed the railways from my childhood. This book comes highly recommended for its quality photographs from early nationalisation up to the start of the modern electric era. I particularly enjoyed the account of Ronnie's activities joining W.H.Whiteworth on his travels around with there cameras.

Ian, I agree that the buffers do look like Caledonian wagon ones because I do have a set of them. I am not sure what wagon they will be used on or when they will get used. I have more or less finished this pair of bolster wagons with used the axleboxes and springs to fit after painting. I tried allsorts of ways of connecting the safety chains that link the wagons together including looping them through the pins, but trying to assemble them was a nightmare. In the end I just soldered them to the connecting bars which is very unsightly and poor workmanship, but I was getting desperate. When mixing plastic and metal on a model I find that the plastic gets very grubby and dirty and will a good clean before I start painting.