WillCav

I looked at the 1949 Service Time Table to get the opening times (thanks Michael Clemens Railways website). Truro East and West SBs - open continously with no closing switch. Penwithers Junction SB 5.40am-10.55pm Mon-Fri 5.40am-11.10pm Sat 7.20am-9.35pm Sun With a closIng switch. Will

Your very useful website was where I got the idea of making one. Thanks for creating and maintaining it. Will

Thanks Duncan, There were three of that diagram still around in 1949 so I can use one of those numbers. I'll only put the upper footboards on and order bogies without them Thanks again Will

Hi all, I'm currently building a GWR diagram D66 brake third. I know it won't be quite the right length, but I'm using some left over Parkside 4 wheel coach sides cut and shut together. It needs Dean 6'4" bogies which I can get from Stafford Road Models (Shapeways). 1 - would they still have footboards on the bogies in 1949? 2 - is there any supplier who sells the 'arms' that connect from the bogie corners to the solebars? Thanks in advance Will

One thing to watch for is that the usage of the water column might trigger a small water tank closer to where the water need is. I'm researching Cheltenham Spa Malvern Road (GWR). There was a single column at each end of the station fed from the large water tank over the coaling stage. The east end water supply was later upgraded with a small water tank and column. Will

The MOGO is 17' internal length so I can't see how they could fit two in. There were 30'+ ASMOs and DAMOs that could fit two cars? Will

Thanks for all the replies. I've had a look at the Airfix underframe and compared it to the A28 diagram in Russell's GW coaches book. The diagonal part of the trussing will need lengthening for A28 as you hinted at. I did think about an A27 but the amount of cutting and shutting looks scary. If only someone did a brass side overlay. Thanks Will

Hi all, I've been reading up on A28 and A30 autocoaches and looking at photos of the preserved ones. I'm thinking of converting an A30 into an A28 for some variety on the layout. I have some questions: 1. Were the inner end windows plated over on all the coaches before 1949? 2. What differences are there - so far I've found 7' bogies and flush driver doors on the A28 - is there anything else I've missed? Thanks in advance Will

The main difference between O11 and O18 as built was that O11 didn't have the sacktruck door and O18 did. This picture shows a sacktruck door, however some O11s had the doors changed later in life. UKPRSL.UK shows it as built 1914 which is too early for O18 so I would guess O11. Will

Chester PSB still controls up to and including Shotton low level, Wales ROC in Cardiff controls Fflint/Flint to Abergele and Pensarn. Will

Hattons have the dates on this webpage:- Hattons Era dates I would also assume that the era quoted is for the livery not build date. Eg, I have a Dean Goods built in era 2 but my layout is set in era 4. Will

GW Siphons by Slinn & Clarke has all the numbers. For the 'standard' O4s, it looks like: 1634 to 1748 1753 to 1890 (but avoid 1777 as sides rebuilt to a different design) Hope this helps Will

According to greatwestern.org, it was also at Tondu when built. I agree this is odd as no other 67xx seems to be allocated there. Will

Paul, Thanks for the information. Looks like I'll need 21m and 21m20ch mile posts in the area I'm modelling. What you've said about the working of the distants matches the photographic evidence. Thanks Will

I'm bumping this thread as I have a few other queries that I hope people can help me with. 1. What are the 3 x lever numbers for the distants at Malvern Road West that are 'owned' by Lansdown Jn (post 1943 remodelling)? 2. What is the mileage for Malvern Road Station? Thanks in advance Will

This layout stayed until about 1943 when the two track Gloucester to Cheltenham was quadrupled which would be a very ambitious plan to model. Will

Could it be the Chiltern ATP loops? I assume they're still in place there.

There used to be a 3'6" gauge tramway in Swindon. It ran from 1904 to 1929. One branch run under Rodbourne Road bridge (by the works / outlet village) MLN1 77m 79ch if my memory is behaving. The road under the bridge has been closed to allow fibre optics to be run. These works overran as they found the trolley tracks buried under the tarmac. Many of the locals knew that the tracks were still there. Will

Hi all, I thought this would be a quick upgrade project! I got a bargain diagram O33 Lima Siphon G at an exhibition last year. When I got home, I checked what GWR.org say on it - incorrect bogies - well that should be easy. Looking in the Siphon Bible by Jack Slinn, it could be one of four types with 9' Pressed Steel making up 75% of them. Many of them were converted to other types after WWII so watch out for that. O59 is easy - just add shell vents x11. M34 is shell vents + plated over Louvres. The Lima body has wider planks than normal. There is a side on official photo of 2937 with this arrangement in Russell's Coaches Appendix volume 2. It also has a different brake arrangement (lever v Lima's DC brake) but has the Pressed steel bogies. So my course of action is Rebogie Modify undergubbins Repaint I got some Bachmann 36-010 Collett bogies and first reduced the length of 16 footboards to be just footsteps. Problem 1: I then realised that the mounting arrangement was different. So I removed the middle pivot of the old and new bogies. I added two small 40thou bits of plastic under where the pivot meets the side frame on the new ones and then glued the Lima pivot under that to get the height right. Problem 2: Lima used 3' wheels whereas Bachmann have the correct 3'6" wheels - the new wheel flanges scrape on the floor of the Siphon. I cut out some serious chunks of floor out to give the wheels somewhere to swing - making sure the floor pivot wasn't affected. Problem solved The bogie at one end now fouled the DC brake handles - it needs to go anyway. If you are modelling one of the earlier DC brakes versions, I would suggest using shorter bogies like the 7' wb heavy types on 2057-2070. Remove the DC brake and move the dynamo to the other end. Add a V hanger from the spares box and add a couple of lever brakes - with shortened levers. I made the shorter still to prevent the bogies damaging them. Repaint - as 2937 is a 1945 build, no white roof, and roof colour to gutter, not rain strip. Square blob of plastic for the label clip right in the middle of the side. Transfers - this type have tare weight 26.11.0. I thought it would take an evening and it probably took three - not perfect but a reasonable "layout coach" for about £20. Shown here with the original Lima above. Just noticed I need white brake handles and blue axlebox tops! Thanks for reading Will

Hi all, I had a few issues with this wagon - see my last post for details. Now it's solved, here's how I built it. Firstly, the history. Y7 is the only 17'6" length banana van with sides and 9' wheelbase as per the V21/33 vans. The ends are unique with a shutter on the left and flat X bracing in the middle. Some of them had the ends altered in later life. Of the four preserved, two have the original and two the new ends. The parts I used were: - Ratio 564 open underframe (need to cut the one piece side/solebars) and wheels - Ratio 565 sides and roof - spare Coopercraft ends - spare bits and Bob's for brakegear - microstrip and L / T section The bits left over from the two Ratio kits make an O32 open. (Edited - was O31 oops) Before you start putting it together, remove the X bracing from the ends and the diagonal / vertical stanchions from the sides (I didn't realise the sides needed surgery until I built it but easier to do when separate). Scribe any missing planking details. On the end, add a shutter (I cut a chunk from a spare end) and add microstrip for the X bracing and detail below the shutter. Trim the buffer beam to angle in at the bottom. On the side, use T section vertically about 1mm in from where it was and use L section for the diagonals. Trim the other verticals at the bottom as they should wrap under the floor (I now see from my photos that I missed some). ... Now build the bits together This is the incorrect stanchions but shows how the ends have been modified. Side strapping removed and sanded New strapping added - note outer panels now wider than inner ones. Sticks out as a way of finding V21/33 now I know it. Still need to add tiebars between the axleboxes. Coat of paint and 24 transfers later. If I can do this, anyone can. Something different to run with the Parkside banana vans. Will

The photo at the top made me think about GWR diagram numbers. Why? You might ask. It is because of their diagrams Diagram O8 Diagram O8 How's that? The Tube (or Open C) wagon is in the wagon index and the Siphon C is in the Passenger index. Each index has letters and numbers. The letter is a category or vehicle and the number is just a unique identifier. The GWR set these indices up in early 20th century. Generally, the higher the number, the newer the design. I think there was some logic - opens were O# Vans V# Crocodiles C#. Other similar types were in similar letters. N Mineral O Open merchandise P Ballast Q Hay R Manure S Fish T Engineering U Stone were all open types (fish wagons were open at the time). V Van merchandise W Cattle trucks X Meat vans Y Fruit vans Z Gunpowder vans AA Brake vans BB Stores vans CC Tool vans All roofed types. All the other types were at the beginning of the alphabet or tacked onto the end. So if someone is quoting a GWR diagram number, you can get an idea of what the wagon might be by looking at the letter. The same is true for the carriage index (where O is Milk). More diagrams for locos and containers and probably most things made in Swindon works. For more detail on wagon diagrams, my go to book is Atkins, Beard and Tourret. Have a safe week Will

In answer to my question - when it has no wheels. I'm going to look at containers today. In particular the BP1 type. This all started a out 10 years ago when I bought some cheap containers at a swapmeet. I looked on the internet and bought some POWsides transfers for them. I then researched and found the number provided by POWsides (BP-1723) was not the same as the containers I bought. The Containers and transfers were put away and forgotten about until 2 weeks ago. I found the transfers when looking for some other ones. I checked the Atkins, Beard & Tourret wagon bible and found a picture of the exact container on page 518 (plate 712). The container is diagonally planked with doors in one end. The containers were purchased in 1936 as a batch of 5. There is a picture of 1722 on page 517 - looking closely, the diagonal planking is a different width! I'd love to link to a photo of one, but they were very camera shy and I can't find any internet images of them. The same photos as in Atkins are also in Russell's wagon appendix as full page images. I decided to scratchbuild one as a lockdown project. What info was in Atkins? Surprisingly, not much info available. No info on size and no diagram. I decided to try and draw a design based on the photos. Each square represents 3" or 1mm in OO. The shaded areas were to check that the transfers fitted. I've guessed at 15' x 7'6" footprint. Next, I scribed some plasticard and cut out the pieces. Stick together, add plastrut detailing and 10thou plasticard corner plates. Paint chocolate brown (still need to do the roof grey). I've never used POWsides dry transfers before (no links to company). I found them to be easy to use with a soft pencil. I haven't done that since Letraset in the 90s! I'm really pleased with the result. I think I will chain it permanently to a conflat but I need to give it 12 years worth of grime first. Keep safe in the lockdown Will

Hi all, I've not been feeling like doing much on the model railway stock since about September as I have been quite unwell. At one point, the doctors thought I had brain tumours but luckily, further investigations showed I had a type of Lymphoma (blood cancer) which is treatable. I have since had four rounds of Chemotherapy and have just had my Stem cells re-injected to improve my future immune system. I'm currently in hospital recovering (thank you NHS) and should be home soon. The only thing I have made is a GWR signal box plastic kit. It's too early and not the right size for what I need but some of the parts might be useful as the actual one I need has no kit available for the size I need. Hoping to find you all well. Will

Hi all, I've been thinking about getting some more variety with Loco Coal wagons. There is the Coopercraft and Cambrian 10 ton wagons, a Cambrian 40 ton and nothing great in between. Dapol do several wagons liveries as loco coal, but none are spot on. Shapeways do 3d prints of two types, including an N28 body to go on a Dapol underframe. But the underframes were out of stock when I last looked... You can make an N27 body by taking 2 Dapol bodies and putting the fixed end from one where the other has a door end. A bit wasteful, but it then gives me a spare underframe for a 3d print one. This new body can be turned into an N34 by scraping off the top of the door and adding new strapping. Then I realised that many of the loco coal wagons had the earlier DC brakes. You can carve the Dapol moulding, but it is not easy to do neatly. I then had a brainwave - if I used a kit underframe, I could modify it to DC brakes. The five79 ballast wagon being the most suitable donor. Here's the first ones: Top - N27 Dapol body x 2 with five79 underframe modified to DC brake and cast buffers Middle - N28 shapeways body on Dapol Bottom - P23 five79 body on Dapol I didn't waste the ballast wagon bodies as I used the spare Dapol underframes to complete them. Top - N34 Dapol bodies x 2 with modified doors on Dapol frame Middle - P17 five79 modified to DC brake to make earlier type Bottom - N29 shapeways body on five79 modified to DC brake Here's a close up of the N27 showing the replaced end - I mitred the corners before gluing. Hope this gives you some ideas on making wagons that no kit is made for. Thanks for reading Will

I have a bit of a problem with plastic kits. I don't often follow the instructions - I like to see if there are similar wagons I can make. I think the Parkside choice of making an O11/15 5 plank open wagon is a good one. So many kits are of wagons that you only really need one of, this one makes over 12,400 wagons! Looking in Atkins et al, there are a few other diagrams that are similar:- O11 use the kit non-vacuum O15 use the kit vacuum O18 as O11 but sacktruck door O20 as O15 but 12ton rated O22 as O11/15 but sacktruck & Moreton brake O23 as O11 but sacktruck & Moreton brake, no sheet rail There are 3 more variants (O3/9/14) that could also be done if you're willing to scrape off the diagonal bracing and replace with 'hockey stick' shape ones. O3/9 also need the side angle bracing made into flat strip. Even without these more difficult conversions, we get an additional pool of 6,436 wagons with O18/20/22/23. Here are the modifications: 1. Sacktruck door This is where the bottom plank of the door is angled out to make it easier to wheel things over the hinges from a loading platform. Take the sides of the unbuilt kit and slice up the sides of the door one plank from the bottom - I used a razor saw. Deepen the groove above the bottom plank on the inside, and bend the plank out to the jaunty angle. This moves the edge of the floor out as well, so file that back between the hinges. (Not shown in photo below as I only realised at the end. Glue a spare bit of plastic behind the back of the door level with the rest of the side, I used 40thou square. 2 Morton brake Don't add the triangular bits to the ends of the solebar (keep them in your spares box for other wagons). Add Morton hand brake levers- I used ones from a peco O29 kit as they were for 9' wheelbase, other ones can be used but may have to be cut and shut to be the correct length. I fit everything to the solebars when they are separate as I find it less tricky. 3 vac or non-vac O22 was a mixture. If vac, add a vacuum pipe at the ends (Parkside, you forgot this) 4 Sheet Supporter Bar Best to check on photos as not all were fitted and some were removed as they were allegedly kept on other Railways under common user arrangements as they were better! If you do omit it, don't forget to remove the fixing on the ends and fill the hole. 5 Offset V hanger This is suggested in Atkins for some O11/15s. The diagram on the parkside packaging shows it. I've researched and only found a few photos of any. If you stick to the large blocks of numbers built by outside builders for the GW then you will be safe with central V hangers as provided. My guess is that some of the early GW lots used secondhand or pre-built underframes and some were offset. Here's an O22 ready for the paintshop. Hope this gives you all some ideas for increasing the breadth of your wagon fleets. Thanks for reading Will