wagonbasher

Reading May 1983 edition in the Autumn of 2023 is one serious back log of reading ………… Andy

It is possible that the smaller shows do more to inspire existing and new modellers. Small shows may not have the giant layouts with long trains and maybe that inspires some however you do get a more relaxed event where the visitor can interact with the layout operators, traders and demonstrators. Without 3 deep crowds you can see better, feel more comfortable standing and watching and operators feel more able to discuss the models, why and how they did what they did. I suppose inspiration is a personal thing that comes in many forms. Andy I hint that

If you have not been involved with the management of a model railway show you can’t imagine how much responsibility is resting on a relatively small number of Shoulders. The club members turn out, hump barriers, make tea and coffee, direct folk, take money, run cables etc working hard for one extended weekend. The management / management team live and breathe that show all year, the bigger the show the more demanding. With hall hire, hotel costs, advertising, van and fuel expenses an out right failure can bust a club with expenses potentially running into 10s of thousands of pounds.. Will it fit, will they come, will they spend enough with the traders. often the biggest shows really on a very small number of individuals. Hero’s. I know because I did my share, I didn’t stop because I wasn’t bothered. Andy

Caledonian smokey joe on eBay, buy it now. £11.20 boxed. Andy

I think as a child you play trains (track on the carpet) and if you develop the hobby you may become a railway modeller in whatever way you want that to be. My first loco was second hand in about 1975, it was a triang Jinty, I was 10. then I had a GWR Hornby pannier as new and by the time I had track down on some boards I had a Hornby Duchess, well I thought I was king of the world. Well, I could buy them again today on eBay, the duchess is £15 with the tanks under £10. They almost give away second hand track. it’s not like computer games where old versions are not supported. You can pick any level to enter at. There are loads of wagons and coaches that are dirt cheap. Sure they lack the finesse and maybe sound of the latest models but you get what you can to meet the depth of your pocket. My brother and I had second hand scalextix, loads of rusty track and a whole array of cars that didn’t work and a few that did. Dad was aboard, We soon learnt to clean track, mend pick up brushes, swop motors in and out of different cars. That’s how you learn, isnt it. Today I scratch build / kit build. My modelling time is limited and so projects take a while, my spend is quite small as my expenditure is staggered in line with my progress. Still loving the hobby, wish I had more time to do it! Andy

Is that just a 15mm x 10mm motor? it looks huge.. Andy

Interesting reading from everyone. Nice to see the centre driven roadrunner compact with a 1015 motor vertically in the firebox works, the instructions are not definitive (use of the ‘May’). I was also having the same dilemma re compensation. Driving off the centre axle is not conventional so I will look at hornblocks on the front and back with a rigid centre. Thank you to all that are contributing, I’m just waiting on wheels and motor etc to make a start. Andy

Disappointed, I clicked this ‘latest content’ wondering if the Gardener was for a bus, a boat or something like a tractor…. I remember mt grandmother ( now departed) complaining that the state pension barely covered the cost of the gardener and the housekeeper. Andy

I also have the RT k class to build, I would be interested in you progress, Out of interest what motor / gearbox have you opted for…. And where (if you don’t mind me asking) have you stuck the motor? Andy

There is a few seconds of Cini of the paddy train referred to in Andy’s post. It is Ivo Peter (something like) Midland industrials. The one coach train is coasting down hill with a Victorian Peckett X class on the front in about 1962. Andy

Decision made, simplify the brakes, no sheet bar of any Kind, paint Sr Brown, with LSWR decals and sheets. Thank you to all that contributed Andy

That is the wagon. I can see from the axle boxes, internal bracing around the curved ends etc. Your kit doesn’t have a tarpaulin bar does it. I have seen similar wagons with that sort of arrangement but there are no signs of where that apparatus would be mounted on this kit. From what little I can see on the internet the D1309 was without any sort of bar. Built pre 1913 so all good for a visit to the midlands in 1916. I presume that brake gear. Wondifully moulded as it is, comes from its Southern region days? Prototype would have been hand brake on one side only, thoughts? Thank you all. Andy

Hi I have been working on my wagons for Tackeroo. (Ww1 military camp, near Cannock / Stafford, 1916). Realising from this thread that most of the traffic to the camp including munitions would have been in opens, that is my area of attention. I have this wagon, I presume I bought it second hand because it’s white metal and I know I didn’t make it. I can see it looks pre grouping by the raised ends and it’s style looks LBSC, LSWR maybe SECR…. So if it is suitable by date, then the open wagon common user policy means it may have found itself in Staffs ? Can anyone ID it please Thank you Andy

And a vast array of liveries, network and private owner. Andy

Cakes have to prove themselves… Andy

Don’t let the truth spoil a good joke please. Andy

Is that the RT models, Manning Wardle. Andy

Am I missing something or does it not say Haslingdon on the wagon. I couldn’t read it at first but once you identified that town / village I can see that is what it says. Andy

Thank you. Andy

Very much so. Earliest days of the camp in 1914, a train of construction workers mostly carpenters there to build the circa 1000 huts. It is a poem written as if by a carpenter telling tails about the Tackeroo Express, and that is where the name came from. From 1914 to 1916 the local colliery at Hednesford ran the rail connection to the Rugeley and the Brocton camp. This is a image of the power station at Brocton after the New Zealand rifle brigade had made it their Uk base ( you can’t go home to New Zealand). The wagons are a west Cannock colliery which is what Iwould expect as the access to the main line at HeDnesford was via West Cannock rails. POW sides do aWest Cannock Colliry transfers but it’s for a side and end door 1923 Rich wagon. That’s way to big . POWsides can’t digitally decrease the print size, this is silkscreen so no chance. So,the artwork is simple, I need a white decal custom printed. Thoughts Andy

What I really enjoyed with Tackeroo was explaining to local visitors that places they knew and regularly walked had such history. After Saturday, A number of people were going onto the chase today with new eyes. Andy

That was this threads 8888 post, that’s got to mean something. Andy

I was at the Stafford show with the WW1 milita4y camp model Tackeroo. Had a great time, great show and made sure I bought 3 Slaters D299. I have learnt from the wise that there should be a greater % of the wagons in my fleet than I currently have. 1 is just not enough! Andy

Oh dear….. Andy

Well, a call out for Tackeroo…. Tel called it a diorama.. I am hoping something moves, clearly Tel is just covering himself. BTW well done Terry, there is a lot to remember and get out and I think you covered everything. Andy