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Rapido LMS/GWR/BR Gunpowder Vans announced!


Garethp8873
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The news that Rapido is working on another steam-age model, any steam-age model,  is always likely to be goods news.

 

Nevertheless, it is, to my mind, odd that the popular often differs from the typical. Would not one of the more populous GW 5-planks have been more logical?  Well, yes, but logical choices are not always the popular choices. That is not always a bad thing.  An express engine from 1874 is hardly a logical choice for most modellers, but a lot of us are very happy to see Rapido debut with the Stirling Single.

 

Naturally my thoughts turn to whether I could utilise such a wagon for any planned project.  A 5-plank? No problem, and in numbers.  A gunpowder van?  Well, I am not sure.  In my case the potential slot would be on the South Devon mainline in the 1930s (West of Dainton tunnel). But, one of the fun things about releases, for me, is that they prompt research, so I'll no doubt enjoy exploring whether I could work one of these in. 

 

Anyway, it is a further exciting development, and, I assume, Rapido will not confine itself to a single wagon type.

 

What else might be considered in due course, I wonder?

 

GNR No. 1 is a special commission for Locomotion Models. The gunpowder van is, I suspect, of particular interest to one member of the Rapido team. Many and varied are the reasons why manufacturers choose particular prototypes. (CJL)

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GNR No. 1 is a special commission for Locomotion Models. The gunpowder van is, I suspect, of particular interest to one member of the Rapido team. Many and varied are the reasons why manufacturers choose particular prototypes. (CJL)

 

Indeed, the reasons for commissioning vary, but, say, just because a particular museum or preserved line has rights in a particular locomotive, it does not necessarily follow that it would make a viable choice for a model, and the more exotic the choice, the greater the risk.

 

Commissioning No.1 was a brave choice.  A good choice, and one that I suspect will be more than vindicated, but nonetheless a brave choice.

 

Apropos exotic subjects that might not fit into most people's mainstream subjects, but which would no doubt be attractive and popular enough to succeed, has Model Rail yet steeled itself to ask Rapido for a C53 tram in GER ultramarine and coach brown?

 

Where the manufacturer has a choice, it is still the case that sometimes the thoroughbred or exotic takes preference over the workhorse, presumably because the former has the je ne sais quoi that the latter is perceived to lack, so I am not sure that the genesis of the decision to produce a model is decisive in this context.

 

But, we digress, and there is probably not much more to say at this early stage than to welcome the announcement and each come up with a good excuse to own at least one gunpowder van in due course!  

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.

 

But, we digress, and there is probably not much more to say at this early stage than to welcome the announcement and each come up with a good excuse to own at least one gunpowder van in due course!

Plenty of quarry’s in Devon and Cornwall which presumably will be requiring explosives....

 

At least that’s my excuse for buying one to go with my existing parkside example

Edited by The Fatadder
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Plenty of quarry’s in Devon and Cornwall which presumably will be requiring explosives....

 

At least that’s my excuse for buying one to go with my existing parkside example

 

I'm sure that's right!

 

I have little doubt that one will find its way into the collection in due course.

 

Though we have had a lot to look forward to in recent years from RTR manufacturers, this one will doubtless fulfil its promise and be justly popular. What else might Rapido produce with the same u/f tooling, I wonder? 

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Indeed, the reasons for commissioning vary, but, say, just because a particular museum or preserved line has rights in a particular locomotive, it does not necessarily follow that it would make a viable choice for a model, and the more exotic the choice, the greater the risk.

 

Commissioning No.1 was a brave choice.  A good choice, and one that I suspect will be more than vindicated, but nonetheless a brave choice.

 

Apropos exotic subjects that might not fit into most people's mainstream subjects, but which would no doubt be attractive and popular enough to succeed, has Model Rail yet steeled itself to ask Rapido for a C53 tram in GER ultramarine and coach brown?

 

Where the manufacturer has a choice, it is still the case that sometimes the thoroughbred or exotic takes preference over the workhorse, presumably because the former has the je ne sais quoi that the latter is perceived to lack, so I am not sure that the genesis of the decision to produce a model is decisive in this context.

 

But, we digress, and there is probably not much more to say at this early stage than to welcome the announcement and each come up with a good excuse to own at least one gunpowder van in due course!  

 

Our pre-launch survey showed very limited support for the W&U coach and we felt that was really essential to go with the GER liveried loco. There's limited interest in the GER livery so it didn't make it into the first run of 10 liveries. However, the point I was making was that Rapido will make what it is commissioned to make and those commissioning the model are taking the financial risk, (or being brave as you put it) while the gunpowder van ( like most of Rapido's Canadian items) is being made because a member of the Rapido team wants it and Rapido is therefore taking the financial risk or being brave. (CJL). 

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Our pre-launch survey showed very limited support for the W&U coach and we felt that was really essential to go with the GER liveried loco. There's limited interest in the GER livery so it didn't make it into the first run of 10 liveries. However, the point I was making was that Rapido will make what it is commissioned to make and those commissioning the model are taking the financial risk, (or being brave as you put it) while the gunpowder van ( like most of Rapido's Canadian items) is being made because a member of the Rapido team wants it and Rapido is therefore taking the financial risk or being brave. (CJL). 

 

Quite.  Though the risk remains, whoever takes it, and the risk often favours the exotic.  Apropos the C53, at least a man can dream!

 

Exotic sells.  Blue and exotic sells, yet, last time I went to an exhibition or flicked through a magazine, I was struck by the dearth of biscuit factory-based layouts. 

 

My own pet theory is that a limited edition Decapod would sell out, though I cannot think of a locomotive of less use to a railway modeller than the Decapod, unless it's a Fell, of course!

 

Anyway, apologies for the off-topic excursion. 

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I never saw the at Frome. Quite interesting as Frome had a considerable Bitumen traffic which used naked flames to heat the wagons for unloading... Umm. http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/?q=frome

 

 

Paul

 

The GPVs were unloaded on the next siding over from the bitumen traffic but as far as I can recall in the 4 years it was part of my patch I don't think we ever had bangers and bitumen in at the same time as they were normally received on different days (fortunately - as the burners used to heat the bitumen produced quite a long flame and a lot of heat  :O  ).

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Our pre-launch survey showed very limited support for the W&U coach and we felt that was really essential to go with the GER liveried loco. There's limited interest in the GER livery so it didn't make it into the first run of 10 liveries. However, the point I was making was that Rapido will make what it is commissioned to make and those commissioning the model are taking the financial risk, (or being brave as you put it) while the gunpowder van ( like most of Rapido's Canadian items) is being made because a member of the Rapido team wants it and Rapido is therefore taking the financial risk or being brave. (CJL). 

 

And no doubt - judging partially by the interest in this thread - the GPV will sell like those proverbial hot cakes we still hear about occasionally.

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The GPVs were unloaded on the next siding over from the bitumen traffic but as far as I can recall in the 4 years it was part of my patch I don't think we ever had bangers and bitumen in at the same time as they were normally received on different days (fortunately - as the burners used to heat the bitumen produced quite a long flame and a lot of heat  :O  ).

That would be an eye-catching exhibition at Warley, just dig a hole 12 foot across, by 12 feet deep*.

 

"it's an accurate model of 6 gunpowder vans, crashing into a train of bitumen tankers"

 

*Hole size & debris adjusted to reflect scale of exhibit.

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That would be an eye-catching exhibition at Warley, just dig a hole 12 foot across, by 12 feet deep*.

 

"it's an accurate model of 6 gunpowder vans, crashing into a train of bitumen tankers"

 

*Hole size & debris adjusted to reflect scale of exhibit.

 

Nice idea, greatly depends on what the vans are carrying - many explosives do not explode if set on fire, they just burn rapidly - no pressure wave - so carnage yes, but no hole. Even gun powder will not explode unless closely confined. Modern explosives can be quite hard to set off without the proper detonator.  Some do explode as a result of flame though.

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Nice idea, greatly depends on what the vans are carrying - many explosives do not explode if set on fire, they just burn rapidly - no pressure wave - so carnage yes, but no hole. Even gun powder will not explode unless closely confined. Modern explosives can be quite hard to set off without the proper detonator.  Some do explode as a result of flame though.

 

Interesting. It never ceases to amaze me what members of this community know about all the various non-railway matters.  Enjoy your visit from Special Branch.

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A bit of light relief - my comedic attempts to re-create the 2 BR diagrams ................. firstly I am congenitally lazy, so no shortening of the bodies.

L to R

Dia 260 9' wheelbase - 4-shoe VP'd     Dia 260 9' wheelbase 4-shoe VB'd   Dia 261 10' WB 8-shoe clasp VB'd

Parkside / Red Panda chassis and those exceptionally splendid LMS cast buffers (on the 1/261)

Paint / transfers - what are they ................ ?

I haven't set the bar very high - looking forward to Rapido doing much better  :yes:

 

post-5198-0-62529000-1511964792_thumb.jpg

Edited by Southernman46
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A bit of light relief - my comedic attempts to re-create the 2 BR diagrams ................. firstly I am congenitally lazy, so no shortening of the bodies.

L to R

Dia 260 9' wheelbase - 4-shoe VP'd     Dia 260 9' wheelbase 4-shoe VB'd   Dia 261 10' WB 9-shoe clasp VB'd

Paint / transfers - what are they ................ ?

I haven't set the bar very high - looking forward to Rapido doing much better  :yes:

 

attachicon.gif018.jpg

 

In answer to your last line, arguably, maybe not, but at least you've done some modelling to solve a problem, that's got to be good!

 

Mike.

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Long long long ago a handful of destinations from Cookes at Penrhyndeudraeth

 

Blairhall, Bogside, Callerton, Coxlodge, Carmarthen, Wednesbury.

 

There were plenty of others

 

Cookes; another Co. Durham lad comes good.

 

Exellent 1960 colour film of Cookes Works on the BFI web site. Plenty of incline plane and aerial ropeway operation on view.

 

https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-cookes-explosives-limited-an-account-of-explosives-manufacture-in-penrhyndeudraeth

 

The Loading of GPV's at the very end of the film makes an interesting comparison with coachmans photograph of the same operation at Maentwrog Road some 27 years later.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=13923&start=25

 

Maybe those nice chaps at Rapido may consider giving us some 1950's Lorries to the same standard as their bus to help us with the loading of the GPV's?

 

Below is a list of the ICI/Nobels sites as listed in the 1954 Handbook of Stations. A brief look through the 1964 ammendments shows the only difference being haswell Sabulite factory changing from manufacturing to simply a magazine depot.

 

post-508-0-71621500-1512002867_thumb.jpg

 

I never saw the at Frome. Quite interesting as Frome had a considerable Bitumen traffic which used naked flames to heat the wagons for unloading... Umm. http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/?q=frome

 

 

I would think that post WWII and for non military use, large amounts of explosives carried in GPV's was of the less inert type termed "Permitted Explosives". You could quite happily bash this type  (dependant on classification) with a hammer or throw it in a fire without fear of detonation. Transportation in cardboard boxes was acceptable. 

 

Rules must have been bent with the Explosives that was unloaded next to my family's old home. My Uncle used to help unload it when he he was of school age and then ride with the Nobels men on their steam lorry to distribute the loads around the four magazines in the area. The majority of the roads travelled to reach the magazines were unmade cart tracks.

 

The more explosive detonators were stored in a separate magazine with a number of them usually being purloined by local households for "domestic purposes". One neighbour, the County Sanitary Inspector (better known by the term Rat Catcher) used donated detonators to control Mole numbers on local farms in his time off!

 

"Domestic purposes" was nothing sinister. Those that had coal fires, with back to back ovens may remember the weekly chore of loosening soot in the oven and chimney breast by burning scrunched up newspaper in the firegrate combined with a fire blazer to increase chimney draft. The blazer could be nothing more that a sheet of newspaper held across the fireplace mouth, with the increased draft  holding the newspaper by vacuum until eventually the heat caused it to ignite and be sucked into the fire. Outside the chimney would be ejecting soot and sparks but it saved the cost of having to have the chimney swept, and the operation was never carried out on a Monday.

 

This task could be carried out far more effectively and efficiently if you could get your hands on a detonator (det) and had a steel blazer (better known as a "bleezer" in the N.E.). Carry on as before, place sheet steel blazer across fireplace, light the scrunched up newspaper, deposit (throw) det behind blazer, stroll leisurely outside to join all the kids from the surrounding area staring up at your chimney pots (for they had been forewarned of the event). After a few seconds a dull thud would be heard with one of your chimney pots simultaneously imitating HMS Rodney firing all three of its sixteen inch Guns  (of which my maternal Grandfather tuned the barrels).

 

Ah, the good old days.

 

P

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Interesting. It never ceases to amaze me what members of this community know about all the various non-railway matters.  Enjoy your visit from Special Branch.

"Police today raided a property in the Midlands, where certain people were detained for questioning. Materials recovered included contraband copies of the Hornby magazine. A suspect device to eject toys out of the pram was made safe, and confiscated. Inspector York commented " It's the silly season this time of year. They go to the NEC, and something strange comes over them".

 

The tip-off came via a rivet counter detector van, working in the Oxford area. The surprise appearance of rivets in this location aroused suspicions to the authorities".

 

S.C. Rooge

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"Police today raided a property in the Midlands, where certain people were detained for questioning. Materials recovered included contraband copies of the Hornby magazine. A suspect device to eject toys out of the pram was made safe, and confiscated. Inspector York commented " It's the silly season this time of year. They go to the NEC, and something strange comes over them".

 

The tip-off came via a rivet counter detector van, working in the Oxford area. The surprise appearance of rivets in this location aroused suspicions to the authorities".

 

S.C. Rooge

 

 

Meanwhile, in the Barwell area of Leicester there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary taking place. A warehouseman was reported as saying "business as usual guvnor" !!!

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Plenty of quarry’s in Devon and Cornwall which presumably will be requiring explosives....

 

At least that’s my excuse for buying one to go with my existing parkside example

 

There might be a use for one in my railway room, with a bit of HEAVY shunting it could save me taking the layout up by hand !  :jester:

 

G.Fawkes

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