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Representational modelling; early 1920s, GWR 36xx


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 I think you'll find it was the January 1978 issue, page 14 -

 

John

I carried out this conversion about 40 years ago. The first version used the Triang chassis but I fitted Romfords and a 40 to 1 gear set.  The trailing bogie was a plastic box but with pick ups from the Ultrascale 3 foot wheels.  Later I made a brass chassis with compensation but it didn't work ( I soldered the pivot solid).  It is now on its third iteration with a second compensated brass chassis, a Mike Sharman milled gearbox and brass trailing bogie.  It has a small Mashima motor.  I hope my modeling standards has moved on in the interim but the onset of "wobbly hands" mitigates.

 

The Gadfly with Bristol Bulldog was inspired by anotherpost-2050-0-58205800-1530534097_thumb.jpgpost-2050-0-76714800-1530534141_thumb.jpgpost-2050-0-57964100-1530534274_thumb.jpg Brian Huxley article

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I carried out this conversion about 40 years ago. The first version used the Triang chassis but I fitted Romfords and a 40 to 1 gear set.  The trailing bogie was a plastic box but with pick ups from the Ultrascale 3 foot wheels.  Later I made a brass chassis with compensation but it didn't work ( I soldered the pivot solid).  It is now on its third iteration with a second compensated brass chassis, a Mike Sharman milled gearbox and brass trailing bogie.  It has a small Mashima motor.  I hope my modeling standards has moved on in the interim but the onset of "wobbly hands" mitigates.

 

The Gadfly with Bristol Bulldog was inspired by anotherattachicon.gifP1160508.JPGattachicon.gifP1160509.JPGattachicon.gifP1160510.JPG Brian Huxley article

 

That's great and very much in the spirit of the type of modelling I recall fondly.  Unfortunately I know just what you mean by "wobbly hands"

Edited by brumtb
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I would guess that the Gadfly was more often used for crated aircraft, but your one is presumably a crash recovery. I went hunting for images of aircraft crates and found it quite difficult, but there's this video on youtube of a Spitfire and crate. 

 

Edited by JimC
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I would guess that the Gadfly was more often used for crated aircraft, but your one is presumably a crash recovery. I went hunting for images of aircraft crates and found it quite difficult, but there's this video on youtube of a Spitfire and crate. 

 

Is that kit still avaliable?

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Thanks Guys for the interest and kind words .

Brian Huxley's article set his Gadfly in the First World War . His model was carrying a Sopwith Camel and he cautioned against selecting aircraft from inappropriate eras .

The full size Gadfly was a kit bash - take an old 6 wheel coach , remove the body and centre wheels and add a timber deck .

I chose a1930 s time scale and the Bristol Bulldog would have been obsolescent at that time . It is of course the type that Douglas Bader was flying when he crashed . I happened to have an Airfix kit in the spares box so I envisaged a crash recovery.

Jim thanks for the YouTube . It looks like a Spitfire mark VIII to me in Burma or the Far East . Very interesting .

In England by this time (1943 or 44)road transport had developed and I suspect the RAF might have used an articulated Queen Mary lorry as per the Airfix kit .

My Gadfly isn't a kit BTW . It has a 15 thou brass sheet as a bed with a Kenline solebars , headstock etc . Then a plasticard decking .

Thanks for your interest .

Ken

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post-30361-0-62804800-1540050888_thumb.jpg

I do enjoy trying to resurrect old models that fit in with my preferred modelling period, the early 1920s. I do feel that these have a character that is missing from RTR models even if they are more technically accurate and perfectly finished.

I acquired this as a collection of four glue encrusted body parts and a damaged roof section.  The body is white metal , maker unknown.  Also unknown initially was the prototype but a search of Midland Wagons Vol 1 by Bob Essery highlighted two partial photos and a brief mention of 20 vans built in 1915 and a further 20 in 1918 which seem to be the subject of the original kit.  The only additional information came from a Ken Werrett drawing in the December 1975 edition of Railway Modeller.

Having cleaned up the whitemetal items I put the body back together strengthened by an interior stripwood framework.  The plastic roof was reworked and the distinctive roof ribs and ice containers added.  The body was mounted on a cut down Dapol 10ft wb chassis with the moulded on brake levers removed and replaced by separate ones from the spares box as were the buffers.

Lightly weathered I think it has character and fits well in my early 1920s modelling period.

 

 

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If you can get hold of one, the underframe from Slater's D361 fruit van kit (4024F) is spot on for this vehicle. In the first of the photos you mention, the 3'7" dia wheels, J-hangered springs, clasp brakes and short brake lever can be seen.

Edited by Compound2632
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If you can get hold of one, the underframe from Slater's D361 fruit van kit (4024F) is spot on for this vehicle. In the first of the photos you mention, the 3'7" dia wheels, J-hangered springs, clasp brakes and short brake lever can be seen.

 

Many thanks for prompting me to go a bit further!

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Midland Railway 1377 class as rebuilt.

No 1741 was a long term Birmingham loco, delivered new to Saltley in 1884 and returned to Saltley after its rebuilding in 1924 where it remained until withdrawn in 1932.

It is fitted with Ramsbottom safety valves and is in the 1924 LMS livery.

It fits in nicely with my Birmingham GWR/Midland joint themed layout Birmingham Bull Ring, as it is backdated from the 1950s to the early 1920s.

The classification 1F for these locos was not introduced until 1928 and they did not exist in the form produced by Bachmann in Midland Railway days, so this is the earliest it can be backdated to without major surgery.

However a really useful loco and thanks to Bachmann for producing it.

 post-30361-0-85175600-1541504755_thumb.jpg

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Immediate pre grouping, is this line of vans, the location is said to be Landilo Junct, but I doubt it - its a single track into a 'Y' junction.  Even the north end of the station doesn't fit the rising lines etc.,
The original photo is part of the OPC collection.
What interested me, apart from the pre-grouping variety, was the (what looks like a) plain NE van, has screw couplings. 

This is not a very clear picture, my apologies.  If you Google 'Llandilo Junction', it takes you to a Flickr site, this picture (of better quality) is a long, long way down, even further than that. 

 

post-6979-0-40359100-1541527372.jpg

Edited by Penlan
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Immediate pre grouping, is this line of vans, the location is said to be Landilo Junct, but I doubt it - its a single track into a 'Y' junction.  Even the north end of the station doesn't fit the rising lines etc.,

The original photo is part of the OPC collection.

What interested me, apart from the pre-grouping variety, was the (what looks like a) plain NE van, has screw couplings. 

This is not a very clear picture, my apologies.  If you Google 'Llandilo Junction', it takes you to a Flickr site, this picture (of better quality) is a long, long way down, even further than that. 

 

attachicon.gifLlandilo Junction.jpg

 

Sandy, can you post a link? I'm only getting to a lot of modern stuff at Lladeilio Junction.

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This is it, I hope: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/francis3351/25705422144/

 

I think the NER covered goods wagon is piped - brake hoses can be seen dangling. The brake gear is unusual, with a pair of V-hangers and a left-facing brake lever on the side in view. However, I don't think it's actually fitted, as at this date that would normally mean clasp brakes.

 

Not quite sharp enough to make out the wagon numbers, frustratingly. And whoever put the waterslide transfers on that Iron Mink needs to be introduced to the wonders of Microsol and Microset...

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As I continue backdating my (in progress) layout from the 1950s to the early 1920s I've been looking at which items of rolling stock I can reuse.

Taking my cue from Nile, of this forum, I've tackled the Bachmann Midland brake van.

I mainly followed Nile's route but did find that a fibreglass burnishing brush removed the BR markings without the need for repainting.

I also shortened the inner veranda access handrails and added a representation of the train control system tablet racks in accordance with a photo in Bob Essery's  Illustrated History of Midland Wagons, Volume 2.

The lettering is from HMRS sheet 17.

An enjoyable exercise! 

post-30361-0-35299100-1547149809_thumb.jpg

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For my 1920s Birmingham area themed layout I've been looking for typical motive power to complement the GWR 39xx 2-6-2T shown earlier in this thread.  The obvious choice became a 36xx 2-4-2T.

Taking inspiration from another Railway Modeller article, A Birdcage for Polly, November 1977, I looked at how to use the same techniques but with more modern materials.  Bachmann's Lancashire & Yorkshire 2-4-2 seemed a likely donor as its overall dimensions are very close, despite the driving wheels being a little large, especially as some sources say the prototype 36xx was based on the L&Y prototype.

The Bachmann model was stripped down to the running plate and tanks, cab and bunker built up from plasticard using the drawings in Russel's Great Western Engines. The boiler is an ex Mainline 2251 with extended firebox.  Fittings are mainly from Alan Gibson, Brassmasters or the scap box.

3629 was shedded at Leamington in 1921 and so fits in with my 1920 to 25 timeframe. Fitted with a Zimo decoder it pulls well and shares passenger duties with the 39xx. 

36xx_4.JPG

36xx_3.JPG

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I seem to have missed that last post Tony, a very interesting (re-) build. The two engines together in the last pic illustrate your point about the interesting potential of this period, and how no two GWR layouts need be the same. Any further builds on the cards?

 

 

On 06/11/2018 at 19:01, Penlan said:

Immediate pre grouping, is this line of vans, the location is said to be Landilo Junct, but I doubt it - its a single track into a 'Y' junction.  Even the north end of the station doesn't fit the rising lines etc.,
The original photo is part of the OPC collection.
What interested me, apart from the pre-grouping variety, was the (what looks like a) plain NE van, has screw couplings. 

This is not a very clear picture, my apologies.  If you Google 'Llandilo Junction', it takes you to a Flickr site, this picture (of better quality) is a long, long way down, even further than that. 

 

post-6979-0-40359100-1541527372.jpg

 

Revisiting this I'm struck by how well it illustrates the small size of the GWR Iron Minks. More than once I have measured mine just to be sure they weren't underscale!

 

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9 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

Revisiting this I'm struck by how well it illustrates the small size of the GWR Iron Minks. More than once I have measured mine just to be sure they weren't underscale!

 

Alternatively, how much bigger the Taff Vale version is - a 20th century vehicle. The Iron Mink design dates from 1886; it's 16'0" over headstocks, 7'5" wide over panels, and 10'6½" tall. At that time, the Midland was building covered goods wagons 14'11" over headstocks, 7'5" wide over the outside framing, and 9'11⅜" tall, a design dating from 1880, the L&NWR, 15'6" over headstocks, 7'8" wide over framing, 10'5½" tall, and the North Eastern, 16'0" over headstocks, 7'9" wide, 10'2" tall - the type seen in the photo. So the Iron Mink wasn't particularly small for its age.

 

For comparison, the two Midland vehicles in the photo, to a design dating from 1892 but not built in quantity until the turn of the century, are 16'6" over headstocks, 7'5" wide over framing, and 11'0⅜" tall. Even those would be dwarfed by the 12 ton vans of the grouping and BR eras, typically 17'6" over headstocks, 8'0" wide, and 11'10" tall.

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On 28/12/2020 at 10:15, Mikkel said:

I seem to have missed that last post Tony, a very interesting (re-) build. The two engines together in the last pic illustrate your point about the interesting potential of this period, and how no two GWR layouts need be the same. Any further builds on the cards?

 

 

 

Revisiting this I'm struck by how well it illustrates the small size of the GWR Iron Minks. More than once I have measured mine just to be sure they weren't underscale!

 

Thanks Mikkel yes there is much potential, I fear my ambitions may outstrip my ability!

Subsequent progress has been recorded in my Birmingham Bull Ring thread, above, but future projects include a GWR County Tank and a LT&SR 4-4-2t in post 1912 Midland Railway guise.

Yes the Iron Minks do seem small compared with later vehicles but as has been mentioned by Compound2632 they were average for their age but very long lived!  

Tony

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6 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

But were they though? Around 4,900 built 1888-1901. How many were actually still in service in 1930? 1940?

I'm not sure of actual numbers but here are some quotes from the HMRS book All about Iron Minks:

"large scale condemnation of the 16' 6 (early, 1887 built) began in 1932 and all but seven had gone by September 1939.  However, these seven survived world War 2 and three achieved nationalisation"

"the majority (of the standard 1888-1901 built) were condemned in the period 1933 to 1939 but an appreciable number survived World War 2 and passed into British Railways ownership"

"in 1980 it is known that there are still a very few iron minks and their derivatives in departmental us in British Rail"

So they had a pretty good innings!

Tony   

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