The Saltport Saga

[Barclay]

I don't mind admitting that I have a slight brake van fetish. I have a reasonable number of LMS vans and I'm sure the collection will continue to grow. I recently bought a secondhand Slaters Midland 10T brake for £4 at my local model shop, just too good to resist. Unfortunately a little research (on RMWeb of course) suggested that they didn't last in traffic anywhere near the late 40's so it has had to be built as an internal user wagon. This is no bad thing because we are not on the LMS here of course and it is very unlikely any of their vans would have ventured onto the system at all (if anyone knows of a precedent please let me know!). It looks suitably old-fashioned with its single veranda, short wheelbase, and 3'6" wheels. The  backing on the K4 decals is very noticeable in photo's but luckily less so in real life - I'm very glad we have Pressfix for our lettering over here, though waterslide transfers can be superb, the U.S. ones made by Microscale are as good as it gets.

 

 

[SR71]

What you have done looks great but, if you can view a copy, have a look at Midland Wagons: Volume Two : R. J. Essery. Plates 374 & 375 show the similar but longer diagram 20t brake vans in BR livery so it might not be too much of a stretch for one of the 10t to last a little longer...

 

It also shows 10t variants in Southern and Isle of Wight liveries so they did escape. Plates 362 & 363.

[Barclay]

Thanks - I bought the book quite cheaply off the interweb but was disappointed to see it gives no information on longevity. I think 1947 would be stretching it, though I do have my eye on the Midland 6 wheel 20T brake that definitely lasted until nationalisation and beyond, and for which London Road Models make the ex - D&S kit.

[Barclay]

Been doing a little shunting at the weekend to try and re-motivate myself to get some modelling done. My latest loco project is a GWR 1361 0-6-0ST and it's up and running but I haven't done much to it for a while. Similarly my US layout is making very slow progress. I need to get my mojo back, it's happened before and all been OK after a while. Does this happen to others?

 

 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Barclay

[Annie]

40 minutes ago, Barclay said:

I need to get my mojo back, it's happened before and all been OK after a while. Does this happen to others?

When I've been away from my pre-grouping Norfolk layout for a while when life has made other demands on me I sometimes find it difficult to pick up my former enthusiasm again.  Shunting and trip working is what I do as well to wake myself up so I can see what needs to be done and where improvements can be made.  There's nothing like intensively shunting a goods yard and doing trip working between stations for finding out what does and doesn't work and what needs some repair and attention.

[Schooner]

5 hours ago, Barclay said:

Does this happen to others?

Yes :)

[Barclay]

I think the mojo is back - the latest loco has seen some progress, but has been queue jumped by this wagon. 

 

One of the members of our local EMGS area group passed away a couple of years ago. At least I think it was after the worst of Covid, but that event has really messed with my timelines. What happens to our models when we are gone is a topic that has been aired a few times on here, but suffice to day that Dave's models got into the clutches of the house-clearers before his modelling friends could get involved. Their leavings have now filtered out to the group, and I came away with a D&S Great Northern van kit to remember him by, plus a couple of other bits.

 

The body was quickly assembled using my newly acquired white metal soldering skills:

 

 

I don't usually bother springing wagons but I find that white metal vehicles tend to run quite clunkily without some help, so decided to fit this one with the Prickly Pear semi sprung suspension. I have built one of these before, which I reviewed for the EMGS newsletter, and it ran very well indeed. The premise is that both wheelsets are free to pivot, on wobbly brass W-iron assemblies that will be familiar to anyone who has compensated a wagon before. The W-iron assemblies are linked with brass wire springs, which are supported in the middle by a 'land' that provides stability:

 

 

Paul Tasker, the proprietor, mentions in the instructions that heavy vehicles may require further stabilisation, and this one did, so I added felt/foam pads under one of the units to restrict it's movement. There is still a little give in this wheelset, but the other one does most of the moving about. Here the units are being set up with a Brassmasters jig, also from Dave, which is one of those things you immediately wonder how you have managed without...

 

 

The springs and axleboxes have been carefully cut off the white metal W-irons for re-use.

[Barclay]

The Great Northern van is now finished - all the cast brake parts were added underneath - this required some hacking as the suspension interfered with the location of some of the parts. This is not unique to the Prickly Pear system of course. The recovered springs/axleboxes survived their ordeal and were fitted to the brass W-irons, leaving a tiny gap at the top for movement. The suspension still works too. Paint was Halfords primers, weathered with the airbrush, and the lettering is HMRS Pressfix. 

 

The van is shown next to a very close relative, the same van basically, but the version without the end louvres, and therefore not labelled 'ventilated'. This one is in many ways a more interesting model - about 25 years ago I was in my local model shop when I found a box of pre-group wagons for sale, all scratch built in card. Most were too old for my period but I picked up 3, including this one, as they were very cheap. John Dutfield, the proprietor, showed me an article from Railway Modeller in the early 80's, where they had been featured, having been scratchbuilt by a Mr. L. Posford. The underframes were based on RTR items of the time and were therefore unsuitable for conversion to EM, so they received new chassis from brass and cast parts. Of course it's slightly lacking in detail compared to the D&S example but I am very fond of it.

 

This kit practically fell together and it is easy to understand why they are still sought after as the quality of the parts and fit was excellent.

 

 

[Barclay]

At the 2nd hand stall at Expo-EM in 2022 I bought, on the spur of the moment, a Stanier 2-6-4T, built from a Hornby body on a Comet chassis., my main motivation being the incredible price of £20. It didn't take long to sort the running, but I hadn't touched it since, until a couple of weeks ago when I started the painting process. First, however, to find a prototype...

 

These loco's were mostly built with the short-lived block style lettering which I rather like, so I managed to find an example that survived the war without having that replaced (there weren't proper re-paints during the war but loco's often had touch-up jobs, which could include renewing the lettering with whatever was available). 2616 was very dirty but still had its block lettering when photographed in 1946. Sadly I have to report that I chickened out of doing the lining but it is certainly not visible in the 1946 photo! 

 

The old lining and lettering was carefully removed with the fibreglass brush, then the model had a light coat of Halfords red primer followed by their satin black. Lettering is HMRS Pressfix, and the weathering was by airbrush and powders. The motion was toned down with AK-interactive's 'Aircraft Engine Oil'. I also added a Hornby detail pack that I was able to obtain, which included front steps, vac. pipes, screw couplings, and a few other bits. The loco. will just squeak around the curves on the layout. It's not a lot of use to me but I'm glad I finished it, even if it will spend most of its time in the display cabinet!

 

 

 

[SR71]

10 hours ago, Barclay said:

 The motion was toned down with AK-interactive's 'Aircraft Engine Oil'.

 

 

That's a great looking engine and you realise how big it is when placed where I'm used to seeing industrials.

 

I've been using AK wreathing pencils for a couple of years and find them really good. Seeing you mention this I went and looked on their website and saw they also do the similar fresh oil. Do you think it would work to produce an oily sheen on paintwork like the photos on this page?

 

http://www.penmorfa.com/Slate/Dinorwic-1967-2.htm

 

It's something I've been trying to reproduce in various ways for a while but not got right yet.

[Barclay]

Thank you - Yes, it's huge in the context of my layout.

 

I also use the AK 'Shaft and bearing grease' which is a darker mix which also looks good. Both are quite transparent if you only put on one coat, so the thought of spraying a loco with it in order to tone down the colour and create an oily sheen is intriguing - Go on, you try it first !!

[SR71]

Challenge accepted - eBay purchased some today, I just need to select a victim.

 

I'll need to work up the courage before trying it on my Bachmann Alice I think.

[Barclay]

Finally finished the GWR 1361 - it's only taken 10 months, not including a couple of bits still on order, and it's not even a 'proper' loco i.e. industrial!

 

That's a tryptic of K's kits built now and I think I need a break from them, so I can make something from my stash that will hopefully put up less of a fight.

 

[Barclay]

While I waited for the primer to harden on the Ruston project, I pulled a very old K's wagon kit from the stash. It is the second of 2 old kits rescued from the remnants of our deceased friend Dave's model railway stuff. This is a Great Eastern Railway loco. sand wagon, which seemed a good candidate for the internal user fleet, though for this to be plausible there would have to be a supply of sand available within the confines of the system presumably, otherwise supplies would come in Railway Company wagons. However some Googling has located at least one sand quarry within 10 miles of Saltport, which is good enough for me!

 

This kit is so old that the very shiny wheels do not have pin point axles, so they have been replaced with Gibson, which are finer in any case. The white metal W-irons are to be replaced with Prickly Pear etched brass examples. On the packet I have clearly written the details of a 1959 Model Railway News, but with my Goldfish memory I have no idea where I got this information from. I will probably have the mag, so will look for it at the weekend.

 

The basic body is now together and a brass floor has been made, tinned, and installed. It's going to be a heavy old unit - I think the Ruston might have its work cut out here!

 

 

[Ruston]

Will the Ruston be able to pull that wagon? 🙂

[Barclay]

The jury's out !

[Barclay]

I didn't have that Feb '59 Model Railway News, which was odd because I thought I could remember seeing the feature. How the memory plays tricks on us. Luckily Connoisseur make an 'O' gauge version, and the website has quite a lot of info on it. The wagons were used for dried sand, exported out from major depots to smaller sheds and then kept as a ready supply. It will therefore spend most of its time on shed, with the occasional foray away for a refill.

 

Painted with Halfords primer, then satin black for the benefit of the transfers, followed by weathering with Humbrol enamels and powders.