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Mol's MSC Wagons


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In my Manchester Ship Canal modelling theme in 7mm, I'm building a selection of wagons that would have been seen on the MSC Railway in the 1960s.

These include the MSC Railway's own wagons, British Rail wagons, and Private Owner wagons.

 

Of course the MSC Railway didn't just serve the docks, but also provided a rail connection for hundreds of industries in Trafford Park, Manchester, Salford, Irlam/Cadishead, and other locations. I'm focusing on what the MSC Railway called the 'Through Route' which connected Latchford, Irlam, Salford and Trafford Park. Although the MSC Railway also served locations nearer the mouth of the canal (notably Ellesmere Port and Stanlow) that was on an entirely separate section of railway to the main system.

 

In this thread I'll show a few portraits of the wagons I've built.

 

The MSC Railway had a large fleet of wagons, in the 1950s/1960s there were nearly 3000 of them.

Over the history of the MSC operation (not including the construction period) there were 6720 'revenue' wagons plus others used for engineers' purposes. The revenue wagons were were numbered upwards from 1 in the order of acquisition regardless of type.

All the MSC Railway's wagons were internal user, they didn't (or shouldn't) venture onto BR metals. Almost all were acquired second-hand and most had originally been built for the main-line railway companies. The MSC Railway had a large and well-equipped wagon workshop to maintain their fleet, and some of the purchased wagons received significant modifications. As a result, although most of the wagons were 5-plank opens there was huge variety among the fleet. I've tried to model each wagon from a photo of the prorotype.

This slide from around 1960 gives a great idea of the atmosphere of Manchester (Salford) Docks around this time: large transatlantic freighters, small tugs and barges, and the quays lined with wagons - mostly MSC with some BR wagons too:

Ship Canal Variety

 

I'm going to keep the BR wagons to a minimum for now. In some respects they are 'easier' but less distinctive than the MSC ones. I think I have plenty of MSC prototypes to focus on. For bulk cargos 16t minerals were present in large numbers, but manufactured goods for export also arrived by rail. For example this photo shows a rake of BR 'Pipe' wagons on the quayside:

Southern Prince

 

At the time, Manchester was still a centre of oil and chemical refining, the oils included both mineral oils and edible oils. So a wide variety of privately-owned tank wagons were also commonly seen on the MSC Railway. They weren't the only PO wagons though, for example the Ship Canal Sand company had a fleet of open wagons with end doors only, which had escaped pooling. So I'm going to try and represent a variety of local private-owner wagons too.

Attached is a photo of one of the Lancashire Tar Distillers tanks, this firm had two sites connected to the MSC Railway at Cadishead and Weaste:

Lancs_Tar_Distillers_1969.jpg

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I started with a couple of kits I had in stock from 10+ years ago when I last did 7mm modelling, and have gradually reminded myself of the modelling techniques so hopefully the quality will improve as we go through!

 

The first wagon is a double bolster, number 6630. The MSC Railway had a variety of bolster wagons, ranging from short 4-wheel single bolsters to 40-ton bogie bolsters. Timber was a major import via the canal, and this was distributed on MSC Railway wagons to about a dozen sawmills around Trafford Park and the Barton/Irlam area. Whilst much of this was in moderate-sized planks that could be loaded into open wagons, there were larger baulks that needed bolster wagons.

 

In the 1970s use of the MSC Railway declined as the port embraced containerisation. Some of the MSC flat and bolster wagons were converted to carry ISO containers and thereby outlived the rest of the wagon fleet. On ebay I obtained a slide showing 6630 in its container-carrying form.

 

I had in stock an ABS whitemetal kit for a GCR double bolster, and this looked a pretty close match to what 6630 would have looked like before it was modified as a container flat. With a few minor modifications I had a passable representation. The high number indicates that it would have been bought in the mid 1960s and therefore would have been a recent (secondhand) acquisition at the time I am representing. I weathered the deck fairly heavily but assumed that the outside would have had a fresh coat of paint and should therefore still be fairly clean.

 

The load of timber baulks is represented by some square hardwood, tied down with cord. I'm not sure whether it is sufficiently secured to be honest, perhaps I need some more rope and better knots? Attached is a view showing similar baulks loaded onto a set of three MSC single bolsters. They don't seem to be secured at all!

 

As mentioned, this was my first step back into modelling so I wasn't too ambitious with this one. More to follow in due course...

MSC_6630_cropped.jpg

6630_1.jpg

6630_2.jpg

bolsters_baulks.jpg

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My second MSC Railway vehicle is an open wagon with a difference, number 4366. The MSC Railway had thousands of wooden-bodied 5-plank open wagons but among them were a few steel-bodied ones. This model was inspired by a partial view in the background of a locomotive in the book 'The Railways of the Manchester Ship Canal'. It wasn't until I had completed the model that I found three other photos showing the same type, with two examples visible in the same 1950s aerial photo. So there must have been at least two and perhaps more.

 

Wagon 4366 looks like a cut-down GWR 'Iron Mink' van. The large holes in the solebar are in the GWR style, the iron body with vertical uprights and wood-framed cupboard style doors is an almost perfect match. I know the GWR had many types of iron open wagons but I couldn't find any like this. I really do think it's a cut-down van! Unless someone can prove otherwise...

 

As it happened, about 20 years ago I had impulse-bought an ABS kit for a 'Ferrocrete' iron mink, and the kit had remained unopened ever since. Mainly because I already had it, this became my second MSC wagon. Quite a lot of surgery was required to cut off the upper parts of the sides and ends and to thin down the top edges a bit. The doors took a bit of reconstruction too, to reduce their height and slightly reduce the width too. I added some plastikard rivet strips along the top of the sides which wasn't 100% successful as the rivets are much flatter than the cast whitemetal ones, but it gives the right sort of impression. I wondered whether it should have D-C brakes but the kit for the Ferrocrete van was supplied with more conventional brakes and I couldn't see any evidence of D-C brakes in the photos, so it has fairly conventional independent brakes each side.

 

I finsihed the wagon in the livery of 4366, guessing what the other end looked like based on the livery of more conventional open wagons. Lettering was with individual letters from the HMRS transfer sheets. Some open wagons had 'MANCHESTER' in small letters along the top of the door but this was not applied to all of them and 4366 doesn't have it. The angle of the sun in the model photos rather highlights the varnish over the transfers - this isn't so obvious in normal conditions. Based on the number, 4366 would have been acquired secondhand by the MSC Railway around 1945/46 and by the period of my model would have been 60-odd years old so I have represented it in a heavily-weathered condition. This included carefully painting over the letters with black so it looked like the paint was wearing off (as in the photo of the real thing). My model period is 10 years after that photo of 4366 was taken, so I looked at some photos of very tired iron minks (including some grounded bodies) to see the areas that tended to suffer the worst corrosion, and tried to represent that.

 

With those wooden-framed cupboard doors (and in run-down condition) it wouldn't have been suitable for mineral traffic. The aerial photos (heavily cropped from Britainfromabove) show two of these in the timber yard at Salford, so that seems an appropriate load. By the 1960s, a fair proportion of timber was being imported in neat pre-sawn bundles rather than loose random planks and many of the 1960s photos of timber on the MSC Railway show these bundles (see the last photo, the wagon types are different though). I used my bench saw to cut up some old wooden blinds into half a zillion lengths of 12" x 4" (scale) planks. I bound them together in bundles using fine brass wire, chemically blackened beforehand. The wire ends are twisted together out of sight underneath. The ends of the planks are dyed red as this seems to have been the practice at the time, though you can't see that clearly on these photos.

steel_open.jpg

iron_open_1.jpg

iron_open_2.jpg

CADISHEAD1917.jpg

4366_1.jpg

4366_2.jpg

Irwell.jpg

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After building the previous two wagons from kits I already had from a decade ago, I decided to buy a couple of Parkside wagon kits to represent other MSC prototypes.

I chose to build two 5-plank open wagons, the most common type of MSC wagon. I'll introduce one today, and another later in the week (they are of course different from each other).

 

The 'easy' one was a former LMS diagram 1667 5-plank open. I had a 1960s photo of one of these in MSC livery, but otherwise pretty much unchanged from LMS days. Unfortunately I don't have permission to publish that image here so you will have to take my word for it. Also unfortunately, the wagon number is partly obscured in the image, though it appears to start 61. Despite those drawbacks it was potentially a 'quick win' rather than a lot of work required to kit-bash. I chose to number it 6178 because I had lots of 7s and 8s left over after the previous projects!

 

Basically a straight build of the kit, I did add two additional details: capping strips on the top planks, and wire roping eyes on the underframe.

 

With a high number this was a late acquisition by the MSC around 1959, and the photo shows it in fairly presentable condition with just some light and fresh weathering, such as paint wearing off the edges of the planks and orange streaks from the ironwork. There were also quite a lot of scrawled chalk markings, some of which had been partially or wholly rubbed out leaving pale patches. I tried to replicate those on the model, not 100% successfully but it's OK from a distance. The larger-than-life closeups below are a bit cruel!

 

For a load, I chose timber again, but this time loose planks roped down. This was partly influenced by an older photo of a similar wagon in LMS livery (but still on Manchester Docks). The planks are all the same cross-section but different lengths. Mine aren't quite as long as those in the real photo, because I didn't want to block access to the coupling or prevent it being coupled adjacent to any other vehicle. I tried to rope the planks down in the same way as on the photo of the LMS wagon, but it didn't work out exactly the same when I pulled it tight. Hopefully it still looks plausible. Even in the 1960s there was still a fair amount of timber imported in loose planks like this.

 

 

6178_1.jpg.397192b27f3fbe1869c8908d6bfca632.jpg

6178_2.jpg.4b408834358f60883c034788c44acd90.jpg

 

image.png.476cde549c56ae5d386daca49106e6eb.png

 

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This is the second of the 5-plank wagons built from Parkside kits to represent specific MSC prototypes. Today's is number 5925, which would have been purchased by the MSC Railway around 1959.

5925.jpg.09738a62839e0750dc0b09fad09b7fe2.jpg

 

This wagon has a strange combination of details. The right-hand end was built with a door and the securing catches are still visible, but it has been sealed up with angle plates round the upper two planks, and vertical stanchions which appear to be wooden (unusual combination with a steel underframe as here).

Look closely at the 'C' and just below the 'M' and you can see a faint pale diagonal line where the diagonal strapping used to be, because this was built as an 8-plank mineral with side and end doors. Another unusual feature is the BR-pattern W irons which are solid below the leaf spring with a circular hole at the outer ends.

 

As with the real thing, I started with a kit for a steel-framed 8 plank mineral wagon, and cut it down. Before I scraped off the old diagonal strapping I drilled through the bolt holes. I added the new strapping details inside and out, plus capping strips on the top planks and modified door catches. The Parkside W iron sprue actually includes the BR version as an option so I used them.

I forgot to mention it for the previous build, but both these plastic wagons had quite a lot of lead added to spaces on the underframe to increase their weight close to that of the ABS whitemetal kits.


5925_1.jpg.f284df13701f2533dd8e313b56dced5e.jpg

One thing I messed up with this wagon was the brakes. The kit had independent brakes each side and I did the same. It wasn't until it was completely finished and weathered and I was taking the photos that I realised that the prototype has brake blocks on one side only. D@mn! Did anyone notice? Maybe one day I will correct it, but it will be a fiddly job to remove the outer V hangers and it might be best just to leave it wrong. Plenty of other projects vying for my attention.

 

The prototype photo shows it in fairly presentable condition with just some light and fresh weathering, such as paint wearing off the edges of the planks and orange streaks from the ironwork. There were also quite a lot of scrawled chalk markings, most of which have been rubbed out leaving pale patches. A lot of photos of MSC wagons show a chalked tare weight, which doesn't always exactly match the painted tare weight (if there is one)! I tried to replicate those on the model. What I'm quite pleased with is the diagonal strapping, both the newly added bits and the just-visible areas where the old strapping had been.

 

The lettering is HMRS Pressfix private owner wagon lettering, about the right size but not perfect for style. Mind you, the MSC wagons were hand-painted in a wide variety of styles. I now have some custom transfers with a variety of prototypical MSC lettering styles and they will be used on future projects.

 

For a load, I chose timber again, going back to the wire-wrapped bundles but making four shorter bundles this time. Again this was based on prototype photos of similar wagons loaded with timber bundles.

5925_2.jpg.abf51455b8e3f937cbd6f6420926ce8a.jpg

 

The concept of the cut-down mineral wagon wasn't unique: they appear in quite a few photos of MSC wagons. Here's another one, with a clearer view of the corner strapping sealing up the door. You can see one of the former bolt holes for the old diagonal in the middle of the vee of the 'M'. The corner strapping is shallower and the side door has a horizontal strap right across, unlike 5925. It has an older pattern of axlebox and W iron, and this one does have independent brakes each side! Quite possibly every one was different.

image.png.77997df137efea00caf52d2325b8845b.png

 

 

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I've just scanned the B&W images from the WRC railtour in Feb.1972 and thought they might be useful.  The covered van is an ex LMS 12t unventilated van to D1664 a kit for which is available from Peco/Parkside.  IIRC it was painted a faded red oxide colour.

Cheers,

Ray.

scan0009.jpg

scan0014.jpg

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30 minutes ago, Marshall5 said:

I've just scanned the B&W images from the WRC railtour in Feb.1972 and thought they might be useful.  The covered van is an ex LMS 12t unventilated van to D1664 a kit for which is available from Peco/Parkside.  IIRC it was painted a faded red oxide colour.

Cheers,

Ray.

 

 

That's wonderful, many thanks Ray!

 

It's quite hard to find good photos of the MSC wagons so those are very much appreciated. The van 240 partly appears in the edge of another photo I have, but that's the first decent pic I've seen showing the whole vehicle. As you say it would be straightforward to model. I wonder whether there was another word before 'VAN'?

The MSC Resident Engineers Department painted their stock red to match their initials, unlike the other MSC wagons which were black. The R.E.D. vehicles seem to have been in a different number sequence too. I have a colour photo of one of their ballast wagons number 218 in red livery, which would also make an interesting model.

 

Cheers,

Mol

 

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Hmm, look what I found!

I bought these very cheaply at an exhibition about 15 years ago intending to harvest their wheels and couplings, but they have been gathering dust ever since. They’re not brilliantly well built and have some damage, but maybe one can be restored as a model of R.E.D. 240? 

6EA944CB-DBE6-45C0-9CF7-20B9A3EB84DA.jpeg

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I am following this thread because my wife is from Salford. She was born in Weaste and lived there until she was 24 very near Mode Wheel. Her grandfather was a timber carrier on the canal and died in a accident at work before she was born. I am also interested  in the canal and its railways and your  unusual models of wagons. 

Mike

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Well this is exciting. My custom etch has arrived!

Etches_scan.jpg.44f1b16035dee8f6cb4c34c7cbcb3778.jpg

This is mostly for wagons, but includes some detailing parts for the Hudswell Clarke loco too.

I must say I'm very pleased at the level of detail that has been achieved.

My experience with 4D Modelshop was good - fast effective and helpful communication and a great quality product.

This one-off etch cost just under £100 all-in, and is A5 size on 15 thou brass. There are enough plates there to detail a lot of wagons, and may give some hints as to some of the vehicles you may see appearing on this thread in future...

 

 

 

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13 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

 

Quote

It's quite hard to find good photos of the MSC wagons so those are very much appreciated.

 

You may already be aware of this, but there's a good 1964 photo in Coates' L&Y Wagons Vol 1 Plate 153, showing an L&Y diagram 92 5 plank open, numbered 5476 with M S C livery. 

 

HTH

Pete

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1 minute ago, swampy said:

You may already be aware of this, but there's a good 1964 photo in Coates' L&Y Wagons Vol 1 Plate 153, showing an L&Y diagram 92 5 plank open, numbered 5476 with M S C livery. 

 

HTH

Pete

Many thanks - that's a good tip. I'm not up on the L&Y diagram  numbers but I have a photo of MSC 5799 which I think was also ex-L&Y, one of their unusually long 5-plank opens. Possibly the same type?

One of these would be interesting to model as it would provide even more variation among the rake of 5-plank opens, but I haven't found any kits for these L&Y vehicles and the unusual dimensions mean it would have to be a scratch-build. That's entirely possible of course, just pushes it down the priority list a bit.

 

Thanks again,

Mol

 

 

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The half-etched tabs are less than 1mm wide. Some of this legible lettering is only 0.25mm high. I had thought this would just come out as splodges and I'm really impressed with the quality achieved.

If I'd known that I would be able to read 'Saltney Ferry Nr Chester' then I might have put a wider variety of addresses on the repair plates!

 

The registration plates fold over, and the date and wagon number are on the back of the right-hand half so they will appear in the gaps of the left-hand half.

 

 

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image.png.fdeabeba6ac2772d4a42d2ec78000cb1.png

Edited by Mol_PMB
grammar
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Here's my first 'private owner' wagon for the MSC Railway theme.

 

The largest industry alongside the MSC Railway 'Through Route' was the steelworks at Irlam.

Operated by the Lancashire Steel Corporation Ltd, it was once a major user of the MSC Railway for all incoming and outgoing traffic.

However, in the 1950s a new direct connection was built to link the steelworks to the CLC main line railway, cutting out the MSC.

 

Some steelworks traffic remained on the MSC Railway, including steel products for export via Manchester docks; that continued in small quantities into the 1970s when the steelworks closed.

 

One of the more interesting steelworks traffics was spoil, slag and other waste which was disposed of at the tips at Hollins Green and Rixton, a few miles west of Irlam along the MSC Railway. The LSC had running powers over the MSC for this traffic, and the trains would have been hauled by LSC locomotives.

The first three photos below are at the steelworks, showing the V tipper wagons used for the general spoil traffic (these are all cropped from the edges of photos featuring less interesting things like kettles). The fourth photo is cropped from an aerial photo showing one of the tippers at Hollins Green tip.

 

image.png.9ea7c832130f439f6d658207b2e46c7d.png image.png.2fc641eb5294bab1afc635d82166e1c0.png image.png.6e2b51700d44adbda63f0f132bc8ca66.png image.png.892e559a833bb2087fb4ac201abe4fc1.png

 

At 8:59 on this film there is a rake of them visible at the steelworks in 1962:
https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-manchester-ship-canal-1962-online

(For anyone interested in the MSC the whole film is worth a watch!)

 

Just before Christmas I saw a 7mm scale etched kit for one of these on ebay; the kit is from RT Models. It was an impulse purchase as I recognised it from the Hollins Green aerial photo, and I did the research afterwards. I therefore need to apply for some modeller's licence to include one of these in an MSC train, and/or build a whole rake of them and an LSC loco!

 

Tipper_1.jpg.1bc27a897b3830b2d03c723bc2d40b1f.jpg

Tipper_2.jpg.18c7388efd57b695929efd83ff0f7fea.jpg

Tipper_3.jpg.e02e6ea766c29f5cf7d15a9d2e7e91cb.jpg

 

The kit was built largely as per the instructions; quite a tricky model with a zillion tiny etched bits but it came together quite well in the end. I used LMS brake van buffers which seemed to match some of the photos.

The tipper release levers do actually work - if you pull out the locking pin (on that fine chain) and then lift the lever, it releases the V skip allowing it to tip. Transfers were custom printed from my own artwork.

 

I chose to model it in a pretty wrecked condition as it's likely to lurk in the weeds at the end of a siding until my modeller's licence arrives! However, it runs pretty well although it could do with a load as it's a bit light.

I don't have any great photos showing them loaded, but the film clip suggests they carried light-coloured lumpy stuff - possibly old refractory?

If I decide that it will lurk in the weeds then I might be tempted by a partial load and some small shrubs growing out of it!

 


 

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6 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Here's my first 'private owner' wagon for the MSC Railway theme.

 

The largest industry alongside the MSC Railway 'Through Route' was the steelworks at Irlam.

Operated by the Lancashire Steel Corporation Ltd, it was once a major user of the MSC Railway for all incoming and outgoing traffic.

However, in the 1950s a new direct connection was built to link the steelworks to the CLC main line railway, cutting out the MSC.

 

Some steelworks traffic remained on the MSC Railway, including steel products for export via Manchester docks; that continued in small quantities into the 1970s when the steelworks closed.

 

One of the more interesting steelworks traffics was spoil, slag and other waste which was disposed of at the tips at Hollins Green and Rixton, a few miles west of Irlam along the MSC Railway. The LSC had running powers over the MSC for this traffic, and the trains would have been hauled by LSC locomotives.

The first three photos below are at the steelworks, showing the V tipper wagons used for the general spoil traffic (these are all cropped from the edges of photos featuring less interesting things like kettles). The fourth photo is cropped from an aerial photo showing one of the tippers at Hollins Green tip.

 

image.png.9ea7c832130f439f6d658207b2e46c7d.png image.png.2fc641eb5294bab1afc635d82166e1c0.png image.png.6e2b51700d44adbda63f0f132bc8ca66.png image.png.892e559a833bb2087fb4ac201abe4fc1.png

 

At 8:59 on this film there is a rake of them visible at the steelworks in 1962:
https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-manchester-ship-canal-1962-online

(For anyone interested in the MSC the whole film is worth a watch!)

 

Just before Christmas I saw a 7mm scale etched kit for one of these on ebay; the kit is from RT Models. It was an impulse purchase as I recognised it from the Hollins Green aerial photo, and I did the research afterwards. I therefore need to apply for some modeller's licence to include one of these in an MSC train, and/or build a whole rake of them and an LSC loco!

 

Tipper_1.jpg.1bc27a897b3830b2d03c723bc2d40b1f.jpg

Tipper_2.jpg.18c7388efd57b695929efd83ff0f7fea.jpg

Tipper_3.jpg.e02e6ea766c29f5cf7d15a9d2e7e91cb.jpg

 

The kit was built largely as per the instructions; quite a tricky model with a zillion tiny etched bits but it came together quite well in the end. I used LMS brake van buffers which seemed to match some of the photos.

The tipper release levers do actually work - if you pull out the locking pin (on that fine chain) and then lift the lever, it releases the V skip allowing it to tip. Transfers were custom printed from my own artwork.

 

I chose to model it in a pretty wrecked condition as it's likely to lurk in the weeds at the end of a siding until my modeller's licence arrives! However, it runs pretty well although it could do with a load as it's a bit light.

I don't have any great photos showing them loaded, but the film clip suggests they carried light-coloured lumpy stuff - possibly old refractory?

If I decide that it will lurk in the weeds then I might be tempted by a partial load and some small shrubs growing out of it!

 


 

Agenoria do a 7mm Yorkshire Engine Co 0-6-0 ST. Irlam ran two of them. I saw them as a little boy.
Fearsome beasts.
Chris.

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6 minutes ago, Sandhole said:

Agenoria do a 7mm Yorkshire Engine Co 0-6-0 ST. Irlam ran two of them. I saw them as a little boy.
Fearsome beasts.
Chris.

 

One of these would be more appropriate for my mid-60s period, though perhaps not as beastly! 

 

1389 Lancashire Steel No 40 (Ex Irlam works) shunter in Dallam Branch Sidings. FP3

 

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Just now, Mol_PMB said:

 

One of these would be more appropriate for my mid-60s period, though perhaps not as beastly! 

 

1389 Lancashire Steel No 40 (Ex Irlam works) shunter in Dallam Branch Sidings. FP3

 

Mr Edge does a superb 4mm kit.
He might be persuaded to do a 7mm version.
It is a BIG engine, even if it's just an 0-4-0.:lol:

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23 minutes ago, Sandhole said:

Mr Edge does a superb 4mm kit.
He might be persuaded to do a 7mm version.
It is a BIG engine, even if it's just an 0-4-0.:lol:

I’ve already got an Edge Sentinel kit lined up for when I’ve finished the Hudswell Clarke. But I will bear this in mind as they do look like characterful locos! Many thanks. 

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7 minutes ago, Ruston said:

I don't suppose you happen to know the colours of the livery on that Yorkshire DE2? Black an yellow stripes at a guess but the rest? I've never seen any loco with horizontal stripes before.

The book 'Industrial Locomotives of the North West of England' has two colour photos of them, but only one in this livery (the other is mostly yellow).

The stripey one (in the same livery as the one a couple of posts above) is a winter shot in the snow, and though nominally in colour there isn't much colour visible! I think it is dark green with yellow stripes.

 

There is a much closer black and white photo of one here (image 134), there are plenty of steam locos and some interesting recollections in this link too:

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/wotec-2099725-steelmaking-irlam-cadishead-edited/

 

This promotional image with a different arrangement of stripes gives the impression of being dark green with yellow stripes, or am I imagining the green?

image.png.f5c475d281e624db310f0024da0befe1.png

That's from:

https://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/topic/8658-yorkshire-engine-company/page/2/

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Producing our etches in 7mm scale is quite easy, pattern making and test building are the bottlenecks. Not much in the way of mouldings in the DE2 though - apart from the whole of the engine casing top which is moulded in one piece. This was done because it proved very difficult to form the etch that was done for it - but it might work in 7mm. Sandboxes are already in the programme as they are the same as the Janus and I have a test etch for that in the queue.

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3 minutes ago, Michael Edge said:

Producing our etches in 7mm scale is quite easy, pattern making and test building are the bottlenecks. Not much in the way of mouldings in the DE2 though - apart from the whole of the engine casing top which is moulded in one piece. This was done because it proved very difficult to form the etch that was done for it - but it might work in 7mm. Sandboxes are already in the programme as they are the same as the Janus and I have a test etch for that in the queue.

Thanks Michael!

I already have a backlog of loco kits to work through (your Sentinel is next after the Hudswell Clarke), so am not in a rush to buy a 7mm DE2 just yet. But it’s certainly one I would be tempted by in future and good to know that it’s on the radar. 

I imagine building one of your scaled-up test etches would be considerably easier than my current Hudswell Clarke project!

Best Regards,

Mol

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I've just finished one of our 7mm Sentinels.

IMG_1015.JPG.24ba179d95e7a5f97caae6a1a02f1360.JPG

It's packed ready to post now - and when I looked at the photos I took this morning one of the leading handrails is out of its locating hole. They can't be soldered in since the engine casing is removable.

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