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GWR/BR INSIXFISH 6 wheel insulated fish van diagram S13


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On 20/05/2021 at 18:36, rka said:

These look amazing, 

 

A bit more complex than a airfix presflo for me though, which is my current level of construction. 

 

We all started somewhere, that's nothing to be ashamed of. I only started working in metal about 20 years ago myself. The thing is don't be frightened of it, get the right tools and materials such as low melt solder and a good liquid flux and you will be surprised how easy it is. Just make sure you get a good kit to build which isn't too complicated or too old. The old kits you often see on Ebay were produced before the drawings for them were done on CAD and often parts don't fit as they should.

There are lots of excellent modellers on this forum and most are very willing to offer advice so ask questions or search the forum for your answers.

 

Ian

Edited by macgeordie
Typo rectified
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Got more done today, the roof rain strips are on.

 

Photo435.jpg.711c0d1abdf8070333152f2b47f06bf2.jpg

 

Lamp irons and coupling hook in place. I have just fitted a cosmetic hook to this one along with the fold up NEM pocket but if you leave the pocket off you can fit a functional hook, there is a screw link coupling on the chassis fret.

 

Photo445.jpg.9d5efb214dc6dd1a41c8ea3bb7309f47.jpg

 

Label clip and data plate in place

 

Photo450.jpg.4c7f72ba473bffea29d4f4764e152e10.jpg

 

This is the solebar footstep which sits below the van end ladders.

 

Photo460b.jpg.fff9b3fd57382eb3175afe392677a78f.jpg

 

Photo470b.jpg.1c3fca9b5bcb90d7639c6a6bf4cfc1c1.jpg

 

This is the buffer beam footstep. It's actually attached to the body as you can see but when the body is in place it looks like it is on the buffer beam.

 

Photo475b.jpg.5893e677e8a0468b05fe97a309912fbf.jpg

 

The next job is the castings but that can wait till tomorrow.

 

Ian

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The castings are all now in place, the buffers are Dave Franks (LMS Models). The buffer was originally his B019 but they only have 13" heads and this model needed to have 16" heads. Dave made me some with the 16" head and has now added the modified version to his catalogue as B054.

 

Photo480b.jpg.59715de5fd92b5cd8b964287e1026abd.jpg

 

Springs and axle boxes fitted. The spring is one I commissioned from Dave Franks with a master modified from one of Justin Newitt's (of Rumney models fame) castings (with his permission of course) and the axle box is from MJT. 

 

Photo485b.jpg.dead6bdddef08b7bb35c9d00cea8f5c2.jpg

 

Photo490b.jpg.80ab5cbd3d07da94528cbe1ff7d17bd0.jpg

 

and finally the vacuum and steam pipes are in place. The vac pipe is another of Dave's lovely castings and the steam pipe is from 51L

 

Photo495b.jpg.f405c80457a9afe6874e63b3469399f8.jpg

 

I'll get the model assembled,  take a few photos of it and post them later.

 

Ian

Edited by macgeordie
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A friend of mine has volunteered to paint this one for me. My painting equipment and paint booth are in the loft and with this gammy leg of mine I just can't get up there. Here are a couple of photos he has sent me of his progress, the primer is now on and the roof is painted.

 

T03b.jpg.88c1b2f1655f91a9e3d3b46cf0c883a2.jpg

 

T04b.jpg.2860b216d12f4bc14a09de8edf5d9161.jpg

 

 

I've been trying to find out more about the East coast traffic, I believe without much by way of firm evidence that they were used out of Yarmouth and Lowestoft in the 1950s, while common sense suggests Grimsby too. Does anybody have any firm details on this or any other information about their use on the East coast?

 

Ian

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I've now got the model back from my friend so I thought I'd post a couple more photos of it which I have just taken.

 

_MG_7799b.jpg.5f4c96b350daf6cc80efdde9c96772bd.jpg

 

_MG_7802b.jpg.8d70704e50da962cded939625c19a769.jpg

 

I'm ordering the etches this weekend for those members who have requested one of these. Delivery from the etchers is still around 5 weeks so I'll contact everyone again then.

 

Ian

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I have ordered all of the etches and had the quotation back. A bit of good news, the etches are not going to be quite as expensive as I had originally thought as they have been able to fit two frets onto one tool for a couple of them. It looks like the kit cost will be £55 now instead of the original £66.

 

Ian

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I decided to pass on this as I found it difficult to justify one at Coldstream in 1949, but it does look like a lovely model of a very interesting prototype.

Edited by Tim Lewis
typo - "lively" for "lovely"!
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7 hours ago, macgeordie said:

I have ordered all of the etches and had the quotation back. A bit of good news, the etches are not going to be quite as expensive as I had originally thought as they have been able to fit two frets onto one tool for a couple of them. It looks like the kit cost will be £55 now instead of the original £66.

 

Ian

 

Now that is nice surprise... :clapping_mini:

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Quick update for those who have requested one of these. I have received the etches so I'll get them packed over the next few days. I'm waiting for a delivery of castings from MJT/Dart which might slow things down as they sometimes take a long time to deliver an order. 

On the down side, I have just received the invoice for the etches and they haven't worked out to be as cheap as I had thought so I'm sorry to say the kit price will be £62 not the £55 I was hoping for. 

I'll be in touch with everyone on the list over the next week or so.

 

Ian

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Just a note on 6 wheeled fish vans on Grimsby Fish Docks. I worked on Grimsby Fish Market for many years and 99% of fish by rail was loaded directly from the market platform (same level as van flooring)  The fish market was served by single roads but mainly it was 2 and 3 roads. The boxed fish being loaded though vans lined up to pass the goods through to the vans on the outer roads. Curvature on these roads AND in the fish dock complex was severe and the later longer wheelbase diagram vans would squeal like hell when being placed and removed but I never saw any derailments, only battered ex.army lorries that carelessly got in the way of the trains. In all my years 'down dock' and before, as an occasional 'spotter', the only 6 wheeled vehicles I saw would be in New Clee sidings or the various yards and stations in Grimsby and Cleethorpes.  Regards, HL.

Map. Grimsby Fish Docks. (2018_10_24 10_38_18 UTC).jpg

Edited by harry lamb
scream altered to squeel. (flange squeel)
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17 hours ago, brossard said:

It does have significant differences from yours in the roof detail.  Don't know what that's about, perhaps during their working lives there were mods.

 

John

Hi John

 

I did the roof detail based upon photos and a drawing in one of the books, a snippet of the drawing is below. As you say things may have been modified later but I have no evidence to confirm that. Perhaps someone from the GWR study group might be able to shed some light on the reasons for the differences.

 

GWRGW2b.jpg.8233c312c63d2fb085f7962d5f5d49a7.jpg

 

It was a pain to draw up but the end result is pretty convincing.

 

Ian

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On 30/08/2021 at 20:45, brossard said:

It does have significant differences from yours in the roof detail.  Don't know what that's about, perhaps during their working lives there were mods.

 

John

 

On 31/08/2021 at 14:43, macgeordie said:

Hi John

 

I did the roof detail based upon photos and a drawing in one of the books, a snippet of the drawing is below. As you say things may have been modified later but I have no evidence to confirm that. Perhaps someone from the GWR study group might be able to shed some light on the reasons for the differences.

 

Ian

 

First catch your image with some roof detail actually visible…

 

Tricky given that I don’t do either the GWR or Fish Vans, and the only image my small archive could come up with was a rather distant GF Heiron shot of an express (1A58) passing through Badminton station in the early 1960’s.

 

Such detail as can be discerned supports the Macgeordie interpretation rather than that of CRT kits in my opinion, but I wouldn’t care to go any further than that.

 

I think this is the image that  The Station Master has referred to elsewhere on occasion, although he and I differ in interpretation of the second vehicle in the formation, but that’s not relevant to this post.

 

I believe that George Heiron’s archive is now with one of the photo libraries, so it might be possible to track down a better copy of the image (for a price) if the matter gets to be important.

 

Reference

Modern Railways Feb 1964, vol.19, no. 185, pp108

 

Regards,

TMc

03/09/2021

 

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I've spent a few happy hours going through my library looking for pictures of these vehicles in traffic. My interest is Scottish railways, so I have next to no Western Region books to look through. In case anyone is interested, here are the locations of the pictures I have found. They are arranged from the earliest date, as the introduction of these vans on Scottish traffic is what sparked my interest.

 

Steam Memories North East Scotland (33) 1950 fish train to the south hauled by B1 61323 and unidentified B12. INSIXFISH is 11th vehicle in train, coupled to other 6 wheel vans, 5 total. (BW) Same pic in BR Steam in Scotland (O'Hara) #593.

 

British Railways Steaming on the East Coast Mainline p65 (119) B16 61416 at Pilmoor station circa 1955. INSIXFISH is the first vehicle in the train.

 

BR Steam in Scotland #579 Eyemouth 11th June 1957. INSIXFISH in company with other fish vans, including 2 ex-LMS 6 wheelers (BW)

 

Scottish Railways Then and Now p104 80011 at Fraserburgh Junction on 12th June 1959. INSIXFISH appears to be the penultimate vehicle in a rake of Blue Spot vans. (BW)

 

Scottish Steam Days Remembered p48 46201 Princess Elizabeth on a lightly loaded express fish working near Perth in June 1962. INSIXFISH is 4th vehicle in train. (Colour)

 

Lanarkshire's Last Days of Steam p16 46236 City of Bradford on up fish near Mossend Yard on 1st May 1963. INSIXFISH appears to be 11th vehicle in train. (BW)

 

Pic of INSIXFISH at Thornton Junction (possibly a cripple?) on 16th July 1963. (BW) https://flic.kr/p/xMh7E4

 

Steam Finale Scotland p142 44986 at Dumfries 16th May 1964. INSIXFISH partially visible in background.

 

BR Steam in Scotland #594 Black 5s 44998 & 45259 near Kinnaber Junction on 6th July 1964. 2 INSIXFISH vans coupled together in consist. (BW)

 

Last Days of Steam in the Scottish Highlands p32 (Undated) D2432 at Greenock Ladyburn shed with a short mixed goods. INSIXFISH is 3rd vehicle in rake of 12t van, carflat, 2 x lowfit and conflat. (BW)

 

John Boyes pic of Fraserburgh shows an INSIXFISH with open doors in the distance. (Undated) (Colour) https://flic.kr/p/VbZn13

 

I hope this is useful for other modellers of these vehicles, and many thanks to Ian (and Justin) for a really excellent kit.

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