Ian's Accidental FR Rolling Stock thread

[MrTea]

Before I get started, I'd just like to say that, this is ALL Bachmann's fault!

 

I've been happily modelling the RhB in N gauge for the past 2 years and although I dabbled with 009/H0e getting on for 25 years ago it really wasn't on my agenda to get into narrow gauge in 4mm scale.

 

After an 'incident' over Black Friday weekend (where I was left unsupervised for just long enough with access to my credit card) I finally caved in and ordered an Earl of Merioneth with sound. It's a gorgeous model.

 

Exhibit A:

 

So, having had a good running in session (play!) with it I started thinking about what I could get for it to pull. 

 

The Festipedia site has some great info on the carriages and vans on the FR:
https://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/Carriages

 

For some reason the 4 wheel 'bug box' quarry men's carriages don't really do it for me. I considered buying a couple of the Peco L&B bogie coaches in plain red but in the end I started looking at kits.

 

I ordered a couple of plastic kits from Dundas Models having enjoyed putting together a few of the Parkside 00 wagon kits during lockdown. I've made a start on putting them together in the past few weeks so I thought I'd cover the construction as I go in a thread.

Edited November 5, 2022 by MrTea
Added image back in

[MrTea]

The first is one of the open sided coaches (FR No.s 37 & 38) built in the 1970s in the style of a Hudson ‘toast rack’ coach. 

 

After giving all the body parts (sides, ends, seats) a coat of Halford's primer I put together the pair of bogies:

 

 

The next job is a bit more fiddly, drilling 0.35mm holes for the brass grab rails:

 

 

This step held things up slightly as a) I had to order some extra tiny drill bits as the ones I had made holes that were a bit too big and b) drilling 8 tiny holes per side with a pin vice isn't exactly quick, especially when you're trying to be careful.

Edited November 10, 2022 by MrTea
Added numbers

[MrTea]

After a fair amount of sweat and a small amount of swearing I had 4 brass grab rails installed on each side.

 

 

 

 

I was a bit disappointed they ended up a bit wonky but hopefully you won't notice quite so much once the model is painted.

 

Edited November 5, 2022 by MrTea

[MrTea]

I’ve managed to have a couple of evenings to myself this week to progress with the models. I think I imagined I’d have the open sided coach built and painted in 2 or 3 sessions and be on to the other kit (a DM61 Ffestiniog style 4 compartment composite) but this has turned out to be more involved. 
 

One of the reasons for that has been trying to find a way of adding extra weight during the build in a discreet way. Because of the open sides I didn’t think I could take my usual tack of adding a layer of Deluxe Materials Liquid Gravity to the floor of the model. And underneath doesn’t really lend itself as the prototype doesn’t have much in the way of underfloor equipment. 
 

 

Test fit of the bogies after fixing the sides and ends together. 
 

So I decided to use styrene sheet as a sort of ‘dam’ and create pockets of weight underneath the bench seats:

 

 

Here’s the result once the Liquid Gravity pellets had dried overnight. 

Edited November 5, 2022 by MrTea

[MrTea]

With the benches in place you can hardly see the ‘weight boxes’ under the seats:

 

 

I might try adding a bit more weight under the benches at each end although the pellets have a bit of mind of their own and have a tendency to distribute themselves all over until they’re firmly glued down!

 

Here’s a view of where I’ve got to as of late Thursday:

 

 

I’m using Lifecolor acrylic paints after having had good results with them on my Swiss layout. 
 

I debated whether to finish this coach in 1970s cherry red or either of the more contemporary ivory and maroon or ivory and green with red ends. In the end I went for the ivory and green livery as no. 38. If it turns out well I might order another kit and finish it as no. 37. 

Edited November 5, 2022 by MrTea
Images

[BernardTPM]

Earl of Merioneth as you have it was running up to 1971, the year coach 37 came into serivce, so Cherry Red would go well with it.

[MrTea]

This was my set of test swatches of the possible colours for no. 38:

 

From this quick test I figured that the Lifecolor matt green was a reasonable match for that used on the FR in the Garraway era and more recently on coaching stock. However the cream I had (BR 1950s era cream) was much too dark. Therefore I mixed up a pot of ‘ivory’ paint using 3 parts matt white to one part BR cream. 
 

I’m planning to use the Lifecolor signal red for the coach ends as they seem to be a bright orange red on a number of the photos I’ve found online. Although it does seem to weather to more of a brown shade?

 

Incidentally, I’d heartily recommend this book by Peter Johnson for anyone who’s interested in modelling the FR in the last 100 years:

There are some very useful colour images from the 1950s onwards. As well as commentary about how the line staggered through the 1920s and 30s, was reborn in the 1950s, was rebuilt in the 1960s and 70s and then consolidated and became conscious of its heritage from the 1990s onwards. 

Edited November 5, 2022 by MrTea
Images

[MrTea]

Quick update:

 

 

Got the ends painted and the bench seat backs installed. Added a bit more weight and she’s nearly ready for some passengers before the roof goes on!

Edited November 10, 2022 by MrTea

[MrTea]

Coach 38 reached a significant milestone last night with the addition of the roof.

 

 

 

The photos show there's a little bit of tidying up to do on the paintwork before the coach gets a coat of varnish, but I'm fairly pleased with the results.

 

I need to pick out a few of the details e.g. the foot boards and the grab handles, add the vacuum pipes and figure out how best to attach the couplings. I'd purchased some Peco NEM compatible 009 couplings but the mounts that came with them appear to be designed for body rather than bogie mounting? I'm conscious I don't want the couplings to be sticking out miles at each end as that'll look odd.

 

I managed to source some suitable FR crests online and I'll add these, hopefully over the weekend. Lettering and numbering looks to be trickier to source so if anyone has any suggestions of suitable equivalents that would be much appreciated.

Edited November 10, 2022 by MrTea

[MrTea]

There are a couple of aspects of the kit that might be worth pointing out for anyone else who is contemplating building one:

 

The roof wasn't the easiest to attach and I have a feeling it has a bit of a sag in it:
 

 

I think this a fairly common issue and in fact I noticed that Rob Waller talks about overcoming it with their scratchbuilt styrene models on the Bron Hebog blog.

 

On the reference photos I've seen there's a dark green gutter or rain strip where the roof meets the carriage side. I tried to replicate this by picking out the edge of the roof in green paint and painting the first 2mm or so of the underside that overlaps:
 

 

 

I'm not sure it's been 100% successful, so if it bugs me I might look to add a green painted length of styrene to see if that improves things.

 

The final thing to mention is that the wheel sets aren't particularly free running at the moment. The OO gauge Parkside kits I've built include metal top hat bearings which mean they usually turn freely (if you build the chassis square!) but the bogies on this just have holes that the pin point axles drop into. As I built the bogies first I suspected that the wheels dragging might continue to be an issue but I was hoping adding more weight might mitigate the worst of it.

 

I did wonder if Bachmann provide the bogies fitted to their WD 009 wagons as spares but I can't find them listed on their new spares website? I've ordered D class bogie open to trial as I discovered that the FR also have some wagons that originally came from the Nocton Estate (Smith's Crisps) railways.

Edited November 10, 2022 by MrTea

[BernardTPM]

I've found that a little graphite in the bearings helps with these. I rubbed a sharpened pencil into the bogie holes and then rubbed it on the axle pinpoints.

[MrTea]

On 14/01/2022 at 21:00, MrTea said:

I did wonder if Bachmann provide the bogies fitted to their WD 009 wagons as spares but I can't find them listed on their new spares website? I've ordered D class bogie open to trial as I discovered that the FR also have some wagons that originally came from the Nocton Estate (Smith's Crisps) railways.

 

(Bachmann bogie top left middle, Dundas bogie top right)

 

 

The WD open wagon arrived in the post the other week. It's a lovely model with lots of fine detail. It's also noticeably heavier than the Dundas kit-built coach.

 

As the top of the brake wheel had been slightly crushed in transit I took the opportunity to remove the bogies and see if they would fit under the carriage.

 

They will fit and they're nicely free running. As the mountings are much wider on the Bachmann wagon you'd need some washers or some plastic tubing cut down to use them. 

 

I managed to get the brake wheel assembly reattached but I don't think I could have done it with the bogies still on the wagon.

 

Here's a final shot of the coach with the bogies, vacuum pipes and couplers fitted:

 

 

Next job to finish this up is the transfers, a touch up on the roof and a coat or two of varnish.

Edited November 10, 2022 by MrTea

[MrTea]

Next up is going to be a Dundas Models 4 Compartment Planked Composite Bogie Coach (ref. DM61). As with  Coach 38 I've given the mouldings a coat of red oxide primer before starting construction. I'm not 100% sure it was a good idea as it does tend to run a bit when you cement the parts together but I'm not sure I fancy trying to paint the interior once the kit has been constructed...

 

I think I might try spray painting this model as the paint on No. 38 looks a little thick and feels like it's obscured some of the finer detail. Can anyone recommend a good match for FR Cherry Red or the Green carried by Coach 10 in this image - https://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/Van_2#/media/File:Coach_10.jpg?

 

Coach 38 did have a run out the other weekend on a test track of Kato Unitrack. Bernard's tip of using graphite from a soft pencil in the axle box holes worked well!

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by MrTea
Added photos

[Butler Henderson]

FR Cherry Red is LMS Crimson and Humbrol 20 is a good match. More problematic seems to be sourcing the crests for the carriage doors, the same as those on Earl of Merioneth.

[MrTea]

I managed to source some FR crests from Endon Valley Custom Decals:

https://evcd.bigcartel.com/product/ffestiniog-crest-pack-includes-crest-for-roundhouse-double-fairlie
 

Primarily catering for 16mm modellers some of their transfers are also available in 7mm and 4mm scales.

[MrTea]

Started work on the next FR model last night. The DM61 kit is based on the outline of FR Coach 10, which is now half compartment, half luggage space. 
 

The kit is supplied with brass rod to add door handles and bars on the windows. However, based on my experience with No. 38, I decided that looked a bit too much like hard work. The handles alone would have meant drilling 8 holes per side. There are 2 bars for each droplight window, so 4 holes per door and 4 doors per side!

 

 

The glazing is also a challenge as you need to cut out individual panes at 3 different sizes and 24 pieces in total.

 

I started using liquid poly to fix the glazing in place and then remembered I had some Glue & Glaze kicking around. Hopefully it’ll dry clear and not too thick. 

Edited April 2, 2022 by MrTea
Added images

[MrTea]

Recently acquired FR slate wagons by PECO. 
 

 

They're nice models and not much bigger than a 10ft open wagon in 2mm scale. They do seem quite light though so I’d be interested to know if anyone on here has had any success adding weight to the underside?

[MrTea]

After a long break from modelling activities over the summer I’ve finally picked things up on the 009 FR front. 
 

The release of Peco’s Quarrymen coaches just before my birthday was just the excuse I needed. 

 

Exhibit A:

 

I’ve ordered a number of new kits from Parkside Dundas which should keep me busy during the winter months. 
 

And there are some possible plans for a small layout. Exciting times!

[MrTea]

Et voila:
 

 

This is the Dundas Models DM31 kit:

 

I did add some brass bearings to the basic recipe after my experience with the coach kit. They seem to have helped to make the wheels on this much more free running.

 

I'm not quite sure what to do about mounts for the couplings? The Peco NEM pockets I have in stock have a stepped shank so aren't really suited to the platform end of this wagon (and they're too big for the other end!).

 

The other problem is weight. Apart from the wheels, everything else is lightweight plastic so the model is rather light and I can't see it staying on the track particularly well if in a train. I can add some liquid gravity under the chassis but there isn't exactly a lot of room. 

[MrTea]

After a bit of a break over Christmas (and a general lack of modelling mojo) I’ve managed to find the time to build a couple more items of rolling stock. 
 

The first is this 009 Society 3 plank open wagon kit. It came as a free gift when I joined and went together really nicely. 
 

 

I added a couple of styrene strips between the solebars to hold a small pool of Liquid Gravity held in place with UHU. It can only be a couple of extra grams in total but I think it will make a difference to the running quality. 
 

The couplings are mounted in cut down Peco NEM coupler pockets at what I hope is the right height. I had to cut away a small notch in the end to ensure the coupler was high enough and the loop sat above the rail head. 
 

All that’s remaining is to fit the hand brake lever and some paint and lettering. 

[bubbles2]

On 14/11/2022 at 20:02, MrTea said:

 

I did add some brass bearings to the basic recipe after my experience with the coach kit. They seem to have helped to make the wheels on this much more free running.

 

Please could you let me know where you sourced the brass bearings from, like you I too have been temped back to 009 by the Bachmann double fairle after many years modelling 00, and now have some Dundus kits to build,did you use Peco N scale bearings?

[MrTea]

Hi @bubbles2 I got the bearings from Dundas Models at the same time as the kits. 
 

Looking back the reference on the order is:

N Gauge Brass Bearing Cups (20)

DP09

 

Hopefully that helps!

[Keith Addenbrooke]

On 21/02/2023 at 21:02, MrTea said:

After a bit of a break over Christmas (and a general lack of modelling mojo) I’ve managed to find the time to build a couple more items of rolling stock. 
 

The first is this 009 Society 3 plank open wagon kit. It came as a free gift when I joined and went together really nicely. 
 

 

I added a couple of styrene strips between the solebars to hold a small pool of Liquid Gravity held in place with UHU. It can only be a couple of extra grams in total but I think it will make a difference to the running quality. 
 

The couplings are mounted in cut down Peco NEM coupler pockets at what I hope is the right height. I had to cut away a small notch in the end to ensure the coupler was high enough and the loop sat above the rail head. 
 

All that’s remaining is to fit the hand brake lever and some paint and lettering. 

Hi there.  From what I can see the cut out you needed to make in the buffer beam looks the same as the one I had to cut to fit the same couplers to an 009 Society kit:

 

 

To check the level I compared it with a Peco GR-106 bogie and it seemed to be fine (has given me no trouble since):

 

 

Hope that helps - keep up the good work, Keith.

[MrTea]

Apologies for the lack of posts recently. 
 

A few more items of rolling stock have been acquired including - shhh - a Peco/Kato Small England. 
 

However the big news is that I’ve started on a small (approx. 80cm x 60cm) roundy FR-themed layout for the stock to run on.

 

Here’s the first building:

 

 

[MrTea]

Here’s a sketch of the layout plan:

 

 

It’s following some of the lessons I learned from building my n scale Swiss layout with essentially two scenes, back to back. This time I’ve added an off scene fiddle track to store and swap trains. 
 

The bottom left of the plan is a loco yard/works, inspired by Boston Lodge albeit on a much smaller scale. 
 

This sketch was done about 6 months ago and the layout is now partially complete. But I might start a separate thread for it.

Edited July 24, 2023 by MrTea