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Polybulk wagons


JZ
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I've not heard of anything available in 4mm (or N for that matter) Julian.

The bogie rake on Pengwynn (including the Polybulk and the Clay Tiger) are all scratchbuilt or bashed from RTR

 

cheers

 

jo

Hi all,

 

There have been several conversions from various RTR HO versions of these wagons.

 

There was also an article from the British 1:87 Society which shows how to produce a 'More British' version from the continental ones.

 

This wagon type remains one of the largest (Size, period, working area) gaps in both the ready to run and kit markets.

 

Producing a kit is going to be difficult due to the length of the models body - but the Yanks can have kits for this sort of thing - so why not us?

 

I have a scan of the British 1:87 Society article but, fo copyright reasons, cannot put it up here.

 

With ref to the article - does anyone know if the British 1:87 Society magazines were ever available to non members?

 

Thanks

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As Phil says, there are other options for conversion - the Jouef wagon is AFAIK an accurate (lengthwise) HO representation of a short Polybulk (about 45ft), hence is significantly short in 4mm; however, Electrotren do/did a much longer wagon, which formed the basis of the SMD wagons that Steve Flint ran on his old Reighton layout. Might be worth looking on the Hornby International web pages

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  • RMweb Gold

As Phil says, there are other options for conversion - the Jouef wagon is AFAIK an accurate (lengthwise) HO representation of a short Polybulk (about 45ft), hence is significantly short in 4mm; however, Electrotren do/did a much longer wagon, which formed the basis of the SMD wagons that Steve Flint ran on his old Reighton layout. Might be worth looking on the Hornby International web pages

Hi all,

 

The Jouef and Rivarossi versions are showing as available through Ontracks website.

 

The Electrotren versions do not appear to be available currently.

 

I have drawings if anyone needs them!

 

Thanks

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Although the shorter versions aren't available in N, the longer version is available as an N Gauge Society kit in two variants; Grainflow Polybulk green and Scottish Malt Distillers blue/white.

 

The kits have similar plastic parts but alternative etches details to represent differences in discharge gear and end platforms/strengthening ribs.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

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Bare Jouef polybulk castings used to be available from 'Southern Model Railways, I've used these to scratchbuild two Polybulks and two grainflows, although neither are actually finished. The Grainflow was written up in DEMU's Update magazine. The attached photo should give an idea of relative lengths, top to bottom Grainflow, Polybulk, Jouef polybulk.

 

Jon

post-336-12599154331214_thumb.jpg

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Guest notascoobie

Hi JZ,

 

If it's of interest, I scratchbuilt a couple and wrote them up recently in MRJ193. I included drawings and templates for the awkward shapes.

 

Regards,

 

V

post-3228-12599445595606_thumb.jpg

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Thankyou for all the replies so far. I was only asking as I saw a nice little train between NWP and CDF the other day, 4 container flats(not sure what, as it was dusk, and only just got back to the back cab) and 3 polybulks at the rear. I had wondered if a reasonable representation of the grainflow could be made from a US HO version?

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Thankyou for all the replies so far. I was only asking as I saw a nice little train between NWP and CDF the other day, 4 container flats(not sure what, as it was dusk, and only just got back to the back cab) and 3 polybulks at the rear. I had wondered if a reasonable representation of the grainflow could be made from a US HO version?

The ones you saw between Newport and Cardiff would have been the short ones with the swinging roofs, I suspect. There have been NACCO ones working from various locations in S E France to Dow-Corning at Cadoxton for a couple of decades. Like Jon, I've done these using Jouef grain wagon bodies, cut in half and a new section spliced in the middle. The difficult bits are the swinging cover and the hopper assemblies below the wagon.

For the longer 'Grainflow' and Scottish Malt Distillers wagons, I used the bogie cereal hopper from Electrotren (which seems to have disappeared), with the swinging hood replaced by individual hatch covers and new hopper bottoms. The 'plastic surgery' involved here is much less involved.

I wouldn't know about the possibilities of using US prototypes as donors- I used the Jouef ones because I found a stack of bodies on a stall at an exhibition.

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  • 10 years later...
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Posted December 4, 2009

Hi JZ,

 

If it's of interest, I scratchbuilt a couple and wrote them up recently in MRJ193. I included drawings and templates for the awkward shapes.

 

Is this still available anywhere id like to attempt one or two of theres

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  • 1 year later...

If you are still interested in building some of these, Jouef 6541 & 6542 are ideal for making the Grainflow Polybulk. These wagons still surface on that well known online auction site, I've just purchased another two. Expect to pay around £25-£30 each plus 50% again for postage from from Europe. I am still waiting to see if VAT or import duty is applied to them after Brexit though?

As has been mentioned previously you need two donors to build one complete wagon. Fox still produce the decals for these.

 

If you want to produce the Blue and white Scottish Malt Distillers liveried ones, these are best replicated by Electrotren 5600, 5601, 5602 & 5603. Slightly more expensive than the Jouef ones. Railtec have not long since released the decals for these.

 

Paul Bartlett has some great photos for reference on his website and it is possible to find drawings for these wagons on Paul's website also.

 

Good luck   

Edited by davewynne
poor english
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I've managed to pick up some of the Jouef wagons recently as well so I'll keep this thread updated with progress. I bought three of the Electrotren 5602 wagons about five years ago and while I will certainly be converting one of these I might well be selling the other two in a few months. I'll keep everyone informed as I know they are not easy to find at the moment.

This post has useful details for the SMD wagon:

 

BTW my converted Electrotren wagon will state Distillers Company (Cereals) Limited instead of Scottish Malt Distillers Limited as the wording changed from 1986. I'll have to do a lot of moving of letters to achieve this, asking Steve at Railtec for new lettering for a one off wagon is asking a bit much.

Edited by Flood
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