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Quite a Christmas treat! Very characterful prototype and neatly modelled. There's something about vans with much exterior framing, especially when weathered. The Fox lettering looks quite fine, maybe I should experiment more with that.

 

I hope your celebrations continue as well as they've started. Many thanks to you and everyone else at Didcot for keeping it all alive and real !

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Castle, what a fantastic finish build to a great years modelling. Thank you for all your posts and model supplies help throughout the year, as well as organising and conducting a superb Didcot RM day. Personally I can not thank you enough for your help and assistance. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Sir.

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Hi Mikel & No. 46,

 

Thanks for the very kind words! We do the stuff at Didcot not only because it’s important but also because of the fun and friendship we get from doing it. Much like the fantastic RMWEB community that we have here. We all give and receive to this hobby and as a result get a lot more out of it. That’s part of the fun and long may it continue! So in that vein, here’s to the 2018 Didcot trip! Perhaps Mikel might be able join us on one of these trips someday?

 

All the best,

 

Castle

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Perhaps Mikel might be able join us on one of these trips someday?

 

I certainly hope to one day. I cross the North Sea once or twice a year for work, but timing and geography hasn't worked out to fit with the Didcot Tour yet. Couldn't you fit a GoPro camera on your head though, so the rest of us can join from afar  :laugh:  

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Thanks for a great final piece of the year.    And such an interesting story about the full size one too.

 

Wishing you and the Didcot team all the best for 2018.

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That's a really neat little vehicle Castle. I've often thought about having a go at one of the "pooley" vans but never got around to it, not being sure what they were used for. From what you say sounds like on could turn up just about anywhere there was a weighing machine. Would that include goods shed scales I wonder?

 

Happy new year.

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Hi Darwinian,

 

I guess it would - they were contracted to maintain and calibrate all the weighing machines on the GWR / BR(W) so I guess that the goods shed scales would come under that!

 

Thanks for the kind comments!

 

All the best and seasonal salutations to your good self!

 

Hi MIB,

 

Cheers Tinker! All the nice seasonal stuff to you and yours too!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

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Pooley Coincidental

 

Hi All,

 

As the usual Christmas chaos descends on chez Castle, so did the desire to finish a number of those nagging UFOs* Struck so it has been decreed that Autotrailer No. 190 (started an embarrassingly long time ago!) and Pooley Van No. 82917 were to be put on the hit list. I still have that No. 7202 itch to scratch but the previous two are mainly plastic and therefore a lot easier to pick up and put down so they went to the top of the tree. In the end, I’m still fiddling with No. 190 having got to the stage where the windows were in and I decided I couldn’t agree with the shade of crimson I had used which looked more maroon so back to the paint shop with that! At least I know all the windows fit I suppose...

 

The real No. 82917 was built in 1911 to diagram V12 which makes it a MINK A van by birth. In 1934 it was rebuilt, along with three of it fellows, as a Workshop Van on Lot 1148 (No new diagram was issued). These vehicles were used by Messers Henry Pooley and Sons Limited who were the weighing machine contractors to both the GWR and BR(W). The company used them to service and calibrate their many weighing machines and scales throughout the Great Western system. Pooley was eventually absorbed into W & T Avery and Company. They have an interesting entry into the forever readable Graces Guide website here if anyone is interested!

 

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Henry_Pooley_and_Son

 

attachicon.gif51F37F59-41D2-4A0A-91E5-FDC5B3647934.jpeg

 

Back to the vehicle and after withdrawal it found a home in preservation. A thread here has helped fill in some of the vehicle’s history so thanks to all that contributed to it!

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/121451-gwr-pooley-wagons-and-models/

 

I have also added all my research material and photos on there as I think there needs to be more Pooley vans on layouts out there! To paraphrase what was said there, No. 82917 was used in the Chester district but was also used at Bold Colliery and Pilkington's Cowley Hill works, St.Helens during its working career. Derek Foster bought it from the Central Wagon Co. in 1978. He used it as the store/workshop for the restoration of his LMS Jinty 0-6-0 No. 47298. Circa 1980 it was replaced it with another Pooley Van, this time a 6wh. vehicle converted from an ex LNWR CCT. Dave Rawlinson bought No. 82917 A’s a result and repainted it in GW chocolate. Sadly, David Rawlinson passed away and on his death the van, along with a few other ex GWR vehicles were bequeathed to the Great Western Society and moved to the Railway Age Museum at Crewe in March 2004 where it’s restoration was started under the auspices of the Society's North West Group. The vehicle was moved to Didcot in October 2008 where it entered use as the base of operations for the No. 1014 project. As a result, it gives us another rather pleasing example of a vehicle continuing in (sort of) its original purpose for many, many years. Preservation through use!

 

Engage shrink ray...

 

The model is obviously going to have to go in a similar fashion to the real thing. Parkside do a rather nice diagram V12 MINK so, that’s where we start. There are some drop light doors from the sides of the Parkside PYTHON kit that became ASMO many years ago. Dart Castings / Frogmore Confederacy provided the etched steps for the corners. No Little Didcot van build would be complete without a set of Lanarkshire Models and Supplies Buffers and a set of four early GWR units were added into the mix. The rest of the parts will be fashioned from styrene sections from Evergreen and Plastruct as required. It looks like I have pinched the Parkside ends for something else but as I have to make new ones anyway, these Ratio items will give me the right shape to use as templates. They fit the Parkside kit remarkably well...

 

attachicon.gifFDF36BBE-5845-4A12-94EB-E8FA2F7E95FD.jpeg

 

A bit of planked material and strip was cut to size as shown below.

 

attachicon.gif4CBEA53F-D013-42AD-B3A7-4411FD1F1C60.jpeg

 

A few details added...

 

attachicon.gif2C323891-6168-4186-9E20-7DC7025D2B97.jpeg

 

...with windows, Buffers and other bits. I obviously haven’t noticed the angled bottoms to the uprights at this point!

 

attachicon.gif9E595235-6681-4B74-9008-AFE2476BE749.jpeg

 

Chopping out the two corners of the sides provided space for the windows and the centres of the doors were removed as they are completely different on No. 82917.

 

attachicon.gifB21F5C25-785B-4440-B372-6EEFFD1CA591.jpeg

 

A few more details including the steps, step supports, grab handles (also Dart items, lamp irons and so on are added. I can see that I hadn’t put the drop lights in at this point. I decided to replicate the drop light on both sides even though the real No. 82917 only has it on one side as it stands today. The first of a few ‘modellers licence’ type liberties I have had to take with this model. Look - I’ve sorted the end uprights! Lots of tidying to do here too...

 

attachicon.gifC1741B94-A32B-4814-BF25-B46D691B3E83.jpeg

 

The main area of operation for the ‘modellers licence’ is in the livery. Despite searching, the livery of the vehicle remained illusive. Ray / Marshal 5 of this parish very kindly posted a picture he took of No. 82917 with Jinty No. 47298 that gave me the BR colour scheme but the makings were sadly indistinguishable. I therefore had to start making it up as I went along, er I mean, make an educated guess. There were two factors that I had to take into account. One - the wonderful website of Mr Paul Bartlett gives us a wonderful selection of Pooley vehicles here:

 

http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/?q=pooley

 

And two, using Fox Transfers smallest alphabet, how much will fit on the van! There was a LOT written on those vans - I just tried to make it look right in the end!

 

attachicon.gif7D034E9A-ABFA-4B7E-9BA8-2AF268D464CE.jpeg

 

They all seemed to have this on the end so I’m fairly safe there I think. The way I look at it, if I can’t find the pictures of it easily then it’s unlikely that others will too so who’s the say what’s not right? In any case, I’m not changing it now!

 

attachicon.gif58F6B8A1-1A25-496E-9041-331C228FAEF7.jpeg

 

One dose of weathering later, a few windows and we are done! I have temporarily stuck the roof with glue and glaze in these pictures as I am not sure if I am doing any sort of interior in it. Does anyone know of a picture of the inside of a Pooley Van of any type? I have just painted it all black in there for now.

 

attachicon.gifEBA0D3B9-7743-4FB1-A948-76AFD3A923FD.jpeg

 

attachicon.gifE1ABD722-4F87-4DA1-A7B9-CB8C6F52A9E4.jpeg

 

Well, there we are for another year. A few more things have been built for Little Didcot. The real No. 4079 has made massive progress too but there remains many a coach shaped hole in the model collection - a mountain of kits and RTR ready to convert exists but there really is not a lot finished!

 

I sit here posting this full of festive food and having received the last two kits from the Comet range for the Little Didcot collection (the H43 Centenary Diner First and the E158 Sunshine Composite) and I hope that you have had a similarly pleasing holiday period thus far the that the new year is both peaceful and prosperous for you all.

 

All the best,

 

Castle and the team at 81E

 

*UnFinished Objects for those not in on the RMWEB lingo!

 

Are you taking orders? :friends:

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Hi OTBL,

 

How much would you pay for one? I certainly wouldn’t want to do the text with individual letters again but we should be able to do some custom transfer for them... It might be better to do a small etch for the ends and sides to make it easier to build...

 

They aren’t that hard to make having said that - check out the photos and measurements on the GWR Rolling Stock thread! It’s a fairly simple conversion from the Parkside kit!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

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Making a Mess (van)!

 

Hi All,

 

As a diversion from the tool and riding vans that await a few finishing touches before I put them up here on Little Didcot, I decided to take two perfectly acceptable, brand new models and chop them into bits! A little heavy to industrial grade RTR bashing...

 

The subject of this build is an ex TOAD and one of the more unusual ‘freight’ vehicles at the railway centre. Diagram AA2 TOAD No. 56867 was built in 1905 as part of Lot 477. This was a 20 (later 25) ton version of the related AA3 TOAD 14 (later 16) ton Brake Van which is represented in the GWS collection by No. 56400 and has featured here in the pages of Little Didcot in the form of an etched Frogmore Confederacy kit. In 1952 , there was obviously a need for some new accommodation in the S&T department and as a result, this brake van was converted to become a mess van. This conversion involved filling in the veranda and adding a door in place of the gate. The long foot steps are removed as is most of the brake gear. It ended up with shoes on one side only and with long Morton style levers on either side. It also had through piping for the vacuum brakes in the train. It retained a stove, albeit relocated, and another window was fitted to the third panel of the original TOAD body each side.

 

post-14393-0-12378300-1516824124_thumb.jpeg

 

It became No. DW 263 after conversion and was initially allocated to Fishponds in Bristol if the Works picture in figure 334 in J. H. Russell’s succinctly titled book ‘Freight Wagons and Loads in service on the Great Western Railway and British Rail, Western Region’ (!) is anything to go by... It is still used as accommodation for staff and as such, continues in the group of vehicles at Didcot in what I refer to as ‘pure’ preservation - still doing the (albeit second!) job it was designed for all those years ago.

 

The road to a model of No. DW 263 has been a somewhat circuitous route. I initially bought a second etched AA3 kit but not only was this a lot of work, the fact that Oxford Rail came out with their own version of the AA3, caused a rethink. Plastic is a lot easier to modify than brass and a quick look at the Oxford model shows the one of the biggest problems people have had with the model, the centre end window, is the correct end window for No. DW 263. In fact, at £12 - £14 each, buying two is not a problem so we can have two non - veranda ends is more than feasible. A friend of mine has also expressed an interest in building one of the small AA7 TOADs. The parts left over should give us enough to at least make a start on this. The model, whatever it’s pros and cons, is very finely moulded and is held together by friction which makes for very easy dismantling and modifications! Well done Oxford!

 

post-14393-0-49491500-1516824626_thumb.jpeg

 

post-14393-0-97259400-1516824219_thumb.jpeg

 

Having stripped the two TOADs down to their component parts, the cutting commenced! In order to have maximum potential material for both the mess van and the AA7 project, I cut the two panels from the first body shell, leaving the roof intact.

 

post-14393-0-22871300-1516824750_thumb.jpeg

 

The second shell needs to have its veranda end removed and three body panels and the roof left intact.

 

post-14393-0-95900900-1516824850_thumb.jpeg

 

I then used one of the chassis to correctly space the ends and stick the modified shell together.

 

post-14393-0-25443600-1516824985_thumb.jpeg

 

The last cuts to be made were the two windows that are in the third panels of the original van ends.

 

post-14393-0-21604800-1516825058_thumb.jpeg

 

Then, using various bits of sheet and square/ rectangular section styrene and some 0.45mm wire to form the handrails, the door was formed.

 

post-14393-0-88659600-1516825131_thumb.jpeg

 

The chassis has brake shoes on one side only and Morton levers on both, using a combination of original Oxford parts and some old etchings from the scrap box, the brakes were added. A wagon label holder was also on the same etch so that was added too...

 

post-14393-0-09421200-1516825236_thumb.jpeg

 

Then, using the step boards, they were cut up and the steps below the doors were made. On one side, the lower step support is partly an original step board support and the the second is a flat bar threaded through the brake gear.

 

post-14393-0-92955000-1516825290_thumb.jpeg

 

Lamp irons and vacuum hoses (the vehicle is through piped) were added and the body painted.

 

post-14393-0-62405800-1516825404_thumb.jpeg

 

The chassis was also painted...

 

post-14393-0-09075000-1516825560_thumb.jpeg

 

...as were the buffers. These are Oxford’s own and despite my reservations about using them (I always reach for a packet marked Lanarkshire Model Supplies here!), with primer, they are beginning to look good!

 

post-14393-0-20997200-1516825739_thumb.jpeg

 

Top coats of white for the roof and black for the rest was then laid on over a couple of different evenings, allowing the paint to sufficiently dry for masking to be done. I use a bright silver for the buffer shanks and a dull iron colour for the buffer heads. I have had to reuse the interior moulding as it is part of the spacing arrangements for the chassis and body so back it went. The worst bit about the chassis is fitting scale couplings, which involves the removal of all of the chassis moulding between the angled frames underneath to gain the required clearances.

 

post-14393-0-13189000-1516825829_thumb.jpeg

 

post-14393-0-88473500-1516825875_thumb.jpeg

 

post-14393-0-45353000-1516825905_thumb.jpeg

 

Then it was the fun and games of tiny little letters to do the correct markings on the vehicle. The original was allocated to Bristol but as I have a friend that worked at Reading Signal Works and I want to eventually set a layout in the London division, I chose to reallocate it to Reading! We set our models in different and sometimes fictional locations so why shouldn’t we reallocate the vehicles as well?

 

post-14393-0-71927500-1516826202_thumb.jpeg

 

A smattering of weathering and glazing later...

 

post-14393-0-10483100-1516826272_thumb.jpeg

 

...and we have another member of the Little Didcot fleet completed!

 

post-14393-0-61402900-1516826942_thumb.jpeg

 

post-14393-0-90063100-1516827260_thumb.jpeg

 

A thought occurs - I have the brass kit still, and as I model a period between 1947 and 1956, maybe I could build it as TOAD No. 56867 as well, adding another and very welcome brake van to the fleet. Is that too naughty to have two versions of the same vehicle in the collection? I could be really cheeky and put them in the same train! You really would have to know your GWS vehicles to know the difference. You be the judge. As always, it can be our little secret...

 

Well, that was fun and I don’t know if I’m the first to do such a big conversion of the Oxford TOAD here on RMWEB but I would like to think that I was at least on the leading edge! That leaves the unfinished business of the AA7 TOAD but as I haven’t started that yet that will have to be a tale for another time. In the meantime, I have a tin of TOAD parts ready and waiting for the job to begin!

 

post-14393-0-01101400-1516827335_thumb.jpeg

 

All the best,

 

Castle

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Very nice work, Castle, and yet another attractive prototype. Oxford do seem to have a knack for making their stock easy to dismantle. The Dean Goods also breaks down neatly into a number of separate parts.

 

I have a friend that worked at Reading Signal Works

 

He must have some interesting memories!

 

 

It ended up with shoes on one side only

 

Reminds me of my youth.

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Hi Mikel,

 

Very nice work, Castle, and yet another attractive prototype.

 

*Thanks Mikel, I wish I had a knack for choosing interesting stufff to model but it’s just there in front of me!

 

Oxford do seem to have a knack for making their stock easy to dismantle. The Dean Goods also breaks down neatly into a number of separate parts.

 

*Must be an encouragement to the art of RTR bashing! I’m not complaining either!

 

He must have some interesting memories!

 

* He has a tale or two - some definitely not repeatable here!

 

Reminds me of my youth.

 

*Reminds me of this morning - I was wondering why I kept going round in circles....

 

 

All the best,

 

Castle

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A very nice conversion Drew. It was very good of Oxford to make that end window for you lol.

 

You could make a lesser spotted double veranda Toad with the left overs?

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A very nice conversion Drew. It was very good of Oxford to make that end window for you lol.

 

You could make a lesser spotted double veranda Toad with the left overs?

 That's the April Fool model ruined for 2018:  the GWS  one-off prototype double verandah TOAD to Diagram 1/4..................

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 That's the April Fool model ruined for 2018:  the GWS  one-off prototype double verandah TOAD to Diagram 1/4..................

 

Oh , have I let the cat out of the bag?

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It's good to see someone making good use of the Oxford TOAD. I look forward to seeing what you do with the leftovers.

I like the idea of a double ended TOAD, but then I'm weird.

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I spent a happy couple of hours wandering round Didcot Shed and yard today... been a while since I was last up and my main aim was photographing 1338, WTC No.5 'Shannon' and 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' as potential CAD projects to fit an as-yet-undetermined 0-4-0 chassis...

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Hi All,

 

It's good to see someone making good use of the Oxford TOAD. I look forward to seeing what you do with the leftovers.

I like the idea of a double ended TOAD, but then I'm weird.

It's the latent freelancer in me. I used to dabble with it back in my teens. :)

No need to go freelance on this one - there were a few double ended GWR TOADs. There is even a picture in the wagon bible combined edition of a six wheeler with a twin veranda... Go for it guys - get the scalpels out! There is lots of mileage in these Oxford models and, as I have said before, they have made them so easy to dismantle and cheap to buy it’s almost rude not to!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

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I did have the Pontnewynydd brake van in mind when I made the post, although was thinking of using the conventional roof rather than the steep roof those vans had. Weren't the other double enders in the bible from constituent companies?

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Hi Ric,

 

Looks like you are right on that although looking at it, it might as well have been built at Swindon from the sole bars down. The bible suggests South Wales Railway origins. Should be eminently ‘bashable’ from Oxford raw materials I would have thought. All more uses for the new TOAD! I like your idea too!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

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