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Having also studied Tatlow 4B, I would agree that the Unit Models ex-LMS A container has much in common with LNER diagrams 4 and 5.

 

Pages 173/174 illustrate diagram 4 No. A188, and the general appearance is very close; however, the table of dimensions suggests that diagram 4 would have been narrower than the model. Anyone handy with a razor saw could easily remedy that!

 

Pages 170/177/178 illustrate diagram 5 Nos. A415 / A548 / A549, and the similarities to the model are again very marked; the dimensions are much closer, too. A415 has additional end and side horizontal strapping and a poster board to the bottom RH corner of the side. A549 has horizontal strapping to the end, and it should be safe to assume that A548 was so provided.

 

So - all things considered - the Unit Models A container can be repainted / relettered as LNER diagram 5 by all but the most pedantic of modellers. The diagram 5 prototypes which still operated during 1958 were A269E, A436E, A463E, A504E & A507E.

 

As to the ex-LMS diagram 7 version represented by the model; the containers that still operated during 1958 were A264M & A276M.

 

I have also purchase a four-pack of the Bachmann BR corrugated end A containers, and very nice they are too. The 'Flying Crate' liveried pair will, in due course, be retro-painted / lettered as early crimson examples.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

 

Prompted by my recent purchase of A-type containers from Bachmann and Unit Models, I have now produced a new sheet of transfers for these two models to suit the BR crimson and maroon liveries :-

 

Sheet BL177 - BR, ex-LMS & ex-LNER A-type containers to Diagrams LMS 7 & 20; LNER 5; & BR 3/001.

 

Designed primarily for the A-type containers produced in 4mm. scale by Bachmann and Unit Models, this sheet of transfers will also be applicable in other scales. Yellow lettering for crimson / maroon containers; 21 sets of transfers.

 

2mm., 3mm., 3.5mm. &  4mm. scale price is £7.50; S scale price is £15.00; 7mm. scale price is £22.50; Gauge 1 price is £30.00.

 

Full details can be found at https://www.cctrans.org.uk/products.htm .

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

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Prompted by my recent purchase of A-type containers from Bachmann and Unit Models, I have now produced a new sheet of transfers for these two models to suit the BR crimson and maroon liveries :-

 

Sheet BL177 - BR, ex-LMS & ex-LNER A-type containers to Diagrams LMS 7 & 20; LNER 5; & BR 3/001.

 

Designed primarily for the A-type containers produced in 4mm. scale by Bachmann and Unit Models, this sheet of transfers will also be applicable in other scales. Yellow lettering for crimson / maroon containers; 21 sets of transfers.

 

2mm., 3mm., 3.5mm. &  4mm. scale price is £7.50; S scale price is £15.00; 7mm. scale price is £22.50; Gauge 1 price is £30.00.

 

Full details can be found at https://www.cctrans.org.uk/products.htm .

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

 

Not the best photos, but here are the Unit Models and Bachmann A-type containers repainted and relettered in early and later BR liveries respectively.

 

post-2274-0-66668200-1539159987_thumb.jpg

 

post-2274-0-28634200-1539159816_thumb.jpg

 

post-2274-0-63462200-1539159841_thumb.jpg

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

Edited by cctransuk
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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Request for help this morning. I acquired a box of part completed wagons a few months ago and dug them out last night with a view to finding out what they are. I managed most of them but there are a few which still elude me. I'd be grateful if anyone else could pin them down:

 

I know I've seen these before. LNWR? By ABS?

 

wm-wagon-1.jpg

 

This is part of a twin but I only have one half. The axleboxes are quite distinctive:

 

wm-wagon-2.jpg

 

Again, part of a twin (I have both of these)with offset axles. These have a cast WM floor as well, not the usual plastic insert:

 

wm-wagon-3.jpg

 

Finally one of two single bolsters which came as a pair.

 

wm-wagon-4.jpg

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Thanks, Jol. That was what I had in mind, but I couldn't locate a current kit to compare. D & S makes sense. Most of the others were 51L or Dave Geen, so I was concentrating on those.

 

Who does suitable axleboxes for this (and a couple of other LNWR types I found). I'd have asked Dave Geen, but he's not trading any more, of course.

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Request for help this morning. I acquired a box of part completed wagons a few months ago and dug them out last night with a view to finding out what they are. I managed most of them but there are a few which still elude me. I'd be grateful if anyone else could pin them down:I know I've seen these before. LNWR? By ABS?wm-wagon-1.jpgThis is part of a twin but I only have one half. The axleboxes are quite distinctive:wm-wagon-2.jpgAgain, part of a twin (I have both of these)with offset axles. These have a cast WM floor as well, not the usual plastic insert:wm-wagon-3.jpgFinally one of two single bolsters which came as a pair.wm-wagon-4.jpg[/quote

 

Hi,Johnathan

The LNWR van, Is F673 lnw d33 8t van as listed in my ABS catalogue.It may have been one of the wagons that was sold to ABS.

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Request for help this morning. I acquired a box of part completed wagons a few months ago and dug them out last night with a view to finding out what they are. I managed most of them but there are a few which still elude me. I'd be grateful if anyone else could pin them down:

 

I know I've seen these before. LNWR? By ABS?

 

wm-wagon-1.jpg

 

This is part of a twin but I only have one half. The axleboxes are quite distinctive:

 

wm-wagon-2.jpg

 

Again, part of a twin (I have both of these)with offset axles. These have a cast WM floor as well, not the usual plastic insert:

 

wm-wagon-3.jpg

 

Finally one of two single bolsters which came as a pair.

 

wm-wagon-4.jpg

The single bolsters look like L&Y ones by 51L

 

Regards Tony.

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Thanks, Jol. That was what I had in mind, but I couldn't locate a current kit to compare. D & S makes sense. Most of the others were 51L or Dave Geen, so I was concentrating on those.

 

Who does suitable axleboxes for this (and a couple of other LNWR types I found). I'd have asked Dave Geen, but he's not trading any more, of course.

Try Andrew at Wizard/51L.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Been a quiet few weeks on the workbench - shows, weekends away, works trips away and other things to do have eaten into the time available. I've been tinkering on with a few bits and bobs which I hope to complete over Christmas. Most of them are rebuilds or reworking of models acquired partly or wholly built, usually in a bundle with something else, the something else being what I particularly wanted. However, waste not want not and they'll all find use on one layout or another.

 

GCR-clerestory-luggage-brake.jpg

 

That said, I'm not sure where this one will go yet - Perseverance 50' clerestory luggage brake. This had been glued together, the glue having begun to fail and so had to be stripped - shame, the paint job was lovely - and reassembled properly. I have followed Steve Banks' advice on reprofiling the body ends but haven't made any attempt to tackle the overheight sides. I'm not sure how you'd do that without ruining the panelling.

 

D86-general-van.jpg

 

GE Section General Van (I think this is D86) which will go to Wickham Market along with the D87 I finished recently. This needed the brake gear reassembling correctly and replacement springs/axleboxes at one end. No prizes for telling which end, but once they're painted and weathered it'll be hard to see the join.

 

boplate-tube.jpg

 

Kirk Boplate and NuCast Tube wagons. Tony Wright sold me these at Ely in May and they've both been reassembled, detailed in the case of the Boplate and now all but finished. There's still some lettering to go on the Tube.

 

abs-twincase.jpg

 

ABS Twincase. Another for Wickham Market when finished painting and lettered.

 

parkside-opens.jpg

 

Parkside opens - both had to have the brake gear replaced and the bodies corrected - whoever built them wasn't great at corners.

 

vanfit-steel-open.jpg

 

I think the vanfit came in the same lot - new brake gear, some body detailing and a repaint. The open is the Bachmann one, here in early BR days.

 

rickett-pos.jpg

 

Private Owners. These are largely what I built when I was demoing at Hartlepool. The Oxford wagon bottom left has had the London plank cut in and the incorrect capping strip clips removed. The one atop it is also Oxford, a 1923 wagon originally in the livery of a business which ceased trading in 1919. The other two are Parkside and Cambrian. They'll all end up as Rickett & Smith wagons.

 

conflat-v.jpg

 

This may be of interest - visitors to the demonstration area at Hartlepool will have been able to watch these being made by Mr. King. Visitors to the demonstration area at Warley will have been able to watch them being finished by myself. Conflat V to Diagram 108 (the cattle wagon conversion) with the first attempt at deck layout - probably 'Container Flat' rather than Conflat V if we're being wholly pedantic. I believe these will be available from Graeme in due course. The undergubbins are the Mainly Trains components and buffers from LMS.

 

open-cs.jpg

 

GW-opens.jpg

 

Three Open Cs and a pair of GW opens - and that's almost all i can say. The Open Cs are all Ratio but came with varying degrees of detail and replacement components. Don't look at the brakes, it'll hurt your eyes if you know anything about them. The two GW opens I still haven't pinned to a specific diagram so I'm not sure what I'll do when I come to number them.

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  • 3 weeks later...

More wagons - I picked up a box of wrecks on Ebay a few months ago and put them aside for Christmas, having tried to identify them all and acquire the necessary bits to refinish where needed. They looked to have been built for a P4 project, but most had lost their wheels. I'm not sure about the builder either - mostly soldered and quite neatly, but (for example) the flash and moulding pips hadn't been smoothed off the top of the sides on the open wagons. Anyway, I'm working through them in the order they come out of the box and doing what i can with what's to hand.

 

GNR-D29-small.jpg

 

D & S GNR D29 open. This only needed new wheelsets and a floor.

 

LNER-fitted-open.jpg

 

ABS (I think) fitted LNER open. I've built a few of these over the years. This also only needed wheelsets and a replacement floor. I may trim down the invisible bits of the brake rigging to move the brake blocks closer to the wheels.

 

LNER-plate-small.jpg

 

NER plate wagon. New wheels and floor and the almost flattened brake gear very carefully bent back into place. There are a couple of places which refuse to solder and may need plastic or wire reinforcement. This is now available from 51L, I think.

 

LNER-single-bolster-small.jpg

 

This one wasn't from the same lot, but a scratchbuilt single bolster from a different bundle. There were two of these and this one was missing a pair of axleguards and a brake lever. They've been very nicely made, so once the replacement parts are fitted and painted I shall be pleased to see them running again.

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A very happy new year to all my readers and forum members. It's been a fairly quiet week but I have managed some time fiddling with some more of these wagons. Some of them really needed very little work at all.

 

G2-vans-small.jpg

 

Two different takes on the G2 van - I think the one on the left is D & S and the one on the right Dave Geen (or 51L?). I've repaired and completed the brake gear using the Wizard Models etches. There's not a lot more I can do for the moment - I have no .5 mm drills or decent photos to complete the door latching mechanism on the D & S one nor any rail to put along the top centreline to stick the roofs to.

 

g2-fish-van-small.jpg

 

Another G2 van - this one is different again - this one had been abandoned, I think, because one of the axleguards had been soldered on at an angle and it wouldn't run properly. Removed with judicious application of brute force and ignorance and replaced, it's now fine. The fish van only needed wheels and a vac pipe, it's otherwise complete.

 

GE-open-small.jpg

 

D & S GE open - just needed a new floor and a single axlebox, which I used an RCH one for. The F2 van was also complete apart from wheels.

 

gn-imp-small.jpg

 

GN Implement wagon, main part of the floor replaced, just the infill parts between the ramps to add. Brake lever cut down from the Wizard Models parts. The single bolster has also had a brake lever added.

 

nsr-opens-small.jpg

 

These were a curious mix of wagons - quite a few NER or LNER and then a number of NSR examples from 51L. Both of these are NSR opens, I think.

 

midland-mineral-small.jpg

 

NSR van - I see it needs a spring as well as the 4 axleboxes I've replaced and will have brakes fitted as well. The Midland wagon I haven't identified yet - all it needed was a floor and wheels.

 

ly-twin-small.jpg

 

L & Y twins as identified on another thread. Funny looking things with the offset axles.

 

ly-singles-small.jpg

 

Two L & Y single bolsters. I think I've ended up with a mix of grease and oil axleboxes here, so I'll have a look at photos and go with whatever's most accurate for the 1930s.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, here we are back on the sceptred isle, back in the jug agane and starting to finish off some of these wagons. First tranche are all for Wickham Market as thoughts turn towards its first outing in May.

 

Some of these vehicles have been built for a while but needed weathering and loads.

 

palvan-sludge-carrier.jpg

 

GE tender as a sludge carrier and a Ks Palvan. I've detailed the palvan a little and also made a plastic roof to reduce the weight.

 

oxford-bachmann-unfitted.jpg

 

Pair of unfitted opens, one Oxford, one Bachmann. Both have had some detailing work - the Oxford was a repaint from the LNER, done so you could see the old lettering - which I then sheeted over. Next time I'll leave it uncovered. The Bachmann is a repaint from the LNER version with extra body brackets added.

 

bachmann-pipe-parkside-open.jpg

 

Bachmann Pipe, from their bargains list and a Parkside 5 plank open. The Parkside was a rescue of a badly built job, having had the corners tidied up and new brake gear added.

 

bachmann-parkside-steel-highs.jpg

 

Pair of steel highs, one Parkside, one Bachmann (again from the Hattons bargain list). Some detailing on the Bachmann one - solebar brackets and lamp irons - while the Parkside was another rescue of a basket case.

 

ks-lms-shock.jpg

 

Lats of this batch, a Ks LMS shock open. Again, a certain amount of detail added to this one and it has no floor, again to save weight. Hence the need for the sheet.

 

Now, with Grantham not due out until November I was looking at the projects I have for Wickham Market and discussing them with the Ely chaps. I was going to crack into the Easterling set based on a carriage list given me by Andy Rush, but I was advised that they'd rather have an F6 for the Framlingham branch first. I've had the Gibson kit in the pile for a little while, so on Sunday afternoon I brought it out.

 

Gibson-F6-1.jpg

 

This will be 67230, as i have the most photographs of that one. Now, don't make the mistake of thinking it's almost finished. Up to now has been the easy part - there are no witness marks for any of the castings, steps or handrails, I haven't yet made up the drive mechanism and the carrying wheels aren't even ordered. Most importantly I haven't worked out how to get it to go round 3' or tighter curves, because it sure as hell won't as it is. I have some ideas, but would be pleased to hear from anyone else who's already been here.

Edited by jwealleans
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Nice wagons JW. I had two Ks palvans ...someone bought them off me so I have some Parkside ones (some built, some to build) which are a bit less stressful for the locos.

Baz

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Well, here we are back on the sceptred isle, back in the jug agane and starting to finish off some of these wagons. First tranche are all for Wickham Market as thoughts turn towards its first outing in May.

 

Some of these vehicles have been built for a while but needed weathering and loads.

 

palvan-sludge-carrier.jpg

 

GE tender as a sludge carrier and a Ks Palvan. I've detailed the palvan a little and also made a plastic roof to reduce the weight.

 

oxford-bachmann-unfitted.jpg

 

Pair of unfitted opens, one Oxford, one Bachmann. Both have had some detailing work - the Oxford was a repaint from the LNER, done so you could see the old lettering - which I then sheeted over. Next time I'll leave it uncovered. The Bachmann is a repaint from the LNER version with extra body brackets added.

 

bachmann-pipe-parkside-open.jpg

 

Bachmann Pipe, from their bargains list and a Parkside 5 plank open. The Parkside was a rescue of a badly built job, having had the corners tidied up and new brake gear added.

 

bachmann-parkside-steel-highs.jpg

 

Pair of steel highs, one Parkside, one Bachmann (again from the Hattons bargain list). Some detailing on the Bachmann one - solebar brackets and lamp irons - while the Parkside was another rescue of a basket case.

 

ks-lms-shock.jpg

 

Lats of this batch, a Ks LMS shock open. Again, a certain amount of detail added to this one and it has no floor, again to save weight. Hence the need for the sheet.

 

Now, with Grantham not due out until November I was looking at the projects I have for Wickham Market and discussing them with the Ely chaps. I was going to crack into the Easterling set based on a carriage list given me by Andy Rush, but I was advised that they'd rather have an F6 for the Framlingham branch first. I've had the Gibson kit in the pile for a little while, so on Sunday afternoon I brought it out.

 

Gibson-F6-1.jpg

 

This will be 67230, as i have the most photographs of that one. Now, don't make the mistake of thinking it's almost finished. Up to now has been the easy part - there are no witness marks for any of the castings, steps or handrails, I haven't yet made up the drive mechanism and the carrying wheels aren't even ordered. Most importantly I haven't worked out how to get it to go round 3' or tighter curves, because it sure as hell won't as it is. I have some ideas, but would be pleased to hear from anyone else who's already been here.

Hi Jonathan

I built the F5 some years ago (and have another in the pile!) and eventually realised that it would not negotiate anything less than 8ft radius as designed! I cut the main frames just ahead of the front drivers and cut and carved them to suit a pony truck arrangement for the front axle. It ran very nicely and stayed on the track! Regards Malcolm

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Morning Malcolm,

 

I think that's where we're going with this, although I expect to be cutting behind the cab steps and having a trailing truck. That's for no better reason than the captive nut under the bunker came off, so I can make another fixing point in the cab floor and probably pivot the truck off it too.

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Spent a large part of today adapting the F6 frames.  We had a rethink on the pony and ended up putting it on the front.  Two reasons for that - firstly, the front steps are larger and will cover it up more effectively but secondly, when all the wheels were fitted, they didn't all touch the track.  I suspect one of the holes must have been slightly off (these are rigid frames, which only have holes for bearings, unlike the usual Gibsons which come with hornblock slots already cut out.  It was the front axle which was elevated, so it seemed logical to put that into a pony truck to allow vertical as well as lateral movement.

 

Gibson-F6-frames-small.jpg

 

gibson-F6-pony.jpg

 

gibson-F6-pony-2.jpg

 

Gibson-F6-chassis-1.jpg

 

I made the pony truck up with Comet frame spaces as they're narrower than the Gibson ones, so the axles have some sideplay as well as the rotation of the truck to help them round curves.  You'll see that I put an elongated spacer on the front of the frames to use the original fixing point (the gearbox prevents anything further back) and took about a mm off the tip of the front frames so they swing underneath it.  It goes round my 2' 9" test track quite happily, so I think we may have cracked it.  I also made up, fitted and fettled the rods, so it's been a good day.

In between that I finished off or worked on some more wagons, still all for Wickham Market.  The last two opens I'd weathered now have crate loads:

 

opens-loaded-small.jpg

 

There isn't the need for a full train of ferry wagons on this layout, but you have to have one (it's the Law).  This is the one.

 

rungen-loaded-small.jpg

 

I can't remember the name of the place the load came from.  It was in France and someone on RMWeb put me on to them so I gave them a try.  It was bloomin'  expensive, but it's very well done and fits the wagon nicely.

 

I'm going to get some more containers done at some point and this came from the second hand stand at Wakefield last November.  It was Bachmann 37-930B, a B type container in a Medfit.  I dug it out last week to repaint the container and when I looked at the wagon I found that it was numbered for a batch which were unfitted.  It has Morton 4 shoe brakes, so I just pulled the vac cylinder off and repainted it grey.  It'll have a lump of foam and a sheet on top when done.  

 

bach-medium-disassembled.jpg

Edited by jwealleans
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Connesieur (ignore spelling) have a similar set up on their 4mm N10 I have built. I would have taken a photo but it marooned behind a lot of boxes at the moment. That goes around curves without problems too. My F8 might have to have a similar modification in due course as well.

 

 

I now have Graeme's LNER Meat van parts in stock, did you ever use a Comet wagon chassis under any of yours ?

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