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Furness 10 Ton Timber Bolster


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Playing with a new method of wagon construction, thought I'd start easy with a bolster as it has nice low sides and is very short...trouble is I have 3 drawings of the same thing all of which are different and none show the complete picture! Anyone got a photo they can show or can point me to? 

 

The issue is the bolster mounting and bearing, I can't quite see how it works. 

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Some Single Bolster wagons had the bolster pivoted at the centre with semi-circular steel rubbing plates so that the bolster could swivel through track curves and points. Many bolsters were also removable so that multiple wagons could be used but with the load only supported on two wagons, the others acting as runners.

 

I haven't entitely got the hang of posting references on here but if you go onto the 'barrowmoremrg' site and look in 'prototype information', near the bottom of the page (past the diagram books) is BR20426 'Instructions & Diagrams for loading and securing long, projecting and otherwise exceptional loads etc....' which may be of interest.

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Looking at the drawing that appeared in the Railway modeller of their twin bolsters, it appears that the bolster is pivoted at it's centre. I agree that there is something wrong even with these drawings, as they have the bolster sitting at the same height as the top of the sides, so if it is correct, there must be some whacking great packing pieces under the bolster. My guess is that the drawing is wrong and the bolster sits down more.

 

Andy G

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There  are  LBSC  bolsters  at  the  Isle  of  Wight  Steam  Railway   which  would  be  very  similar.

The  bolster  itself  has  a  steel  plate  on  the  bottom  of  the  timber.  This  rests  on  a  circular  steel  plate  about  3/4"  thick  on  the  deck.  A centre  pin  drops  through t he  bolster  and  locates  it.  Curved  rubbing  plates  support  the  ends  of  the  bolster,  also  around  3/4"  thick.

The  bolster  itself  is  slightly  longer  than  the  wagon  deck  is  wide,  to  permit  this  the  ends  have  a  cut  out  under  them  to  clear  the  wagon  sides  (approx  2").  This  could   easily  be  misinterpreted  on  a  drawing.

The  top  of  the  bolster  has  a  full  length  steel  plate  to  avoid  loads  cutting  in  to  the  timber.

A  google  search  should  produce  photos.

 

Pete

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I think in principle all bolster wagons are similar. (This will immediately produce a unique exception as used on the XXXX railway) The bolsters were certainly pivoted so they could move about (which helps enormously when taking long loads around sharp curves) and in an ideal world this would be reproduced in a model, the snag being that mass works differently in a scale model and so we can't be sure the flexibility will behave as per prototype. I presume that the curved rubbing plate described in the above post exists to protect the floor from the movement of the bolster - bearing in mind that the load placed on the bolster could be quite substantial. The bolster is a bit like a little turntable except it would not normally turn through 180 in transit, let alone 360.

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I am building a couple of Mid Wales Railway 1870s bolster wagons from a Metropolitan Wagon Co drawing. (It is far too large to scan, I am afraid.) The bolster pivots as suggested, but the centre plank of the wagon is replaced by a baulk roughly square in cross-section which brings the bottom of the bolster up nearly to the height of the sides. The bolster itself is tapered on its underside to clear the sides of the wagon. Much the same arrangement is found on an 1870s Rhymney Railway timber wagon though there it appears that the baulk is thinner and is on top of the centre plank(s). In  both cases there are also the various iron (I would have thought rather than steel at this date) parts to protect the timber.

 

See 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/92171-modelling-19th-century-wagons-in-4mm/

or my model of one of these.

 

Jonathan David

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We seem to be wandering off topic slowly here .. the issue is not how bolsters work, in general or on other railways' implementation thereof, I'm interested only (at the moment at least) in getting the operational detail of the Furness wagon nailed down. All that will take is a photo...

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Finding a photo that shows the detail you need may be challenging as it would need to show the floor and interior. It would probably be worth contacting the Cumbrian Railways Association - if anyone knows of a suitable picture, it's likely to be them.

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I've fired them off an email, there's nothing in their online archive sadly. (But there is of a big Bogie Well wagon I've always wanted to model and also couldn't find a picture of!) 

 

There was a photo of a model in there, of the wagons I'm trying to build, by the author of the drawing I'm using, which will do if nothing more 12inches to the foot turns up. 

 

http://cumbrianrailways.zenfolio.com/p181379983/h2ce5a915#h2ce5a915

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  • 2 months later...

I've fired them off an email, there's nothing in their online archive sadly. (But there is of a big Bogie Well wagon I've always wanted to model and also couldn't find a picture of!) 

 

There was a photo of a model in there, of the wagons I'm trying to build, by the author of the drawing I'm using, which will do if nothing more 12inches to the foot turns up. 

 

http://cumbrianrailways.zenfolio.com/p181379983/h2ce5a915#h2ce5a915

The model was built by Ross Pochin about 1970.You can guarantee it is accurate if built by him

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