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A Curious Collection of Wagons


sandshifter
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Last year I received the gift of a handful of tinplate OO gauge wagons as a wedding anniversary gift/joke from my wife (ten years is 'Tin', apparently...). Do what you want with them she said...

 

I'll be honest, tinplate is not really my thing, but I gave the contents of the box a good looking over to see what could be done.  First impressions weren't good, but the closer I looked I realised that two of the wagons weren't tinplate at all, but litho printed card overlays on wooden bodies, with cast metal chassis.

 

ModelsFeb1501_zpszy0z1z9d.jpg

 

ModelsFeb1501A_zpstk2pc1me.jpg

 

They are certainly not the best examples of the breed and I suspect have no heritage value. The 'POP' one has a cast whitemetal chassis with rather fine wheels (though on plain-end axles), but the wheelbase is 35mm - that's 10 feet in 3.5mm scale rather than 9 feet in 4mm scale - is the chassis actually to HO scale?  The body is rather warped and appears to be some sort of fibreboard in places rather than wood.  Having shown this to my Dad he believes it is fully a Hamblings/Merco product. At some point I'll try and use the useful bits of this wagon under a O-16.5 model (sacrilege!).

 

The Muirson & Patton wagon is a very curious beast.  It has a Mazac chassis that I have identified as being a McMurdo Masterpiece product from this thread: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/88542-tank-wagons/. The body is ply, with Merco sides.  I do have the original plastic wheels from it - I have borrowed them to go under one of the Dublo wagons at the moment. I had eyed this up with narrow gauge potential but I am starting to think again...

 

The Hornby Dublo wagons were very battered, this brake van is typical:

 

ModelsFeb1503_zpsbsf7bzar.jpg

 

The eagle eyed will notice the rather shiny wheels, they are modern Hornby examples!  As the body on this was beyond repair they have been reclaimed for the spares box and the chassis frame advertised on eBay as a spare....

 

A totally non-conservation approach was taken to the best of the battered tinplate wagons. Two open wagons became one (and another pair of more modern Hornby wheels reclaimed); I swapped some other wheels about amongst the interesting 2-rail conversions and the oldest length of Peco Streamline track I could find seemed apt for a tongue-in-cheek display that may well develop in time:

 

ModelsFeb1504_zpsebmiiowu.jpg

 

Colin

 

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Your Dad is right, they are Hamblings/Merco litho bodies. Since Hamblings was 'The Home of 00" I don't think they're H0, but based on the 1923 RCH 7-plank minerals*, which had a 9 foot wheelbase, perhaps adjusted to fit the McMurdo underframes. You may still be able to find the litho sheets new (old stock)/unused.

 

* though noting that the Thos. Muir has NBR style cupboard doors

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Freestone Model Accessories have a selection of the original Merco printed overlays for both goods stock (£1.00 ea.) and coaches (£1.25 ea.). Jerry advised that these are all original production and that he doesn't have the original plates for them. He said that when they sell out that will be it but he doesn't expect that to happen any time soon. 

 

The usual disclaimer: I have no connection with the business except as a satisfied customer. Today I received some Prototype Models replacement windows from Jerry along with his Jan. 2015 price list. I like to keep an eye on his website www.freestonemodel.co.uk as he sells a lot of the old Prototype Models and Bilt Eezi card kits which he is slowing upgrading.

 

Dave 

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Thanks for the info Bernard and Dave. I had found the Litho sheet covering both wagons on the Freestone site.

 

Here's where I have to decide where to go, this isn't really meant to be a project that takes up much time, do I really want to devote much to it? The POP wagon is beyond restoration so will be carefully taken apart so that the chassis parts can be used to create an O-16.5 wagon in due course.

 

The Masterpiece chassied wagon is another matter. It might be possible to carefully restore what is there, perhaps with the loss of the damaged solebar litho strips. I could obtain the sheet, go for a more complex restoration, but if I did that, the sheet has 'Bolsover' on there too which is more local to us....

 

I'd really like to create a vintage style 'Firbeck' wagon (our local pit), but that would be a whole other ball game!

 

Colin

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If anyone is interested I do have a small number of old wagon chassis which came with coach bogies I bought at various times. I think a couple may be ERG and there is at least one other type. As usual I kept them as I thought they might come in handy, but I doubt if I will ever use them.

 

I do also have a POP wagon in the "vintage" wagon box

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If anyone is interested I do have a small number of old wagon chassis which came with coach bogies I bought at various times. I think a couple may be ERG and there is at least one other type. As usual I kept them as I thought they might come in handy, but I doubt if I will ever use them.

 

I do also have a POP wagon in the "vintage" wagon box

 

Thanks for the offer John, I have a handful of more modern chassis awaiting the day they might "come in handy", I really shouldn't add any more vintage ones!

 

I have dismantled the distorted POP wagon this evening, I must admit that the chassis is far better engineered than I imagined, the buffers are held on by small tapped screws and the W-irons and brake gear are separate castings held in position via cast pegs.  Parts of this chassis will live on in due course under a O-16.5 model of a wagon used on the 3ft gauge Murcar Railway in Aberdeenshire (I've just realised that given the origins of the wagon the name of the line is slightly ironic...).

 

My thoughts towards the masterpiece chassied wagon are now erring towards not restoring it and either somehow re-using the chassis parts for another narrow gauge model, selling them alongside the spare Dublo chassis or simply putting them in that "come in handy" box.....

 

Colin

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  • 2 years later...

Thanks for the offer John, I have a handful of more modern chassis awaiting the day they might "come in handy", I really shouldn't add any more vintage ones!

 

I have dismantled the distorted POP wagon this evening, I must admit that the chassis is far better engineered than I imagined, the buffers are held on by small tapped screws and the W-irons and brake gear are separate castings held in position via cast pegs.  Parts of this chassis will live on in due course under a O-16.5 model of a wagon used on the 3ft gauge Murcar Railway in Aberdeenshire (I've just realised that given the origins of the wagon the name of the line is slightly ironic...).

 

My thoughts towards the masterpiece chassied wagon are now erring towards not restoring it and either somehow re-using the chassis parts for another narrow gauge model, selling them alongside the spare Dublo chassis or simply putting them in that "come in handy" box.....

 

Colin

Hello Colin,

 

What is your interest in the Murcar Railway may I ask? You say “will live on in due course” Are you intending to model the line or some aspects of it? I am writing a history of the railway and have written some magazine articles already. Where have you obtained details of wagons? The information I have relates to 3-plank dropside wagons supplied by W.G. Bagnall of Stafford plus some manufactured locally in Aberdeen. I would appreciate any information you have and of course I can do likewise.

 

Gordon Pirie

gogsi@btinternet.com

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