What happens at the corners.

[relaxinghobby]

I'll ask this question in the Pre-Grouping section as this type of rolling stock was mainly built in the Victorian era.

 

What was the arrangement of planks and frames particularly at the corners. I guess the planks where fixed to the inside

of the verticals and how can it be to shown in the models.

 

 

This is a section of a drawing by J. D. Harrison from the Historical Model Railway Magazine

July 1975

 

I've drawn in what I think it could be in the thicker black lines.

[Nearholmer]

Unlikely you've got a copy, but you might be able to borrow it from a library, but in the Oakwood Press history of the Schull and Skibereen railway, there is a cracking-good photo of a van being rebuilt in the workshop, which makes clear how all the bits fitted together.

 

IIRC, the corner posts are quite complex mouldings, not just rectangular in cross section, so that the ends of the planks are recessed into them. The corner posts were actually quite large section timbers, before all the moulding, significantly larger than the uprights towards the centres of the ends. The joints at the bottoms and tops are quite interesting too, because they have to come "tight" in three dimensions.

 

At one point, I tried to replicate all this correctly in 15mm/ft scale, with wood, but it exceeded my ability, so I fell back on ruses!

 

Kevin

 

PS: and, different wagon builders used slightly different approaches!

[Caley Jim]

The CR GA drawings I have show two different arrangements.

 

Where the corner posts are flush with the ends (e.g.cattle truck), they have a 'T' section, with the leg of the 'T' inwards.  The side and end planks fit into the respective checks formed by the 'T'.  as a result the side view of the post shows its full width, while the end view shows the width less the check.

 

 

Where the corner posts form outside framing to the ends (e.g. 6T van), they have an unequal check on the innermost corner, deeper on the end, with the side plank fitting fully into the check and then the end plank fitting into the remaining small check.

 

 

(Drawings are not to scale)

 

Jim

[Nearholmer]

Jim

 

Brilliant!

 

The third variant that I've seen has both the end and side planking outside of the structural framing, but still recessed into the corner posts, as below. This one looked to me to be prone to splitting down the length of the corner post. I've seen this with horizontal, vertical, and 45-degree planking on different vans.

 

There is also what might be called "American practice", which involves sheathing the framework with boards that are completely outside the frame, not recessed into it the corners, sometimes with boards vertical outside and horizontal inside. This was used, I think, by Bristol C&W on the small vans that they built for various narrow gauge railways, including the Lynton & Barnstaple, although they might have had recessing at the corner posts - it's hard to tell the difference from photos.

 

Kevin