Ingleford Wharf: 1870s canalside inglenook on the "M&WJR" in 00, and Victoria Quay: a 1900s WIP in 0

[Schooner]

Little inspiration stash, as momentum slowly builds for an actual modelling update:

A photograph taken by Colonel Joseph Gale (c 1835-1906) in about 1889, of a man and woman standing talking at the rear of a house in the country. Ladders, buckets, pails and a wheelbarrow stand in the yard. The working clothes of the man with the pails are in sharp contrast to the elegant dress of the young woman by the gate. Joseph Gale specialised in naturalistic photographs of rural life and figures in landscapes. He was one of the first members of the Linked Ring Brotherhood and was also a member of the Royal Photographic Society. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

 

And, even more usefully,

cropped from the delightful

1860s-1870s. Worcester Bridge, with Christ and St Mary's beyond, viewed from the west bank of the River Severn to the north-west with two boys beside boats moored in the foreground. Artist Unknown. (Photo by Historic England Archive/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

 

Close-up of the recently completed three arched skew masonry bridge over the driveway to Umberslade Hall in 1906. The contractor C J Willis & Sons has constructed a temporary standard gauge track to deliver the required building materials to the base of the bridge and there are three empty Great Western Railway wagons visible. Between the two unidentified four plank open wagons is two plank wagon No 15881, which was built in the 1870’s as one of the 100 wagons on lot 52. The Great Western Railway built almost 5,000 two plank wagons during that decade. Note this wagon has painted ‘G’ and ‘W’ in large white letters, a feature that was introduced in 1904, while the two four plank wagons are likely to have been built around the turn of the century and have retained their original cast iron ownership plates fixed to the wooden body. 

 

I'm really pleased to have received the final bits to complete the GWR roster and hope to make a start on them this evening. No promises, but there's a risk of an actual update before too long!

Edited March 9, 2023 by Schooner

[Compound2632]

Didn't we discuss the wagons in these two photos quite recently?

[magmouse]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

Didn't we discuss the wagons in these two photos quite recently?

 

Yes, but separately, I think. One conclusion was that the wagon in the last picture in @Schooner's post above which the caption claims is a 2-plank is actually a 1-plank. I currently have an 18ft over headstocks GWR 1-planker on the Magmouse workbench, though it is proving a bit troublesome in various ways - mainly due to unwarranted assumptions on my part...

 

 

Nick.

[magmouse]

6 hours ago, Schooner said:

No promises, but there's a risk of an actual update before too long!

 

Yes please!

[Annie]

The wagon pictures are very welcome, but that house is a fascinating brick concoction. 

[Schooner]

3 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

Didn't we discuss the wagons in these two photos quite recently?

The Worcester photo was in my other thread, to which you added the useful

As for the Umberslade pic, not that I'd seen. Yes, definitely a 1-plank (I confess, I'd skipped that bit of the caption!), but it sounds like I've missed an explanatory post somewhere.

 

2 hours ago, magmouse said:

I currently have a 15ft (internal) GWR 1-planker on the workbench

I'll race you! You may have a head start, but I'm cheating :)

 

2 hours ago, Annie said:

The wagon pictures are very welcome, but that house is a fascinating brick concoction. 

Isn't it just! I'm more immediately interested in all the gubbins shown, but it'd be great to know more about the building too. There's a lot going on!

Edited March 9, 2023 by Schooner

[magmouse]

9 minutes ago, Schooner said:

I'll race you!

 

That's fightin' talk!

[simonmcp]

The brickwork on the lower half of the right hand section near the ladder is appalling, looks like it could collapse at any moment.

[drduncan]

1 hour ago, Schooner said:

 

I'll race you! You may have a head start, but I'm cheating :)

 

I know you are, but I also know that MJT 12” buffer heads are OOS at the moment so you might have to source an alternative - Wizard might have some…

Duncan

[drduncan]

15881 is definitely a 1 plank. It’s internal height is only 11 inches. It never had ok oil axles boxes. Tare was 4-8-2 load 9 tons later (undated) 8 tons tare 4-4-0 (also undated). Condemned 12 Aug 1914.

Duncan

Edited March 9, 2023 by drduncan

[Schooner]

29 minutes ago, drduncan said:

MJT 12” buffer heads are OOS at the moment...

...with every supplier and every source as far as I can tell. Mercifully, the Box of Bits has got two trucks covered, but for the third...

 

...for now...

 

...until alternatives present themselves...

 

Those of a sensitive disposition may wish to look away now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your forgiveness is sought, but not expected:

Edited March 9, 2023 by Schooner

[enz]

44 minutes ago, simonmcp said:

The brickwork on the lower half of the right hand section near the ladder is appalling, looks like it could collapse at any moment.

 

Subsidence?

 

That would be an interesting thing to model in a mining area. Or in my case, possibly an excuse for the state of the model.

 

Regards, Evan

[drduncan]

9 minutes ago, Schooner said:

...with every supplier and every source as far as I can tell. Mercifully, the Box of Bits has got two trucks covered, but for the third...

 

...for now...

 

...until alternatives present themselves...

 

Those of a sensitive disposition may wish to look away now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your forgiveness is sought, but not expected:

To err is human to forgive divine. Atheism anyone?

D

[WFPettigrew]

1 minute ago, drduncan said:

Atheism anyone?

 

Or more mundanely...

 

Alan Gibson?

 

That's where I got my last batch of sprung 12" buffer heads for wagons built in the Dark Ages....

[Schooner]

Good shout, I always forget one can order direct from Gibson. In my defence, every time I open their catalogue I see the address and get distracted...

 

 

[drmditch]

15 hours ago, Annie said:

The wagon pictures are very welcome, but that house is a fascinating brick concoction. 

So is the young person's hat!

[Compound2632]

 

I used MJT unsprung buffers - the ribbed PO ones were the nearest match.

 

Need to finish off by quartet of Saltney wagons!

Edited March 10, 2023 by Compound2632

[Nick C]

19 hours ago, simonmcp said:

The brickwork on the lower half of the right hand section near the ladder is appalling, looks like it could collapse at any moment.

Going by the doors, presumably that part is a barn or store rather than domestic?

[MrWolf]

It does look like it might just be a stable with a feed store above it.

Whatever that place is, if it's still standing, you can gaurantee it would be eye wateringly expensive now.

Character property with period features and all that!

[Schooner]

A little stocky update looking at @drduncan's excellent 3D printed GWR wagons. This won't set much of an example to follow, much of it was done in the small hours around other things, but hopefully highlights some great options for pre-Grouping GWRers and documents my first real engagement with the layout this year.

 

Background

A direct message or two and a Paypal transfer (IIRC) secured three wagons, brakes, levers, axlebox/springs, buffer guides and label boxes. Running and buffing gear required to complete:

The extras are easily found, thanks to recommended products being listed, including reference numbers, in the accompanying documentation. Whilst not the full 16-page booklet that came an old David Green kit they struck an excellent balance, providing useful and interesting prototype information whilst remaining concise. Likewise the build instructions. Up there with the best.

 

Build

Parts were cleaned up, W-irons made up and fitted

 

Axleboxes opened out slightly...

...to allow a little more flexibility in where the springs/boxes sat under the solebar, and fitted

 

Next came the brake gear, which also needed a little fettling to deal with a slight overlap with the W-irons...

...but which otherwise made up quickly and cleanly:

 

The last steps were the fitting of the buffer housings (which simply pop into holes in the headstock) and label boxes. Job done! Placed with her sisters and given a quick spray of primer:

ready for painting just as soon as I tidy the workbench...!

 

Lessons

Not too many really, I really enjoyed these - quick and simple, but effective little wagons and a nice way to pass the time :) There were some things I took from the 2-plank builds into the 1-plank though, which sped things up. From left to right:

• Using the recommended W-irons in rocking format makes them ride a little high - look at the buffer shank height and the extra curve I had to put into the springs. Using them fixed works just fine, but required a little butchery of the units I'd previously made up.
• Prints are delicate there are whitemetal and brass V-hangers covering for my slip with a file when cleaning off the print-support pips, and you can see where I decided to not file some of the more delicate parts. Subsequent experiments showed that as long as one is sympathetic then it's entirely reasonable to smooth these parts.
• Trimming the corner off the 'sprue' part of the brake print allowed it to sit as intended against the wagon floor without fouling the W-irons. So perfectly sized is it that, being designed for finer standards, the brake blocks just touch the wheels when in line with the treads. On the 2-planks I just offset them slightly, on the 1-plank I should've given them a swipe or two with the file. The wagon rolls, but the brakes do apply a little friction. It's not 'right' but actually I quite like it and imagine it'll wear in just fine over time.
• Warping can be seen to varying extents on all three wagons. Boiling water and a weight got rid of most of the longitudinal bending (by the time I got round to the 1 plank you can that I'd improved the technique!), and I didn't worry about the slight bowing of the ends. It would be easily remedied with more water and a clamp, and is actually less than in other 3D prints I've had.

Conclusion

Thanks Duncan! 10/10, would message again :)

 

[drduncan]

Schooner is being very kind to my fumbling attempts at 3d printing.  I think he's done a great job on them and I can't wait to see them lettered, weathered and with loads added. 

 

He's quite right about the ride height. My job for today is to rip the D & S w-irons (because I'd run out of MJT ones and made the mistake of thinking they surely have to be the same ride height) off the test build and see how much of an inset I need to put in the floor for MJT ones - I hope its 0.5mm otherwise the floor will start to disappear! You'll probably be thinking why did I say use MJT ones over the D & S; the answer is not just that I thought they were the same ride height, but more importantly the MJT ones don' t need soldering together, unlike the D & S ones, and I didn't want to recommend something that had to be soldered as it is a technique that sometimes is a deterrent. With regard to the axle box / pin point bearing clearance, I must be honest - they are designed for waisted not top hat bearings; when I've tried using a clearance hole wide enough for top hats there is too little meat left in the CAD to guarantee a good print.

 

[Another confession - being an EM type I had to do a quick redesign when I remembered that not everyone might be. The then integral inside V hanger was looking like it would foul the line of the brake gear for the most popular 4mm gauge. Finescale is a mindset not a scale/gauge combination - and I must remember to design by my own maxims!.]

 

Duncan

[Schooner]

It's with some surprise I find myself on the train up to the smoke, having been given a ticket for Ally Pally tomorrow. With not much to do I thought I'd share how I left things down at the wharf:

 

I reckon that's pretty much mission accomplished for the kind of roster I was hoping to put together and the kind of impression I was hoping they'd make. What about you?

 

Obviously lots of painting, weather and detailing to do on the wagons and loads of work left to do on the scenery, but it's nice to feel on the right track even if the mood to make progress has been ellusive.

 

I also took advantage of the opporunity to revist the early vs late stock thing:

 

Absolutely no doubt in my mind that pre-Grouping is the way to go, particularly for small layouts. Well done and thank you to all the suppliers and manufacturers (both large commercial and small private) who support and enable this sort of lark. If I can do it, anyone can :)

 

So, that's me for the weekend. Happy Friday all, and any readers who are about tomorrow do feel free to get in touch. Cheers and gone!

Edited March 17, 2023 by Schooner

[Annie]

Really nice work Schooner.  Lovely to see so many late 19th century GWR wagons.

[MrWolf]

It's really coming together and the effort put into the stock sets the period better than a lot of the buildings which could still be standing today.

[Schooner]

In the immortal words of @NHY 581

 

 

Oops.