GWR Iron Mink

[bill_schmidt1]

33 minutes ago, Skinnylinny said:

Hi Bill,

While researching for these models, we found that many of these wagons didn't have those rivets on the axlebox guides when they were built. This is borne out by the GA drawing from which we worked, too. Unfortunately, it would have been prohibitively expensive to tool two different underframes, so we made the decision that it would be easier for a modeller to add the rivets should they want them (Archer's rivet transfers, for example - other brands are available!) than to make a neat job of removing them.

Thanks,

Linny

Fair enough. Be interested to know when the rivets started being added and I wonder if it was a batch thing as there are pictures of new ones (at least fairly new) with the rivets.

[Bulwell Hall]

This really is a beautiful little model!  The detailing is exquisitely done with restraint, the livery is superbly applied and model bodes very well indeed for future wagons from Rapido.  My only regret is that by my post WW2 period they were getting thin on the ground so I cant really justify more than one.  But I shall certainly be obtaining the forthcoming Minks and Opens in multiple - not to mention the LMS opens and hopefully others that we don't yet know about.  Rapido really are coming up with the goods and I for one am excited about that!

 

As for a GWR tank engine, the 2021 class lasted longer than the 850s so gives the apparently important BR aspect, even if they were less pretty!  But I note that Rapido are doing a Highland Railway 'Jones Goods' none of which lasted into BR days as far as I know but that doesn't seem to be a problem - so who knows!

 

Gerry

[RapidoCorbs]

Product suggestion form is right here:
https://rapidotrains.co.uk/product-suggestion/

 

😄

[Compound2632]

16 minutes ago, RapidoCorbs said:

Product suggestion form is right here:
https://rapidotrains.co.uk/product-suggestion/

 

😄

 

I think I'll confine myself to one a week.

[rapidoandy]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I think I'll confine myself to one a week.

Sounds sensible to me... :-)

[Ian Hargrave]

Yes they cause quite a dent in one’s finances BUT temptation is what it is ( no answer). I decided…..no that’s untrue,I fell for,tart that I am….a WW1 theme at Doncaster and succumbed to two gunpowder vans ,a Salvage for Victory  and a GW van. Oh plus two SECR types. So to complement them ,of the same period,I sourced suitable haulage in the form of a Planet Industrials Kerr Stuart Victory in original lined IW&D lined grey. The ensemble looks good and runs quite beautifully. I can justify the loco as two of them worked from Aberaman Colliery,in sight of the house in which I grew up. 

[Pteremy]

1 hour ago, Ian Hargrave said:

….a WW1 theme ......a Salvage for Victory 

Salvage for Victory is WWII surely? (See late GWR monogram).

 

But I have one as well - for a (fictional) late 1950s commemorative event - and a 'Reading Sand Van' - for (fictionally) rebranding 'Barnstaple' and leaving at the end of a siding in 'seen better days' condition. 

 

Every layout should have one (or two). There is no excuse not to.

[Dungrange]

7 hours ago, Bulwell Hall said:

I note that Rapido are doing a Highland Railway 'Jones Goods' none of which lasted into BR days as far as I know

 

From Wikipedia: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Railway_Jones_Goods_Class)

 

The first of the class, Number 103, (LMS 17916) was set aside for preservation by the LMS in 1934. It was restored to working order by British Railways in 1959 and spent several years operating enthusiasts' tours. During this time, it appeared in the 1965 film Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, playing the part of a French locomotive, complete with NORD lettering on the tender. It was finally retired in 1966 and is today in the Glasgow Museum of Transport. In addition to being the first ever British 4-6-0, no. 103 has since 1966 also had the less positive distinction of being the only former Highland Railway locomotive still in existence.

 

I suppose you could therefore claim that one did last into BR days (albeit only between 1959 and 1966), but it is of course a locomotive that has been preserved and therefore available for a site visit.

[Ian Hargrave]

2 hours ago, Pteremy said:

Salvage for Victory is WWII surely? (See late GWR monogram).

 

But I have one as well - for a (fictional) late 1950s commemorative event - and a 'Reading Sand Van' - for (fictionally) rebranding 'Barnstaple' and leaving at the end of a siding in 'seen better days' condition. 

 

Every layout should have one (or two). There is no excuse not to.

No . I think not.  WW2 bright blue an instantly recognisable target for any marauding Luftwaffe bomber ?  I post this as an acknowledgement of the lousy aim which  missed my mother on her bicycle round as her district nurse duties went around. He didn’t make it home. She did.though her patients were hit by his bombs and didn’t survive . Fortunately I’m still around to,post this …

[Compound2632]

2 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

No . I think not.  WW2 bright blue an instantly recognisable target for any marauding Luftwaffe bomber ? 

 

The two "Salvage for Victory" vans were a WWII thing [see All About...]

[CoombeTown]

Mine arrived last night, fantastic levels of detail so congratulations Rapido!

 

Does anyone have any colour pictures of the wagons in BR service in the 50s for weathering purposes? The images of Paul Bartlett's site are from the 70s/80s, by which point I would imagine the wagons were significantly more worn.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[57xx]

12 hours ago, Ian Hargrave said:

No . I think not.  WW2 bright blue an instantly recognisable target for any marauding Luftwaffe bomber ? 

 

'Fraid so. The National Salvage Scheme of which these vans were a part of was created in December 1939. 

[Ian Hargrave]

3 minutes ago, 57xx said:

 

'Fraid so. The National Salvage Scheme of which these vans were a part of was created in December 1939. 

Oops. My error. Wonder just how long that lasted in blue ,given the forthcoming air raids .

[57xx]

I think the white roof would be more of an issue than the blue, but it was a government scheme after all. Pure conjecture, but I would have thought they where keep quite clean as promotion for the war effort, though the roof would eventually have given up trying to stay white. Whether they got repainted like other vans produced in the era to grey, I don't know.

[Dunsignalling]

20 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

Oops. My error. Wonder just how long that lasted in blue ,given the forthcoming air raids .

It probably wouldn't have made much difference once the Luftwaffe switched to night raids.

 

Do we know if they were permanently based anywhere? Given that only two vans were so finished, it's likely they moved around for promotional purposes and might have spent their lives under cover at major stations between campaigns. Against stop blocks at Paddington (for instance), the message would have been seen by thousands of travellers daily.

 

White roofs on more numerous vehicles would have presented much greater risk until repainted. 

 

John

Edited February 14, 2023 by Dunsignalling

[Schooner]

1) Were van roofs ever cleaned?

 

2) Are we discussing the value of the the colour of the sides of an individual covered wagon as seen through a Lofternrohr sight from 15,000ft as useful and effective targetting information, in a period when it was common to fail to acquire, let alone hit, entire marshalling yards?

 

(The irony here being that the Lofte 7 was a straight development of the American Norden sight, received by Germany in the late '30s. Hardly 'enemy' and certainly no secret)

[57xx]

1 hour ago, Dunsignalling said:

It probably wouldn't have made much difference once the Luftwaffe switched to night raids.

 

Do we know if they were permanently based anywhere? Given that only two vans were so finished, it's likely they moved around for promotional purposes and might have spent their lives under cover at major stations between campaigns. Against stop blocks at Paddington (for instance), the message would have been seen by thousands of travellers daily.

 

White roofs on more numerous vehicles would have presented much greater risk until repainted. 

 

John

 

As far as I'm aware, they moved around the country to promote the salvage scheme.

[The Stationmaster]

3 hours ago, DRoe96 said:

Mine arrived last night, fantastic levels of detail so congratulations Rapido!

 

Does anyone have any colour pictures of the wagons in BR service in the 50s for weathering purposes? The images of Paul Bartlett's site are from the 70s/80s, by which point I would imagine the wagons were significantly more worn.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

I don't know about the '59s but I do know of several that surbvived into the 1960s being used either (mainly) foer salvage pr urposes or as mun iments storage to supplement over-crowded book rroms.  Thus they could be found stuck (i.e. rusted to teh rails) on various sidings in goods depots and with body rot developing (albeit a lot slower than many cars built in that decade).  Those seem to have been universally 'painted' in well weathered black.

 

That suggests to me that body rust, particularly in corners and on the vertical strips at the panel joints would have been present in the 1950s especially as repaint intervals grew longer

[hmrspaul]

This 1978 photo - it has been in a red (possibly Gulf red but that is a big guess) https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/gwrvans/e150e0b0d

 

Paul

[Bulwell Hall]

Mikes post above reminded me of a photo that my late father took at Bar End Yard at the GWR station at Winchester.  There were three or four Iron Minks there used for secure storage and  a couple of them are shown in his slightly light affected photo.  The nearest one was W204993 and was marked 'For Use at WINCHESTER Only'.  I can recall them there in the1960s and by then they were in very weathered bauxite with the earlier lettering showing through.  The vans were abandoned to the contractors for demolition after closure - in 1966 or so - and broken up on the spot.

 

 

 

[Garry D100]

My Cambrian red one arrive yesterday and im very pleased with it.

 

One word of warning, be careful when opening the box.

One of the buffers was rolling around inside and luckily I saw it drop out, doesn't look like there was any glue on it.

Easily fixable, but just thought id mention it so none vanish into the carpet :-)

 

[Bulwell Hall]

My new Rapido Iron Mink, which arrived six days ago, took its place on the layout today.  All I have done is to re-wheel to EM, add a little extra weight, add three link couplings and weather to taste. The work to add the three link couplings is a little more involved than on previous Rapido wagons - due to the diminutive size of the vehicle - but is not impossible.  I think they are wonderful little models that fully capture the appearance of the real thing.   I also have a Ferrocrete van to do but this is to have rather more work done to it and will need to wait until a more urgent project is out of the way first.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Bulwell Hall

[Schooner]

30 minutes ago, Bulwell Hall said:

...weather to taste.

Were the chalk markings done in pencil? The overall result is delicious!

[gwrrob]

Railtec do a sheet for us mere mortals.

[Schooner]

Thanks, I've got 'em in 2mm and 4mm! They're great for destinations...but then there are alpha-numerics, signatures, information ("Vacuum brakes U/X" etc), assorted indecipherables (which @Bulwell Hall has perfected!) and so on. I'd be keen to learn a technique to add them :)