EFE Rail - Autumn 2023 announcements inc LSWR 4-coach sets, LSWR vent van and N gauge J94

[DerbyLNWR]

Graham - did you do the Diag.1408 with the three-part door in the 7mm version or did I miss it ?

JM

[Graham_Muz]

On 19/09/2023 at 22:37, DerbyLNWR said:

Graham - did you do the Diag.1408 with the three-part door in the 7mm version or did I miss it ?

JM

 

No, not yet in 7mm, we have only produced the D1410 so far. 

[Wickham Green too]

On 14/09/2023 at 17:50, Graham_Muz said:

... the horizontal handrail across the sliding door is a separate moulded part, ... The small grab handles are actually, separately applied,  horse hooks, ...

... and the continuous drawgear & spring cradle seems to be a separate moulding  too .... how on EARTH did they get that in there without distortion ??!? ( and to be honest - why ? - even on the finest of finescale layouts that'll never be seen )

 

One thing I'm NOT happy about is the wheelsets - those on my example had a distinct wobble and they're not a simple swap for Gibsons as the axle is significantly over length .............................. I've superglued a set of Gibsons to the existing axles - happily, the brakes need no adjustment for EM gauge.

[Graham_Muz]

24 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

... and the continuous drawgear & spring cradle seems to be a separate moulding  too .... how on EARTH did they get that in there without distortion ??!? ( and to be honest - why ? - even on the finest of finescale layouts that'll never be seen )

 

One thing I'm NOT happy about is the wheelsets - those on my example had a distinct wobble and they're not a simple swap for Gibsons as the axle is significantly over length .............................. I've superglued a set of Gibsons to the existing axles - happily, the brakes need no adjustment for EM gauge.

 

I am sorry you had a wobbly wheelset, I have not seen that on my examples.

I will raise the axle length with the factory as we specified 26mm axle lengths and that is what all my samples have but it appears some production versions are possibly marginally longer.

I purposely set the brakes at a position to enable EM wheelsets to fit without affecting the appearance with 00.

 

 

[barrymx5]

I am delighted with my LSWR Cross Country set and the 10T Van. Prompted me to produce a short YouTube video. Yes I know the SDJR loco is a 1P and not a P1! Other bloopers and errors please point out. 

[Garethp8873]

GWR Iron Mink, 4 Plank, Toad, Loriot Y, SR 8 Plank, SECR 6w Brake Van, LMS D1666 Opens and now LSWR Vans!!

 

My trio have arrived today and I can certainly say this has been a good year for the Pre-Grouping and Big Four wagon scene!! Whilst we still have two months to go til the end of 2023, I can say that EFE's LSWR Vans have finished off a good year for steam era modellers :)

Edited October 23, 2023 by Garethp8873

[Graham_Muz]

1 hour ago, Garethp8873 said:

GWR Iron Mink, 4 Plank, Toad, Loriot Y, SR 8 Plank, SECR 6w Brake Van, LMS D1666 Opens and now LSWR Vans!!

 

My trio have arrived today and I can certainly say this has been a good year for the Pre-Grouping and Big Four wagon scene!! Whilst we still have two months to go til the end of 2023, I can say that EFE's LSWR Vans have finished off a good year for steam era modellers :)

I'm glad you like them. 

[Garethp8873]

45 minutes ago, Graham_Muz said:

I'm glad you like them. 

 

To say the least @Graham_Muz it's not going to be easy choosing my Wagon of the Year when it comes to the eventual pollings... going to be a smackdown between Iron Mink and these methinks.

[barrymx5]

On 23/10/2023 at 18:18, Garethp8873 said:

 

To say the least @Graham_Muz it's not going to be easy choosing my Wagon of the Year when it comes to the eventual pollings... going to be a smackdown between Iron Mink and these methinks.

Come on Gareth it's got to be the LSWR 10T van! Iron mink OK but not really in same class. 

[Robin Brasher]

I have bought a second LSWR 4 Coach Set so now I have got enough LSWR coaches to run a passenger service on my model of the Swanage Railway. I think that the bogie coaches are more representative of the Railway in the 1900s than the four and six wheel coaches produced by Hornby and about to be made by Hattons.  The picture shows my collection of LSWR coaches together with some locomotives to pull them.

[Robin Brasher]

I have bought a set of three LSWR ventilated vans to go with my LSWR Terrier and LSWR brake van. The picture shows them passing the original Swanage Station. I look forward to someone producing some more LSWR wagons.

 

 

[Compound2632]

I've bought the LSWR-liveried No. 11111. It really is a splendid model - I hesitate to say the best RTR wagon I've seen because there are so many really good ones out there at the moment; let's just say it's right up there with the rest of this year's offerings and shows that it's not just the people at Rapido and Accurascale who are upping the RTR game.

 

I'm planning to renumber it, partly since (as others have noted) the choice of number is a little corny but chiefly since, according to Southern Wagons Vol. 1 p. 37, No. 11111 was built in 1903 and I aim for 1902 (!).

 

This leads me to a question about brakes, which I hope @Graham_Muz might be able to answer, as I gather he was much involved with the development of the model and must, I think, have looked at far more photographs than I have access to, Southern Wagons being the sum total of my information. The model has Morton brake levers, with the brake blocks on one side of the wagon only, that being the side with the reversing cam. This arrangement appears on No. 1408 (Southern Wagons Vol. 3 plate 48), a timber-framed wagon built in 1911. However, the list on p. 37 ascribes double block and lever one side to this wagon, and also to two other examples of steel-underframed D1410s. (One of which is given a build date of 1895, which is anomalous as on p. 30 the steel framed version is listed as having been built from 1899.) Two other examples, Nos. 12312 and 12367, both built 1900, are listed as having Panter's cross-lever brake. The only photo I can find of this in Southern Wagons is plate 25, open No. 12819 of 1901. This shows normally-arranged brake gear on one side only (left push-rod below and right pushrod above the brake-shaft) with the brake-shaft running across the wagon, and a lever on each side below the headstock, at the right-hand end, relative to the side with the brake blocks. These levers, I think, would move horizontally to pull on a rod attached to a lever o the brake-shaft.

 

Altering the model from the Morton arrangement looks a little tricky, since the break gear is arranged opposite-handedly, i.e. left push rod above and right push rod below the brake-shaft, as is correct for this arrangement. 

 

Apologies to those to whom this may seem like mere pedantry or fault-finding with an excellent model but please believe me that it is simply driven by a desire for greater understanding and, I hope, to produce an accurate model of a differently-numbered wagon. (And before anybody says it, yes I know it's 00 and fully understand the compromises involved with this gauge, which need not detract from accuracy in other respects. I also understand the compromises that the economics of producing a RTR wagon undoubtedly involve, such as not representing all the permutations of the prototype brake gear. The levers of the Panter brake would be particularly tricky and probably run foul of the tension lock coupling.)

 

Anyway, the question is, what brakes for an early-build steel-frame D1410, as running in 1902? 

[semley1912]

Stephen  my answer to what brakes for an early-build steel-frame D1410, as running in 1902? is Panter's cross-lever brake.

 

The Morton brake gear of the EFE van is associated with later vans built with Timber underframes. I suspect the brake gear error is due to the manufacturer relying on preserved wagons for their research. Preserved wagons with steel underframes wagons were originally built with Panter's brake gear which the Southern Railway later replaced with the Morton Brake.

 

Below is my yet to be painted !! model of a C.1902 van.

 

For me the most unsatisfactory feature of the EFE vans is the profile of the end sanchions. The prototype has stanchions with their outer face tapering from halfway up. 

 

Martin Finney

[Compound2632]

2 hours ago, semley1912 said:

Stephen  my answer to what brakes for an early-build steel-frame D1410, as running in 1902? is Panter's cross-lever brake.

 

Martin, many thanks for this reply. The Panter cross-lever brake can be tackled in three steps of increasing trickiness:

1. Remove the model's brake levers.
2. Reverse the brake gear unit - this is glued into two sockets in the underframe moulding and the cross-shaft is threaded through it; so it'll be a question of how easy it is to get it out. Also, putting it back, need to pay attention to which side it is relative to the offset third vee-hanger. For this brake, does the cross-shaft go across the whole width of the wagon?
3. Represent the end lever. For these, all I have to go on are the one photo in Southern Wagons Vol. 1 and your photo of your model, which are both from about the same angle. It looks to be a single lever pivoted at its middle, which is presumably connected to a pull-rod.

[Wickham Green too]

16 hours ago, semley1912 said:

... For me the most unsatisfactory feature of the EFE vans is the profile of the end sanchions. The prototype has stanchions with their outer face tapering from halfway up. ...

I don't QUITE agree with you - I think the chunky 3'' thick vent* draws the eye away from the lack of taper !

 

* where present

[Nile]

On page 18 of Southern Wagons vol.1 there is a diagram of an open wagon with Panter brake gear, this is the best I can find so far.

The next page also has an interesting diagram.

[Compound2632]

4 minutes ago, Nile said:

On page 18 of Southern Wagons vol.1 there is a diagram of an open wagon with Panter brake gear, this is the best I can find so far.

The next page also has an interesting diagram.

 

Ah yes, immediately below the photo I referred to in my post! Doh. To apply the Panter brake, one had to move the end of the lever from left to right, whichever side of the wagon one was on but in terms of the 1911 Board of Trade Rules it fails in that on one side it is at the left-hand end of the wagon and also that, having been applied on one side, it can be released from the other. These are defects (in terms of the Rules) that it shares with the original form of the Dean-Churchward brake. It's interesting, therefore, to note that the "interesting diagram" on the next page shows the Dean-Churchward brake configured as a cross-cornered brake (i.e. lever on the right hand end on either side) which was a permitted exception under the 1911 Rules; this is stated to have been fitted to 100 LSWR wagons in 1906. 

 

Panter's brake doesn't feature in the RCH wagon brake tests of 1902, according to the minutes of the RCH Locomotive Carriage & Wagon Superintendents' Committee [TNA RAIL 1080/387]; it's interesting to note from that that the requirements for the eitherside brake as laid down by the 1911 Board of Trade Rules were essentially agreed by the RCH General Managers' Committee in 1901, with the exception of the rule that the brake should only be releasable from the side on which it had been applied; in 1901 the agreement was that it could be released from either side.

[Garethp8873]

Despite me already having all 3 of the EFE LSWR Vans in SR livery, when you see the same three at £28 plus 20% discount at Warley (£22.40 each), one does say no to that. Duly purchased and scheduled for re-livery.

Edited November 26, 2023 by Garethp8873
Van livery

[Wickham Green too]

OOOOH  - I do hate people being smug about getting discounts when I paid full price* five minutes ago ! 🙄

 

 

* well, full discounted retailer price - two months ago

[No Decorum]

20 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

OOOOH  - I do hate people being smug about getting discounts when I paid full price* five minutes ago ! 🙄

 

 

* well, full discounted retailer price - two months ago

Cheer up! At least you didn’t miss them.

[Wickham Green too]

My van has finally emerged from the paintshop after its rebuild and defurbishment ...

 

.... oh dear sticky buffer syndrome !

[Edwardian]

I think it is time to retire the PC Models version of these 1906-1910 cross country sets. 

 

I've just taken delivery of the EFE set and given them the once over. I am impressed. 

 

 

[fulton]

On 08/12/2023 at 15:07, Wickham Green too said:

My van has finally emerged from the paintshop after its rebuild and defurbishment ...

 

.... oh dear sticky buffer syndrome !

My one renumbered, new wheels and couplings, looking at yours I will have a go at redoing the vents.

[Wickham Green too]

Sorry we didn't get round to discussing this on Thursday ........ yes, the vents do make a big difference - but take a fair bit of scraping & filing of the uprights and vent edges to get right. Start by running a knife across the upright below the vent so you know where to stop carving (!) - then ping the vent off with the twist of a screwdriver.

[barrymx5]

Quote

I think it is time to retire the PC Models version of these 1906-1910 cross country sets. 

 

I've just taken delivery of the EFE set and given them the once over. I am impressed. 

I run both my old PC kit built and the delightful EFE releases on my layout, with the PC on tracks further from the front of the layout.