Need help sourcing some model wagon origins.

[cypherman]

Hi all,

I bought quite cheaply 14 wagons and a Bachmann Pannier from my local model shop. I was told that they all came from a layout that had been broken up and sold. The Pannier runs really nicely and was a bargain on it's own. They all had one thing in common. They all had 3 link couplings. Some of the wagons were a bit tatty and needed a bit of restoration( Yes I try and restore wagons as well....... 😁). They all needed new couplings. So this was duly done. They all now have N E M pockets and couplings applied except one where I tried putting an old Hornby D coupling on as an experiment. Anyway 8 of the wagons are Bachmann/Dapol with with some slight modification. But the other 6 shown in the pictures I am not sure if they are kits or scratch built. Or a bit of both. The coal wagons have wooden bodies on a metal baseplate with plastic running gear. The metal plate has Peco stamped on it. Did Peco make kits with wooden bodies?. The box van has what is possibly a Dapol chassis? and what looks like either a kit or scratch built body. There are no markings anywhere on this wagon to show its possible origins. The next wagon which looks like a half brake/half open wagon has no markings to show it's origins. I am not even sure what type of wagon it is. But I bought it because it looked kind of interesting. The last wagon is the GWR Toad brake van. Again there are not indications on it as to its origins. Though i believe this is definitely a kit. One other thing these wagons had in common was that there were no fittings for N E M pockets to attach couplings to. Any info would be of help.

Edited August 15, 2023 by cypherman

[cypherman]

Possibly better pictures,

[DaveF]

The open wagons are "Peco Wonderful Wagon Kits".  They had plastic underframe parts which fitted into the metal base plate.  Usually the plastic parts had the projecting pieces warmed (often with a match or soldering iron) to secure them as they could not be glued, being a soft plastic.  In the 60s they cost around 7s 6d (37.5p).

 

There was an element of springing for the axles by virtue of the design of the axleboxes/springs.

 

Early ones had a wooden body with thin embossed printed cards stuck on them.  Later ones had a combined metal floor and sides onto which the printed sides were glued.

 

Peco still have a few spare parts including some of the cards on their web site.

 

I don't really know about the other two,

 

David

[Steamport Southport]

Some PECO Wonderful Wagons listed here, may be of interest.

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklistdatabase/1000407/1000588/1000637/0/peco_products_oo_gauge_1_76_scale_wagons/prodlist

 

Most were discontinued a long time ago, but they do pop up on the second hand market quite often. Sometimes even unbuilt and still sealed. The tank wagons are now park of the Parkside range.

 

I've only got a few which must date from the late 1970s and were probably bought in Beatties or Hattons. Notice that many of the liveries were also done in N Gauge.

 

 

 

Jason

[BernardTPM]

The van and the odd half-open wagon look to have scratchbuilt bodies, but on two different commercial chassis. The brake van looks like it has been shortened from a standard length van, but whether a kit or not it's hard to tell. A view of the underside of these three might give some clues.

 

I agree the P.O. opens are probably Peco. I built an example with the early wooden body in C &G Ayres livery; I still have the box!

[Fat Controller]

The 'half and half' wagon seems to  h.ave been inspired by one of those winch wagons used on CWR trains

[cypherman]

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay in thanking you. But work has kept me away from my computer for the past couple of days. Thanks for all the info. Jason thanks for the link it has all 3 of the wagons on it.