mike morley Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I have acquired an ancient Micro-Rail kit of the Highland open that could be converted into a makeshift sheep wagon by adding the slatted upper half (which I do not intend to utilise) At first glance the only thing it appeared to lack was instructions, which I didnt think would be a problem as the design of the kit seemed to be fairly straightforward. However, having investigated further I am starting to wonder if I've got the etches for one kit and the castings for another. The door hinge straps are too long for the sides and what are the straps and cleats between them on the sprues (assuming "sprues" is the right word for whitemetal castings)? And although the things fanned out on the left hand edge of the picture look very much like timber end stanchions and fit the half-etched recesses in the wagon ends perfectly, neither the long nor the short versions tally up with the height of the wagon. The axleboxes, on the other hand, have a more than passing resemblance to the Great Westerns OK version. Having said that, the buffers have no resemblance whatsoever to anything that had either origins or connections with Swindon. I am not in a position to even guess whether they or the axleboxes have any resemblance to anything that originated on the Highland Railway as prototype pictures seem to be quite elusive. Any information about either the kit or the prototype would be gratefully received! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotcent Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I knew I had one of these somewhere. Mine is in the original box, and appears to be complete. These are my parts And these are my instructions I'm rather afraid you don't look to have the right castings. A point to watch is that these wagons, in common with a number of HR wagons, used 3'6" coach size wheels, rather than the more usual 3'1 1/2". Best of luck with the construction. Allan F Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike morley Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 Thank you very much indeed. As you say, the castings I've got are quite definitely the wrong ones. With the help of your photo I can probably scratchbuild the missing strapping, but are replacement buffers and axleboxes available from anywhere? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sulzer27jd Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 51L should be able to help you out - http://www.wizardmodels.co.uk J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike morley Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 Thank you! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Natalie Graham Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Obviously I don't know how you acquired the kit but is there a chance its original owner is still the owner of something like a GW open wagon kit with a set of castings for a HR sheep wagon? Just a thought. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotcent Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Another source of a fairly wide range of buffers, axleboxes, springs etc is MJT at Dart Castings http://www.dartcastings.co.uk/mjt.php#2250return No HR, but they all have pictures, and some look close. Allan F Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike morley Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 The original owner died a few years ago and his wife donated all his modelling bits and pieces to the club. For a long time it all sat under one of the club layouts until we recently had a "What shall we do with all this stuff?" session and went through it all. If there was another box with a Great Western wagon etch and Highland Railway castings in it I'm certain it would have come to light then. This wagon came to me for the simple reason that I'm the only pre-Group modeller in the club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotcent Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I should have mentioned that the Highland Railway Society http://www.hrsoc.org.uk/Modelling.html has buffers and axleboxes. The kit itself is listed by David Geen, but I have been told (unoficially) that it is etchings only. Might be worth contacting him. Allan F Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Mike, You have yourself a Jones open wagon, from the old Microrail range. David Geen does indeed still sell them but they do not include the castings. 51L do the appropriate buffers and axleboxes. The stanchions can be made of brass section fairly easily. Here is a picture of a couple of completed examples: Watch out for how many sheep you need (both on weight if you use white metal sheep or cost whatever you use!). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike morley Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Fabulous modelling, fabulous picture. Thank you for that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Mike, You have yourself a Jones open wagon, from the old Microrail range. David Geen does indeed still sell them but they do not include the castings. 51L do the appropriate buffers and axleboxes. The stanchions can be made of brass section fairly easily. Here is a picture of a couple of completed examples: Watch out for how many sheep you need (both on weight if you use white metal sheep or cost whatever you use!). Lovely looking models. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornamuse Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 interesting concept and nice models! Did many companies run this sort of wagon? Would be great for my light railway Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 The rails are called staves and I think they may have been a feature of a number of pregroup companies - certainly I have seen them on several LNER constitutent wagons and also on Irish railways. They fell out of use in the 1920s at some point. I would think that if your light railway had a product that could be stacked high or needed to carry something like sheep as these did, then you are well within realism to assume they used staves. They were fitted locally to an ordinary open wagon (Mike, you realise you can legitimately do this with or without staves?) and would have been of varying amount/size etc - whatever was to hand that did the job. It is thought that the Highland ones were used seasonally and taken off when they were not needed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornamuse Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Thank you! so now I have another item on my "to do list" on the positive side, in 7mm I can make them removable and have a 2 for 1 wagon ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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