jjnewitt

Leominster! I used to catch a 158 to go to college in Ludlow 5 days a week. That footbridge isn't there any more. It was once an important junction station but those days are long gone. Justin

Construction was covered in Volume 1. The wagon illustrated is a Palbrick A. There are also further pictures of his Palbrick As in Volume 3 including a nice colour shot of one on the back cover. Justin

The strips that are etched do already have the holes in them. Adam has drilled out the solid piece of plastic used he's used to represent the section beneath the strip. There are other ways of doing it and it's not the way I envisaged but it looks good. I found the picture I refered to earlier of the loaded Slab Coils. They aren't particularly clear but can just about be seen between D6904 and the brake van. I have a print of this photo and they come up clearer in that. Justin

There's the drawing in BR wagons Vol.1 for the Slab Coil which would provide a start. They've been done in 2mm for Ynysarwed Sidings. Don't fancy doing them in 2mm myself! I must get around to putting together the test etch for the Shochood B. It looks nice on the fret. I will have to see how well it builds! Jutsin

Ah I see. I hadn't noticed they were Strip Coils! Yes not much through freight on that line. If they'd tried to send the full wagons that way it would have been a struggle and would have needed something with a bit more power than a Grange and probably a banker. I wonder if the Swansea district line was closed for engineering works on the day that was taken? Justin

Not sure we're taking about the same photo. The one I was refering to is on page 277 in The Red Dragon... and was taken at Ponlliw on the Swansea district line. Well spotted. I missed that! I'm sure I've seen another picture of the Slab Coils loaded but I can't find it at the moment. The picture was of a loco at Canton and in the background was a rake of Slab Coils on the main line. I'm sure they were loaded. If I find it I'll let you know. Whilst looking for it I did find a couple of photos of our Strip and Slab Coil wagons working together: http://www.flickr.com/photos/camperdown/8440246883/in/set-72157626215122619 http://www.flickr.com/photos/briantrailandmore/6766401849/in/set-72157635910263844 Those Slab Coils are great. Maybe one day if I'm feeling really brave! Justin

I get the impression from photographs that initially coil wagons did generally work specific routes and the return to brandings were honoured. Where they worked to may be a different matter and of course would have changed as traffic patterns changed. The only two photos I've seen of these 42T Strip Coils in traffic in the 50s/60s show loaded wagons heading west on the South Wales main line. One appeared in post #18 of this thread on this forum and the other appears in The Red Dragon and Other Friends which shows a rake behind a 7200 on the Swansea district line. Both of these suggest that their use in traffic to the tinplate works at Velindre and Tostre is correct for the period. The bogie Coil Es were initially branded "To work between S.C.O.W. Abbey works and Orb Works Newport Mon" which makes electrical steel. Perhaps this traffic is why the cradles were of a different size to the very similar Boigie Coil Gs? I must get around to painting my Strip Coil. It's still in primer. Justin Edited as I can't get my compass points the right way around!

Trevon Mann's new book states that they worked to Ebbw Vale as well and also to Shotton briefly in the early eighties. Paul Bartlett's site has a photo of one at Severn Tunnel Junction in the late seventies. No idea where it was working to/from though. They conveyed steel for tinplate. Hence going to Velindre and Tostre. Justin

The second one is a riveted 1/105 or 1/109. The fourth is an LNER (1/103) type. The first 'normal' one is the fith. The sixth looks to be a wooden 13T. Plenty of variation. Who said all 16T minerals were the same! Justin

Nice picture. It's got a replacement side door from a riveted 16T mineral.

My personal preference would be for any or all of 116, 119, 120 and 123 in 4mm. Given the dearth of the longer 1st generation DMUs I'm sure most of the types would be welcome. Justin

No more locomotives, there are enough of them around already. 1st geration long wheelbase DMUs 1950s/60s era wagons that have not previously appeared in model form either as a kit or RTR please! In 4mm for me but I'm sure this equally apples to other scales. Justin Edited for clarity

Hi Clive, Yes of sourse there would have been wild variation from the numbers I suggested for a train but the figures do make the point that not all minerals were 1/108s. This is all a rough guide but hopefully it will provide a useful insight into the 16T mineral fleet for some. It has for me at least. I can reasonably get away with building more non-'standard' types than I thought. Justin

No pictures or models but perhaps some useful information. I've recently been developing a number of 16T mineral wagon chassis and I thought it would be interesting to see just how the BR 16T mineral fleet broke down into different types. I have posted this elsewhere but I thought this would be a good place to put is as well. The wagons are arranged by body and brake type rather than diagram number as these are the most obvious differences for us modellers. I cannot guarantee the complete accuracy of the figures. The lists from which I got the numbers do have some errors in them and the figures themselves have been rounded slightly (as well as there being the possibility of errors in my adding) but they will at least give a flavour of how things were and how your model 16T mineral fleet should roughly break down. I have assumed the ‘standard’ mineral wagon was a welded body with top doors and Morton 2 shoe brake vehicle. Wagons are assumed to have top doors unless noted. The figures include wagons built for LMS and LNER orders as well as the Ministry of Transport (M.O.T.). The following gives the situation in 1959 at the completion of the building program. The ‘standard’ mineral dominates but not perhaps by as much as you would think. The figures are for the total number built and percentage of the total fleet. M.O.T, independent, slope sided 1/100 7900 2.55% M.O.T, independent, straight sided 1/101 & 1/113 900 0.29% French type, independent 1/112 7000 2.26% Welded, independent, no top door 1/102 21600 6.98% Welded, independent 1/104, 1/106, 1/108, 1/111 20550 6.63% Welded, Morton (‘standard’) 1/106, 1/108, 1/111, 1/114 200900 64.88% 1/116, 1/117 Welded, unfitted clasp 1/108, 1/117 1900 0.61% Welded, vacuum fitted clasp 1/108, 1/117 11350 3.67% Riveted, independent, no top door 1/103 7850 2.54% Riveted, independent 1/105, 1/109 5200 1.68% Riveted, Morton 1/109 24300 7.85% Riveted, vacuum fitted clasp 1/109 200 0.06% Total 309650 Obviously these figures will have varied over time. The earlier you go the less ‘standard’ and clasp braked minerals there would be as we will see in a moment. The later you go the less independent braked types there would have been. The M.O.T. and French types for example had all but gone by the mid-sixties. The four shoe vacuum brake conversions would also need to be added in from 1966. The following gives the rough situation around the start of 1955. There were of course orders in progress at the time so the figures for the ‘standard’ and riveted Morton wagons are a best guess. M.O.T, independent, slope sided 1/100 7900 4.58% M.O.T, independent, straight sided 1/101 & 1/113 900 0.52% French type, independent 1/112 7000 4.06% Welded, independent, no top door 1/102 21600 12.52% Welded, independent 1/104, 1/106, 1/108, 1/111 20550 11.91% Welded, Morton (‘standard’) 1/106, 1/108, 1/111, 1/114 86500 50.13% 1/116, 1/117 Riveted, independent, no top door 1/103 7850 4.55% Riveted, independent 1/105, 1/109 5200 3.01% Riveted, Morton 1/109 15050 8.72% Total 172550 So what does this all mean? Well if you model circa 1960 and have 30 steel minerals on your layout then roughly 10 of them should be non-‘standard’ types with perhaps 2 welded, independent, no top door; 2 welded, independent and 2 riveted types. If you model circa 1955 then roughly half of your steel mineral fleet should be non-‘standard' types. Perhaps ‘standard’ wasn’t quite so standard… All this information is in a handy download and keep word document attached to this post. Justin 16T Mineral Fleet Survey.doc

Hi Chris, There was a daily workman's train to Glascoed which passed through Pontypool Road which was mainly formed of non-corridor coaches. It's possible that this is the train featured in the picture of W8075. Mike G of this parish has been building coaches for it to run on Little Mill Junction. There's a fireman's account of the train on the Newport Model Railway Society's webpages. Justin

Interesting photo of the Milk Tank. Numbers 2001-12 were built under diagram O.23 for United Dairies in 1927. They were quite short and I think had a 10' 6" wheelbase. Numbers 2001-10 were converted to diagram O.44 in 1936 whilst 2011/2 were converted to diagram O.38, again in 1936. Converted might in fact be a bit misleading as I don't think much aside from the tank survived. There are some nice pictures of these wagons in their 4 wheel state in the British Railways Illustrated article "On the Milk". The tanks on the O.23 were owned by the diary and continued to be way byond conversion to six wheel vehicles. The original writing on them was as follows: Glass Lined United Dairies Milk Tank If anyone is interested in milk tank diagrams there is a download available from the rescources section on my website. Justin

The buildings in the background look like the area around the bottom of Bathwick Hill to me. I think the photo was taken somewhere between the bridge over the Avon on the eastern side of the station and the bridge over the A36. Justin

On the majority of sprung wagon chassis I've come across it's 25g per axle. There's no reason why you couldn't arrange for the suspension to work on 50g per axle but you'd have a hard job getting 100g into a 4mm Lowfit. The right effect depends on how the suspension is set up. I'm convinced that a lot of sprung chassis don't really know what they are doing when it comes to deflections and weights. The wire in the chassis is Ernie Ball 0.008" steel guitar wire. It is indeed very thin but this was necessary with the way I wanted to do the spring carriers and the distances between fulcum (spring and chassis interface) points. The following photo shows the arrangement of the spring carriers. The wire is simply soldered into a half etched slot. One way of painting a sprung chassis is to remove the wheels. You can arrange to make the axle guards/tiebars removeable on my chassis if you wish to allow the wheels and spring carriers to simply drop out. I appreciate that this is more hassle than it's worth to most people but it is the approach I use and am happy with. See photo above. I like your thinking Adam! Nice to see one of these things being built by someone else. Justin

I suggest you get comfy then Ivan, I'm still waiting for possible brakes for them to materialise as I have stated... Justin

In terms of traffic variety the answer is simple: The South Wales main line. There was very little that wasn't carried along the line. Express trains for London Cross country services Local services Boat trains Pullman trains (in BR days) Parcels, fish, milk, bannana trains, vegeatble traffic in season And then we get to freight. Minerals of all types Coal, some more coal and then a bit more coal Coke, iron ore, sand and stone Steel in all its forms including tinplate and coil Oil of various types Wood General merchandise It goes on and on... About he only thing didn't get carried was china clay. The section between Cardiff and Severn Tunnel junction had one of the densest traffic flows in the country. Paddington may have had all the glamourous passenger services but lacked the heavy freight as did the South West and the aformentioned regional interchanges. I'd be suprsied if there was somewhere in else in the country let alone on the GWR that saw the variety of traffic that the South Wales main line did. Justin

Brilliant work. I love the underframe tanks. Nice to see your work in MRJ as well. Not before time. Is the 47 coming to Scaleforum as planned?

Some progree has been made. The artwork for the underframe is finished but the detailing parts still need to be draw up. It's in the queue but will be after the equivalent SR milk tank parts. I've been distracted by wagon underframes recently and also instruction writing, which seems to take forever, so progress on this has been slow but I will return to the milk tanks soon. Justin

New items are now available to order. These include: Fully sprung single bolster coach bogies for EM and P4. There are five types initially: BR1 and Comonwealth for Mk1s and GWR 7', 9' heavy duty and 9' pressed steel. The first of many Morton braked chassis. 17'6" over headstock, 10' wheelbase for vans and opens etc with either BR or RCH W-Irons. 16'6" over headstocks, 9' wheelbase for 16T welded 1/108 type minerals. BR 42T Strip Coil wagon. For further details, including prces and ordering instructions, see the Rumney Models webpages Justin

There looks to be a few single bolsters in the picture. As well the one mentioned in the foreground there looks to be one eighth wagon in along that rake as well as the one sandwiched between two bogie bolster in the rake to the left. Justin

Looks like an 08 to me. Possibly 08620. Justin