Warspite

Thanks Richard I do like the subtle tones of fall colours. I will try your layered approach - it looks very good. Stephen

Trevor That's a shame. I've just been looking at the area around Pencader Junction and up to Lampeter on Google Earth and you can still see traces of the line - field boundaries, tree lines etc. I have considered Torrington, in fact the area was my first choice after I got my Hymek. The area around Meeth and Peters Marland is fascinating - that interesting mix of rural industry and beautiful countryside. Fremington Quay would make a great model - I've seen a photo of a green class 31 here as well as D63xx's and Hymeks. My downfall is that I couldn't resist that Lionheart 74xx and need to find a prototype area where I could legitimately run it, hence Fairford. Another option could be somewhere like Bovey Tracey as 74xx's were allocated to Newton Abbot. But then, people (well David Siddall!) started talking about 6-wheel milk tankers and I haven't looked back since! So, to summarise, I would like, if possible, to find a location where I could run: 74xx (1964 ish) Hymek (1969-71) 16 ton mineral wagons (plus an odd 21 ton mineral hopper but that's probably pushing it) BR 12-ton vans Ex-GWR and LMS 6-wheeled milk tankers Oh, and a couple of Presflos! (I've just posted a photo of the JLTRT one I built on the gallery and on my layout thread.) Stephen

Trevor You're not making things any easier for me! I've now got Fairford, Hemyock, Highbridge and West Wales on my list of possible locations! Hemyock and Bason Bridge (much as I love them) are probably ruled out because of the 74xx pannier although both saw Hymeks and 03s. Of course if Dapol do eventually produce a D63xx in 7mm, I need to cover my bets. So the decider could be, did the D63xx's/class 22s operate in this area of West Wales (Aberaeron, Lampeter & Newcastle Emlyn) as well as 74xx's and Hymeks? I must admit I keep looking at the photos of the area in my 'Power of the Hymeks'. Could well be persuaded .......... Stephen P.S. Nice pic of your Morfa Mawr layout.

David Thanks for posting this link. Some great photos there. The Highbridge branch is another one of those 'special' lines especially because of its S&D origins and Bason Bridge survived after the S&D closed because of its connection to the WR main line at Highbridge. Talking of Hymeks, there is a photo of D7017 at Bason Bridge on the 1630 milk train from Taunton in "Past and Present: Somerset". Completely off-topic, there is a lovely walk along the remains of the Highbridge branch from Ashcott to Shapwick in the Somerset levels. This area is now a RSPB reserve and home to thousands of starlings! Stephen

Martyn I've now got this vision of a rush of RMweb members buying up all the Slaters' 6 wheel tankers at Bristol ........ a bit like the first day of the January sales! Stephen

Crikey, this thread just gets better and better. I now have a rationale to run at least three different versions of Slaters 6-wheel milk tankers together with my Hymek and my 74xx. I'm not sure I can take all of this in! In fact, my wife has just said "this is getting out of hand"! (That's maybe because she has just seen how much three Slaters milk tankers cost and that Bristol is now on the calendar! Will respond to all this later but dinner calls! Stephen

Richard Very nice. Lovely scenery. Which static grass are you using with the Gras-Master? It looks just the right shade. Stephen

Brian Phew! Thanks for that reassurance. ".... a couple of tanks, a mineral or two and perhaps some vans" is exactly what I want to replicate on my freight-only branch line. I've just dug out my copy of John Vaughan's "The Power of the Hymeks" (OPC) which shows some fantastic shots of milk trains in South Wales including D7085 at Lampeter with a couple of milk tankers from Port Laino in April 1970. (There are also a couple of great photos of D7070 with three empty mineral wagons and a brake van at Llandyssil and Pencader Junction.) I just love these short goods trains, full of character! Stephen

David Many thanks for offering to produce the artwork if this is a 'goer'. I would certainly be interested in three pairs and sharing the costs with you as I quite fancy modelling one each of the three Slaters' wagons in the same time period (early 60s). I just need to make sure that I can run them into a goods yard as one or two wagons. From what people have said on here, could they have run as a trip working on a freight-only line with just a brake van or as part of a mixed goods train ....... or do I need to be thinking about a BG or a Syphon? Stephen

....... ditto here, on both points (sorry, pun not intended!). Those United Dairies plates are very nice. A short rake of one each of ex-LMS 3000 and 2000 gallon and an ex-GWR 3000 gallon would look very interesting. Would they have run to the same dairy during the same period?

Trevor Thanks for your very helpful post and the photos - loved those class 22s and the close-ups of the milk tankers. Very nice. I'd seen Powsides wagons before but didn't realise that they did so a variety of 6-wheeled milk wagons. I particularly like the BR(M) wagon (lot 1640 from 1950) with the end filler and ladder. Would provide a nice contrast to the Slaters' wagon. However, any mention of "etched brass construction" and I run away and hide in a dark corner! Think I need to stick to the Slaters wagons for the moment. My other problem is that my time period is fairly wide - 1964 (so I can run my 74xx pannier) up to about 1971 (if only to run my early BR blue Hymek) - hasten to add, I won't be running the pannier and the blue Hymek at the same time! So my wagons need to be in paint schemes and lettering within this seven year period. Most BR stock won't be a problem as 1950s lettering still appeared well into the 1970s but I just need to be careful with private owner wagons. As you say, working from photographs of the prototype is the safest option. Finally, I didn't realise the GWR twin tank wagons lasted so long - that's why I didn't include any in my list of Slaters' wagons.

Having already hijacked one thread (David Siddall's one on United Dairies liveries under 'Prototype questions') and at risk of hijacking another (rsv1000r’s one on Peco mineral wagons), I thought I should start a new thread specifically on the Slaters' 7mm 6-wheeled milk tank wagons. My original question was “I'm also interested in building one or two of the 7mm Slaters 6 wheel milk tank wagons but does anybody know which ones are suitable for a 1960s/70s WR layout? Slaters do LMS 6-wheeled 3000 gallon (Slaters ref 7073), LMS 6-wheeled 2000 gallon (ref 7074) and GWR 6-wheeled 3000 gallon. Looking at Paul's (wonderful) site, those wagons which were still in 'milk service' appear to be from diagrams 023, 039, 042, 056, 063 and 065, built between 1927 and 1951. Interestingly, there are also ex-LMS 3000 gallon wagons with WR numbers, such as W44004 and also a 2000 gallon wagon. Does that mean (he asks hopefully), that any of the three Slaters wagons can be used for the WR 1960s/early 1970s period and mix-and-matched?” Paul Bartlett kindly replied “Yes, others know much more about this traffic, but with the reduction in services the better vehicles would have been moved around to different services. These were carriages and not wagons - so when LMS ones were moved to the WR they appear to have been repainted with new prefix - W to show the operating region - just as carriages had alterations in their prefixes and suffixes when their Region altered. Which doesn't explain why those with a B prefix kept that - despite potentially having a number overlap with mineral wagons! I believe the St. Ivel repainting was earlier than the mid 1970s - although a request for dates on those published in the HMRS Journal a while ago has gone unanswered - they appear to be very newly painted at the time. On one of my visits to Staines Central yard in 1969 there was a rake of milk tank in there (as http://PaulBartlett....tanks/e2e1a997b ) .My (railwayman) dad explained the tanks were to be taken away for refurbishment. I thought I had photos of some of these, but I cannot find them ( I remember them with the strapping all loose etc - quite a strange sight.” I'm aware from Martyn's post under the Peco mineral wagon thread that he is already building a couple of these wagons and as he says, there were wide variations in these wagons. Looking at Paul Bartlett's website shows a large number of diagrams, including some built in BR days based on pre-nationalisation diagrams. A veritable minefield! So, it appears from Paul's post I quoted above that all three of the Slaters' wagons (LMS 2000 and 3000 gallon and GWR 3000 wagon) could be used on a 1960s/early 70s WR layout. Unless, somebody know different ........ And, what about milk tank wagons on other regions? Stephen P.S. Bearing in mind site protocols, I hope nobody objects to me starting a new thread on this subject although some of the points have been covered elsewhere.

Dave That is a superb photograph. Lovely work. Stephen