airnimal

I have fitted an Ambis brake rack with a brake handle cut from nickel. This is the last my own axleboxes and I still have 5 more wagons needing them. I am starting to struggle for fittings now. I will have to spend a bit of brass and stock up. I know lots of people buy stuff online but although I do have occasional buy parts this way I do prefer to buy parts at exhibitions. I will hope to paint this cattle wagon tomorrow.

I have reprofiled the brake shoe and soldered it to a base plate that screws to the floor. I have also added the cast white metal brake pivot plate.

Guy, I don't have written evidence of the size ( I am not an historian ) but scaling from the drawings this works out at 3" 1/4" The castings I have used in the past from Adrian all work out to this size or as close as possible and I have used brass tube which is slightly smaller than that. Steel brake shoe hangers are tapered and are thicker.

I need to do something to save myself from going daft until the lockdown is relaxed so I will try and finish some of my half completed wagons. This cattle wagon needs brakegear making from scratch because I have run out of castings that Adrian Swain let me have years ago. I never thought I would use them all but it was 2004 when he gave them to me. So I have cut out the brake block from an old brass washer that was the right thickness. The brake hanger was made from a length of square brass tube.

I have read somewhere that the GWR had a daily pickup goods service starting from Manchester and going through Stockport taking the Altrincham line and on to Market Drayton. I do have a Lee Marsh GWR 0-6-0st on order but I'm not sure if I really want one. I don't have a single GWR wagon in my collection and the money paid might have been better spent acquiring a NSR loco. Still I have read that the have all been accounted for before they have been delivered so I can always sell it on when it finally arrives. As for this horse lorry I am trying to build, my heart isn't in it. I have put the loops on that hold the shafts to the front of the vehicle but I think that's as far as I am going. I will put it away for another day.

A change is good as a rest or so I'm told. Having a box of white metal wheel castings for horse drawn carts for about 30 years I decided to look a making a small 4 wheeled vehicle. This is not to a particular prototype but just a general type looking at various ones in Great Western Horse Power to give me ideas. I had the horse for many years when I built a few of the smaller wheeled ones. I am not sure this is going to get very far because I'm not mentally committed but it would be nice to do something di.

Thanks to everyone for all the likes and comments. Dave at least when you go into your workshop you can marvel at all your handbuilt loco from your own hand. My locos and coaches that are any good all came from other people / companies. My own efforts in that department are hidden away half completed and will probably never get finished. I have added the saftey chain to the door but it needs toning down a little.

Hopefully I have finished this van. One of the letters has lifted that will require attention. It has been a bit of a journey.

The drawing that we both have copies of has a V-irons that is very similar to the one on a Cambrian sand wagon. The other Y shaped one is seen in the background of some Cambrian official photographs like on page 206 in Great Western Way.

One of the other V-irons is the Y shape. This photograph illustrates a Cambrian wagon with just like one on the etch.

I found some letters for the NSR but one of them was slightly different. So I have had to tamper with one of them to make it fit. A good waft over with some road dust might blend it in a bit better. I have treated myself to a little bit of Belgium's finest to celebrate the end of the build. Well nearly.

I tried to hand letter but the results were dire. So I have found some GWR tranfers with the 8 tons on them. There are to small really but I think it is better to have them neat and a little undersize. I will put it down to a different signwriter at a different period of the vans life. Rule 1 applies. Just got to find some letters for the NSR now.

Marc, I bet you put yours on the right lines thou. I must write myself 100 hundred lines OBSERVATION OBSERVATION OBSERVATION

Nickey Line, couldn't agree more about riding my bike in the warm sunshine. Here's hoping I can continue for a few more years yet. I would like to go back to India once more before I pop my clogs. With this virus that still could be a few years away. Here is my first attempt at the NSR knott. A bit shaky but under a bit of muck it might not look to bad.

I have a copy of the same drawing which has extra text on suggesting that similar vans were used on the B&M railway. I don't think Mike Lloyd did this drawing as he always signed his and this one is unsigned. As for the v-irons the early Cambrian Railway used some very similar. I had some Cambrian V-irons etched many years ago by Meteor models which has the same shape as the U shaped one. The missing one on this etch is a slim V-iron. I use to keep seeing these V-irons on various kit manufacturers stands at exhibitions because the range was transferred between different companies and most people didn't know what they were.

Because the weather is so fine and while I was painting I took the trouble to paint the axleboxes and springs on the NSR van. I think a few miles on the bike is called for now.

Chris, one of the problems is that we are trying to find a house in an area that is very popular and is a smaller place than we live now. So there is limited stock on offer and trying to find one that meets our needs is difficult. Plus we live on a estate that is very close to other regions like Didsbury which is highly desirable and the houses here sell very quickly. We don't want to sell ours and be forced into buying a house in desperation. I would never here the end of it because my wife likes our present house very much having been the only occupier since it was built. I have done a little work on these loco coal wagons painting most of the W-irons and brakegear. I wouldn't batch build again because I find need to see the end of a build without getting bored. There is still some way to go before they are finished.

Rather than start a new build I'd thought I would do a little more work on some unfinished wagons that have been hanging around for some time. So I have added all the bolts on the last of the 4 loco coal wagons and given it a coat of paint. I need to finish the underframes on 2 of them and find some axleboxes and springs as well as ordering numberplates. I am finding it stressful not be able to go to exhibitions and buying parts I need. Some people find it easy to order stuff on line, but I am not one of them. At least the is a little movement on the house move front because we have engaged a company to replace some windows in our present house that needed attention before we put it on the market. Now the question is do we put ours on the market before we find a new house or do we try and find a new house and then sell ours ?

Rich, I am afraid that the van has come to a halt. I don't have the necessary tranfers of the right size to complete it. And I don't think I am in the right frame of mind at present to attempt to hand letter it. So rather than make a mess of it I will leave it for a while until I can obtain the correct ones. The knott and the letters are only one plank high so I will have to check who does them and it may mean using 4mm scale ones if they are available. The NSR wagon book is very good but because it is a small company there is still a lot missing that we don't know about. As for the cancer, I dont see the point of worrying. I can't change anything so why worry ?

In the end I went for .6mm wire for the locking bar. It just needs a safety chain and locking pin to complete the door furniture. Buffers and axleboxes, springs and then the lettering to finish off.

I have cut a new chamfer on the diagonal frame that I had missed earlier. I masked it off and lightly sprayed it again with good results but there are still a couple of bits which will need a bit of attention. Now it is on its wheels I feel more confident that this van will join the other NSR wagons to form a small train.

I have managed to scratch the new paint already trying to paint the roof. I have also noticed I have missed a chamfer of one of the long diagonal timbers. Perhaps I should have a bit more patience and let the paint dry for a longer period of time. I did think I could cut the chamfer now and touch up the paintwork later but I will leave it for the time being. On a better note I had a letter from the hospital this morning saying my cancer is stable and not getting any worse and I dont have to have any chemotherapy yet.

Dave, I have looked at the photographs and concluded that the first attempt using .7mm wire was too thick and I have exchanged it for .6mm which I think looks better. So this morning I have given the van several coats of paint. I first gave it a coat of grey primer before going over the body with the red oxide. I wish I had gone straight to the red primer first because it looks as there are too many coats of paint on it now and the detail around the bolts has lost a bit of definition.

Back to work after being a grandad yesterday. I have made a locking bar but putting it on the van I think i have made it from a wire that is too thick I will make another from thinner wire and compare.

One side has all the bolts applied and one end as well. The other end has been drilled but as yet the bolts haven't been glued in. Just one side to do with and the locking bar to make and fit. I have made the first one but it will need a bit of refinement to make look like the photographs. I think we are on the home straight now with the majority of the hardwork done. The roof is a bit rough and I will have to sand it down to make a better job of it. We have the grandsons tomorrow so very little model time.