drduncan

I have been looking more closely at the photo of 26841. Now 26841 was an old wagon - it was inherited from the West Cornwall Railway and taken onto the GWR's books in 1878 having been built, if the WCR's records were accurate and accurately entered in the GWR's Wagon Stock Book in 1874. This means it might not have the normal layout of things that we might expect. I have circled 2 areas of interest. First, below the solebar. Is that part of a V hanger or brake gear? The underframes are wooden so you might expect an external V hanger bolted to the sole bars, but that is not the case. There also is no sign of a brake lever, which, if that is part of a V hanger or brake gear, you'd expect to see on the same side. Second, there appears to be a lever just poking over the arc of the rounded far end of the wagon. This might be an end mounted brake lever, as seems common in the early period - certainly the B & E and SDR seem to have used end mounted brake levers. Any observations from the the body of the kirk? Regards, Duncan

https://blacksmithmodels.co.uk Duncan

Some further info on 26841/ex WCR no 201, thanks to @Chrisbr who kindly shared images of the relevant WSB pages... It was condemned at Carn Brea on 12 Nov 1896, which will help @Andy Keane with the date of his Helston image, I hope. Regards, Duncan

Now there’s a thought a special secret finescale handshake….what might it look like? D

Porchester Rd and Dorchester Rd? Can you explain what archives are at these addresses, please. Duncan

Very impressive! Are you planning to do a rolling version? Also what printer resin combination are you using? Regards, Duncan

Takes one to know one… D

Is t that one of the advantages of 2mm scale? D

True. There’s nothing funny about tension lock couplings. Duncan

On the subject of stone loads see: https://stoneyard.com/calculators/stone-slab-weight/ Using grey granite @ 165lbs/cubic ft a slab 6ftx2ftx2ft would weight a fraction under 2 tons so 4 per 8 tons open. Duncan

Yes you beat me to the maths. My assumption, and it is just that, is that the semi refined product would have a greater volume than the ingots, so a 1plank wagon with a layer of sacks might not be too implausible. The lead wagon drawing shows a relatively small but heavily built wagon (no surprises there). (Courtesy of @Skinnylinny) Duncan

So, as there was a very real and successful lead mining area a couple of miles to the north of the notional location of Nampara, I have been investigating lead mining and refining. It seems that the ore was often semi or fully refined on site or very nearby. The semi refined lead was pea sized while the fully refined ‘smelted’ was in ingots - often referred to as lead bullion, but that’s not outrageous then you consider how expensive lead was/is and that silver was a considerable by product. So what would this look like in a wagon? No idea and no pictures so far but I’m assuming the pea sized semi refined product would be in hessian sacks (cheaper and lighter than barrels and the contents won’t spoil). The ingots could be treated like bricks in an open wagon (exact volume in an 8ton wagon tbd) but theft would be a problem, so I think, not withstanding @Compound2632 righteous ire at specialist wagons I think one will be needed: a lidded low sided wagon with big padlocks which can also be used for the silver…I even have a drawing! Duncan

I’d very much appreciate seeming the scans. Duncan

@railtec-modelsI’ve been looking in the website but can’t find the G.W.R transfers. Duncan

Just don’t ask me to 3D print individual mangolds!