drduncan

Rather than ground signals, ie independent of the point position, you could consider non-independent point signals (often rotating lamp type things) or even ex BG point capstans bought cheap from the GWR following one of the gauge conversions of the 1870s…. Duncan

Interesting! Which issue? D

What are peoples experiences with Sunlu abs like resin? Can anyone suggest settings they have used successfully with an Anycubic MonoX2? Thanks Duncan

New print available - 4GWR-016 GWR ex Cornwall Minerals Railway iron bodied China clay tippler wagon. The CMR built over 200 small iron bodied, very short wheelbase, but wooden underframe, China Clay wagons in 1874 using two builders, the Swansea Wagon Company and the West of England Wagon Company. Within a few years the CMR and its China clay fleet had been leased to the GWR. The wagons appear to have been built with dumb buffers at the tooling end and self contained buffers at the non tipping end. Later the wagons were altered to have self contained buffers at both ends - probably in the 1900s - although the wagon stock books are silent on these alterations. As the wagons were built by independent wagon manufacturers not the CMR or GWR, these wagons may also be of interest to those creating proto-freelance independent railway companies of the late Victorian and Edwardian period whose traffic requires an end tippling mineral wagon where a very short wheelbase would be an advantage such as a dock or similar loading/unloading point where there might be very tight radii curves to negotiate. 4GWR-016 is for the early version of the wagon with dumb buffers and self contained buffers. It comprises a one piece body and chassis complete with brake gear as well as axle boxes and springs at the brake lever end of the print. Included with the print are a pair of separate self contained buffer housings and a pair of axle boxes and spring assemblies to facilitate a compensated chassis if desired. Also included in the print is an axle alignment jig for either OO or EM/P4 - please state which is required on ordering. Cost for 4GWR-016 is £15 plus p & p. Prints can be ordered by emailing DR3Dmodels@outlook.com Thanks for your interest. Duncan

A very interesting and impressive project. I’ll be watching with interest. Duncan

Do what Mike says! You could also solder brass tube across the frames where the hangers would be (say 0.7mm id) and then trim back to just inside the rear faces of the flange. Then just have a stub of 0.7mm wire from the brake shoe which located in the tube and you can spring the brake gear off. Duncan

Well executed. I’ll be watching progress with interest. Duncan

I have used dental type burrs in a mini drill very successfully. Duncan

I’m sure that in the early 80s (certainly not earlier than 1979 because that’s when we moved to Nuneaton) I went to a show at Bedworth where their was a BLT - probably GWR - but it had a WD branch and depot beyond the station and it had me enthralled. Duncan

Quite right. The non passenger rated wagons built in the interwar period were grey, although survivors of the SWB Y1 and Y2 NPCS fruits would have gone into brown at the same time as the LWB NCPS fruits C and D, but the OP was asking about the passenger rated Fruits, specifically the Fruit D… I should have been more precise with my terminology but I thought in the context of the OP’s question all would be clear. I’m sorry if anyone was confused. Duncan

@Schooner The price list now has in-service dates... D

Yes I have, which is why I’d want Rose’s lemon or Rose’s Lime marmalade. D

Heretic! D

Rose’s lemon or lime marmalade? D

Imrex85 at Wembley conference centre. Tge Coombe Merlin layout was there… Duncan

You’d have to back to WW1 to find fruit vans in wagon grey. I think the exact year was 1916…certainly that’s when the fish wagons went brown. Duncan

A Beattie Well tank! D

Well I wasn’t expecting that! D

It’s based on a design for Barlow rail and is designed to bear against the wheel flange not tge wagon buffers, so is a lot lower than ‘normal’. It will also make for interesting painting and weathering to show the wear of flanges against the metal sheathed cross beam. D

So I test printed and fitted a mixed gauge buffer stop today. The chairs under the baulk of the buffer stop will face to be trimmed away before final fitting and painting. Duncan

And a tantalising glimpse of part of a GWR 2 plank wagon….

I’m a fan of Alex Jackson (AJ) couplings. They are very cheap as they are made from guitar string and very hard to see. There are jigs available to make firming them very easy. They do need care in storage and transportation as they can be knocked out of alignment if they are carelessly handled. Heres the business end and more into can be found at: https://www.mmrs.co.uk/technical-articles/alex-jackson-coupling/ Regards Duncan

I’m using a 36inch radius to work out the swing of the bogie, if that is what you mean. Duncan

For mine, what I’ve been doing if a fancy solid spring shoes is smear a little filler across to give it a flat surface. I’ve been toying with doing springs with solid shoes but there is very little information as to when they stopped being used. D

Ah, but they are specific to a certain coach/wheelbase/bogie combination. The plan is that when the coach prints are released the jig is part of what comes in the box. D