Caley Jim

The Newsletter of the HMRS dropped through the letterbox this morning. those of a Southern persuasion my be interested in the book advertised on the cover - 'LB&SCR Carriages Volume 3 Bogie Stock 1897-1907' Described as 'Due out any day'. Jim

If i may indulge the Parish Council to go back 4 pages, I have now consulted with my fellow 2FS modeller Alisdair Campbell, who is the drawings archivist for the HR society. It is neither HR nor GNSR, but could be a PO build by either Hurst Nelson or Pickering, who both arranged the outer layer of door planks vertically. As he and I are followers of the true associated faiths of the HR and CR respectively, we are not in a position to comment whether or not the vehicle may be associated with one or other of the two other (inferior) Scottish companies. (If we were to mention their names we would be required to undergo purging and absolution! ) Jim

Stairway from the platform now assembled. You can just about make out the added 'overhangs' on the steps. The photos show that I need to do a wee bit of infilling with solder on the slots/tabs locating the inner part of the 'T' section arch. I now have to make up a template to help me locate the two sections accurately together in the correct relationship in all three planes as they are not at right angles to one another and the two ends are at different levels. Jim

I was torn between 'craftsmanship/clever' and 'Friendly/supportive' but went for the former. Been there done that..... Jim

On behalf of the 2FS fraternity, I thank you for that, James. After speaking with a member of the press at the Glasgow Show some years ago, her piece described us as the 'Wee Free's' of the modelling world. We were happy to go with that! (For those not familiar with the history of Scottish Presbyterianism, PM me and I'll give you a lengthy explanation) Jim

That's the Drummond /Stroudley influence. Jim

The doors certainly are typical of both CR and NBR mineral wagons, but they usually had heavy, outside framed end doors (at least all the CR mineral wagons did). The axleboxes have a top lid like CR, NBR and HR ones, but they all were more bulbous and rounded at the bottom. All CR 8 and 10 ton wagons had 4 planks. It wasn't until the Dia 52 14T wagons that they used 5 planks, but on them the top two planks were through. Having said that, there was a batch of 8T wagons the company took over from a private owner which were built by Hurst Nelson and had 5 planks, however they had the aforementioned end doors and the outer layer of the side doors was vertically planked. So, not an exact match for anything of which I am aware. Jim

Bolts look OK to me! As to the nut, though.......... Jim

More progress. End posts and 'T'-section arch and side braces added along with the top surface of the deck. Now to start on the other flight of steps. Jim

Many railway photographers appear to have been very lax in that respect! Jim

There has been a slight hiatus in work on the bridge while I assembled some items which I had been asked to do for another project. they have now been passed on and i will leave it to the recipient to comment on them should he so wish. To let the good folk here see what the prototype looked like I should have included this photo from the Norris Forrest collection held by the CRA, which is about the best one we have. The sides have now been added to the sub-floor of the main span and the steps fitted. Not obvious in the photo is the piece of fine wire soldered to the front top corner of each step to replicate the step overhanging the riser. I was more than half way up the flight before I managed to evolve a way of making a neat job of this! Jim

Drawing the thread over a candle (or other wax object) can take the 'hairiness' out of it. Jim

Consulting Mike Wiliam's book on CR wagons, the CR had a heavy duty self contained type which looks very similar to the left hand one in the photo. The drawing has neither a scale nor dimensions, but assuming the head to be c1'1" in diameter, I estimate the body to be around 9" diam. Jim

So, if it was clockwork, why did it need tanks? To cover the mechanism, presumably! Jim

CR buffers were three bolt with a single rib on the outer side, so, yes, these could well be CR ones. Jim

These are Alex Jackson couplings. Jim

It is much easier to attach these parts while the underframe is still in the 'flat', i.e. before you bend the solebars and inner headstocks down at 90°. I design the axleboxes on my kits with a little 'handle' which is connected by a thin tag and can be broken off easily after you're happy with the positioning. Jim

Strictly speaking, Annie, the tank is acting as a pilot loco. A banker would be at the rear, pushing. Jim (in pedant mode)

The etch was received last Friday and I managed to make a start on it at our area group meeting on Saturday, (6th picture down). Since then Time has been a wee bit short, but by last night I had the four side units assembled. The two layers forming the lattice are pretty flimsy at first, but once the top, end and intermediate flanges have been added, they become fairly rigid. The tabs along the bottom will fit into slots in a sub-floor which also forms the lower flanges, while those on the lower ends are to locate the posts at the bottom of each stairway. Jim

Looks about right to me. On CR wagons the end of the dumb buffers had a slight chamfer with the strap sitting immediately inboard of that. Jim

In other words, in terms of this thread, not a lot has happened! 694 pages divided by 39 months (since the thread was started) = 17.79 pages/month, so 15 is well below average!! Jim

I think it was to give a larger area for contact and also extra depth to allow for the varying heights of the buffers on empty and loaded wagons. Jim

CR dumb buffered wagons also had this extra layer on top. Jim

Diagram 36 in the CRA reprint of 'Diagrams of Caledonian Railway Coy's wagons, Vans, Horse-Boxes Carriage Trucks Etc.' is a 'Diagram Showing Dimensions of the Authorised Loading Gauge' :- Width above platform level 9'0" Width below platform level 7'6" Width 3" above rail level is 6'6" (shown as the 'height to which ballast is heaved') Centre of rail to Platform edge 2'0" Height of platform above rail 3'0" Jim

Just gets better and better! Jim