Caley Jim

40 minutes ago, airnimal said:

Jim, yes it does have the heavy framing on the end door but not the cupboard doors on the side.   I need technical advice on this one. Although I have the Caledonian wagon book by Mike William's I don't quite know how the end door hoops work. I can see on the drawings that the hoops are welded to the ironwork on the door but where does the hoop go when the door is raised ?  And what does the door pivot on and what is on the door inside ?  I don't think I have ever seen a close up photograph of this feature or read about the way this works. 

The vertical washer plate on the outside , the hoop and the corresponding washer plate on the inside are all one piece, presumably forged from round bar.  The heavy transverse top beam is attached to the wagon sides, reinforced by a washer plate which extend right across and wraps round the corners.  This has two metal plates on top, corresponding to the position of the hoops.  The door swings on these, via the hoops.  The washer plate across the bottom framing extends out on either side as round 'pegs' and the door is held shut by two oval loops attached to the sides.  The pegs have a hole in them into which a pin, held on a chain, is placed to keep it shut by stopping the loops coming off the pegs. 

The left hand half of the two end elevations on p103 of Mike's book show the inside (top drawing) and outside (bottom drawing) arrangements. 

The RTR wagon you refer to had the hoop disappearing into the top of the cross beam!  How anyone thought that would work is a mystery to me!

HTH

Jim

Looking forward to seeing this one develop.  Does it have the heavy-framed end door, using the top cross member as the hinge, and cupboard doors, typical of central Scottish mineral wagons? 

I've tried to upload a photo of an earlier 'Arniston' wagon which is a dumb-buffered outside framed 'NB-style' 'bogie', but there seems to be a problem uploading images at the moment.  ☹️

Jim

I do something similar with AJ's sometimes, using a piece of wire to push one of the pair down. You have to be careful, though, and do it gently so that you don't upend the wagon in the process. 

Jim 

1 hour ago, Skinnylinny said:

Ah well, hopefully we'll bump into each other at Glasgow? As for Squires, I believe they'll be at Paisley, but if not, I could pick some up at Warley for you if given details. :) 

PM sent.

Jim

Sorry I missed you at Falkirk.  I was there for a few hours either side of mid-day.  As you say, some nice layouts on show.  Sadly Squires had only imperial sized brass tube there, so I'll have to bite the bullet and pay the postage on the 10mm tube I need for my next loco!☹️

Jim

There was also regular fish traffic in the herring season from northern ports, Mallaig, Peterhead and Aberdeen, to name a few, to the south.

Jim

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

This jury member thinks that it is spot on.

Seconded! 👍

Jim

I would suggest that finishing it off would be a fitting addition to the rolling stock, but I'm wondering if that collection of castings includes other things?  There would appear to be parts for a coach bogie there.  I'm afraid I can't help with identification, others with more knowledge may be able to help.

Jim

The scribing of the floor to represent worn timber is just superb. 

Jim 

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 Coal wasn't (isn't?) just coal - there was a great variety, with coal not just from different coalfields but from different seams at the same colliery being best suited for different purposes. 

A classic example of this was the Royal Navy's preference for Welsh anthracite. During WWI the navy was stationed in Scapa Flow resulting in a constant procession of coal trains going north on the WCML. This not only put a severe strain on the Highland Railway, but was a contributing factor in the Quintinshill disaster as one of these trains was occupying the down loop meaning the local train had to be put 'over the road' to allow the late running overnight express to pass. 

Jim 

The CR mineral wagons ranged from early 6T 'bogies' through 7, 8, &10T to 16T latterly, culminating in the 30T steel bogie wagons.  The 4 wheelers all had end and (cupboard) side doors and many had bottom doors.  Their open wagons were generally 4 planks with fixed ends and side (drop) doors, as well as drop-side wagons of similar design.  The 30T bogie wagons were not a success as the company could not persuade the industrial customers, for whose traffic they were intended, to upgrade their unloading facilities to cope with them.  They ended up as either loco coal wagons, sleeper wagons or, with the side doors removed, merchandise wagons used in express freight traffic.

Jim

2 hours ago, Annie said:

Nobody watches these anyway so I don't know why I bother.  

Don't kid yourself, Annie.   I always watch, and enjoy, them!  😳

Jim

I always arrange that one bogie can rock transversely and the other longitudinally. The later keeps the vehicle steady while at the same time introducing an element of compensation. 

Jim 

Apart from fine files, another useful tool is a fine India sharpening stone. This is useful for removing the last traces of tags from delicate edges without distorting them. 

Jim 

I always use 12BA bolts (or offcuts) as bogie mounts.  Never had any problems.

Jim

1 hour ago, Dungrange said:

.....  Was human waste transported in the same way?  I must admit that I never knew they used human waste as a fertiliser at that time.

Perhaps not human waste as such, but Glasgow Corporation had 'sewage disposal wagons', lettered as such, which took the sludge from the sewage works out to farms in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire. Also the Glasgow Police Commissioners (who were responsible for cleaning the streets at the time) had manure wagons for similarly disposing of the horse manure they collected.

The four on the right are manure wagons.

Jim

10 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Tuesday 26th or Thursday 28th? Either way, 40°F looks coat-wearingly nippy to me. (Taking the Holyhead readings.)

40F is around 4.5C. That's T-shirt and shorts weather! We had -16C one night last winter and back around 2010 it was going down to -23C overnight and never went above 0 for days! 

Jim 

4 hours ago, ChrisN said:

.... My Coal Merchant has a 8 ton wagon, but when I worked out the wagon volume and the density of the coal it only carried 7 tons.

This was common. As I've posted before the 'Load x tons' marking only indicated the maximum load the bearings should be subjected to (taking into account the weight of the wagon), not the physical capacity. Coal was lighter than other minerals such as iron ore and stone. 

Jim 

53 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

....... If I were young, I think I’d be looking to emigrate to somewhere a bit younger, more vibrant, and with fewer people talking about how wonderful it all was back in their day.

Mars?  Don't think it's any younger, or more vibrant, but there are fewer people!  😁

Jim

3 minutes ago, figworthy said:

You forgot knowing how hard to hit it.

Isn't that implied by the size of the hammer?

Jim

Absolutely stunning as always, Mike.  Glad I don't work in S7 or I'd be totally disillusioned as I could never achieve that standard.

Jim

Well, I suppose I count as 'elderly' (would certainly be disenfranchised if Miss T had her way), but I can cope reasonably well with a smart phone, internet shopping, etc..  I refuse, however, to go anywhere near internet banking, no matter how hard the banks try to force us into that!

Jim

17 hours ago, CF MRC said:

But of course David! A sharp tap with a Mallet is sometimes useful to overcome stiction.  
 

Tim

Engineering is 90% knowing which hammer to use and 10% knowing where to hit it. Tim will have had plenty practice removing impacted teeth with a bone chisel and mallet! 😃

Jim