doilum

I trust you are aware of " The British Traveling Post Office" by Peter Johnson. I succumbed and built a triple set of Gresley units.

The passing loop sounds interesting. Add a drop off siding and lots of micro detailing.

For a completely alternative approach take a look at Gordon and Maggie Gravet's Arun Quay. The " river" illusion needs to be seen. The misty murky background is Manchester on two days from three.

In the end this is not a search for the mythical Doncaster green. Each wagon weathers slightly differently and the original colour only matters if you are tempted to build another. There is nothing to say that individual steel works used the same colour. Given that shade of gray, end of a war, there might be a lot of surplus paint originally intended for the navy. Perhaps the red lead undercoat went to the coal board!

I noticed that. It might be worth the journey to the proper timber merchant as, like for like, the prices are very similar.

No problem!! The rust is the eyecatcher. The interior condition was probably decided by the nature of the waste carried. From the photos I had, the NCB wagons had a lining of dried slurry not dissimilar to a wheelbarrow that doubles up as a concrete mixer. I guess the steel slag left a polished surface that quickly rusted. The battered end suggests a bucket that has fallen off a time or two and has been replaced by an enthusiastic digger driver.

Same period, similar hobbies. Mk1 RS 2000. 24mpg in summer; 20 in winter and 27 on a long run consistently over five years. Oddly enough exactly the same for the MGBGT I ran in the noughties.

I wouldn't be far off then. As an aside I recall that Slater's had a Midland based 7mm layout at their old premises. The spinners utilised tender drive.

Just a thought. A couple of years ago I revisited Beamish. To my surprise they had a tipper wagon pretty much in the condition of your model. The grey original paint puzzled me at the time but now makes sense. I hope that they realise how rare this survivor is and are able to conserve it before some " artistic director" decided it is beyond repair / spoiling the view of the recreated colliery / the £200 scrap money might be better spent on......

I have done a couple of pipe bridges on Houghton Street. One crossed the rails and disguises the exit to the fiddle yard. The other crosses the beck and is the full nine yards with 18ba nuts and bolts on the flanges. I think I would rather do a dozen tipper wagons than repeat that task.

Can anyone remember the original price? My vague recollection is that it was comparable to a Wills kit plus Triang jinty donor. Hence I never got round to building one.

Assuming that the book case is not of huge monetary or sentimental value this is the way to go. You might even be able to install a sector plate capable of holding a shunter and three wagons. The trick is to have somewhere to play. You could include buildings or scenic features that eventually become recycled into a larger layout. The bridge and water main are begging to be modelled.

,RSH ?

Any good timber merchant will be able to order it in and should do the basic cuts for free. Try and avoid DIY stores and general builder's suppliers unless you really know what you are looking for. I paid around £45 / sheet for Houghton Street about six years ago. I would be cautious about anything much cheaper

Birthday present sorted!!

No that's a new one. Wish I had found it years ago. now all I have to do is find how to stop underlining. Thats better.

Looks like it has been in the canal! Well done! This is a perfect exemplar as to why NOT to begin with a wagon kit! I have my own pet theory about these wagons. Although the design is definitely pre war, the majority were built for the newly nationalised industries after the war. Because of steel shortages and post war austerity, they made use of components from the many thousands of wooden ex PO wagons being condemned at this time. This would explain why so many have split spoke wheels from pre grouping days. It wasn't uncommon to find examples with non matching wheel sets and a wide variety of buffer types. Having spoken to several people who had to use them, none had a good word or a printable comment! It is perhaps as well that they are not cheap as they could become addictive as there are so many individual variations to model.

There are four. If you can't solder when you start you will by the time you have done four! They are a particular favourite. Childhood memories of scrambling over one that had become derailed and unceremoniously pushed out of the way alongside the river Aire. At one time they were as common as mice but then became virtually extinct within a year or so of collieries closing. My ten year on and off quest for a drawing eventually led me to RT models and I may have played a small part in pursuading them to do a 7mm version.

A couple more. Fryston No 2 drops a pair of side tippers into the repair shop. Glasshoughton ,No4 takes on coal.

They are my tribute to the short rakes that could be seen awaiting transfer to the two local chemical plants. If you can find a badly painted five plank wagon or two they are a very inexpensive project. The bay of E occasionally has the Slater's underframes that someone didn't get round to using.

The points have change over slide switch which also acts as a locking mechanism.

A bit tricky in a small space but here we go!

Really looking forward to seeing the outcome.

Is there room for a fiddle yard too? If so, you might even think of a class 25 and a run of presflos subject to modest lottery win!