doilum

Just an update on the van conversion wagon. Browsing through one of Bill Hudson's books I found a very similar wagon that had been converted for carrying pulverised coal. Perhaps it may be linked to trials of Hunslet's mechanical stoker?

Sorry, I was thinking about the original post about loads in 13T wagons rather than specific route diagrams.

It is almost a year since I managed a Friday night pint or three. The TV is appalling and I got to wondering how many of the individual austerities we have managed to model? Which is the most popular? Happy to start this as a new thread if there is any interest.

The pegging method can be used to keep the frames together as a pair rather than the old school method of soldering them solid. Once the first frame is drilled out it can be used as a full template for the second. This especially easy if you have a vertical pillar drill. Working in 7mm, I like to have all the holes drilled and opened out including plunger pickups and brake hangers before committing serious time to any fancy profiling. Keeping the frame blanks slightly over length allows me to retain a pair of locating holes after the others have been opened out to their final size. Perhaps I should have added earlier that my predilection for 1mm drills is that they are the smallest size available from non specialist suppliers. In my case my local car accessories shop retails a a pack of three at £1:99. Cheap enough to be disposable.

Was that driving or diving!

Glass works.

The beauty of using the rod as the template is that you only need to mark the first hole. Drill through into a piece of scrap wood and peg it with a spare/broken drill. All you do now is to line up the other end on the line previously scribed, drill and peg, the drill the intermediate holes.

This is the nightmare when we take the layout to a show. Everyone turns up with their shiny new toys none of which want to hook up. Eventually a couple of compatable sets are worked out and they pretty much dominate the entire weekend. This is where practicality must over ride dead scale accuracy and the simplest way is to make your own links. Providing it pivots, the first link should be OK. If the overall chain is too tight, a slightly lengthened middle link helps. If the dead scale hook is too fat, a slightly wider end link will accommodate it. Some modellers favour a brass middle link which makes it easier to catch the steel end link with a magnetic uncoupling device. Personally, I use the mini lamp almost exactly the same as the one above and solder the end and middle links at 90 degrees making them easier to catch.

Given that the 8F rods will already by drilled for the crankpins, you might need to think about bushing the 1mm pilot drill to keep the centres honest.

Good advice. A long time ago I remember a difference of opinion between the chief examiners of A level geography and physics as to how points on a graph should be marked. Just don't ask me which favoured the cross and which a sharp dot!

Did I spy Sgt Pepper lurking in the other batch of photos?

Better still: make the coupling rods first. Then use the first as a template for the other and the frames. Use a pilot 1mm drill and use the spare / broken drills to peg out your work as you proceed.

True and I foresee (hopefully), a trend of "pop up" shows, arranged at short notice in church halls with a handful of club members minimum space layouts and low costs all round. Medium sized shows however need at least one impressive tail chaser otherwise the general public leave a tad disappointed and reluctant to return next year. When I try and recall over forty years of shows, the ones that are engraved in my fading memory are the large show stoppers Copenhagen Fields, The Gresley Beat, High Dyke, Happisburgh and a few more. After wracking my brain I struggled to name many of the wonderful minimum space layouts I had seen other than Under Milk Wood. That said, Houghton Street was built to the capacity of an Astra estate car.

At the risk of being a little more serious: we are an aging group, after a gap of one, two or even three years how many of us will still be physically up for the challenge of humping all the gear into and out of vans............ In addition we may find that some of our long standing venues may no longer be available due to covid protocols. That said, and hoping for a better vaccinated future I have just signed up to steward at Doncaster for the Guild's summer bash. Keep safe!

Pity. I found that most responders were positive and helpful.

Don't forget the rectangular tank wagons. In service until the mid 60s.

Sounds like a busy 2021. Should be good fun though. Don't forget that both tenders will need to be LHD!

Excellent. A real mix of wagons just like Wheldale and Fryston. Some collieries seemed to almost standardise on one or two types whilst others just seem to have collected them.

My brother had a bespoke window / wheelchair width door unit made and converted the garage into his main entrance thus being able to brick up an awkward side door. Probably wasn't cheap but made a huge difference. The extra wide door was to future proof the house but would be perfect for moving a railway in and out!

Short term solution. A six foot draught excluder ( rolled up length of carpet et etc) stuffed behind the door makes an amazing difference for zero cost.

Is Merry Hampton nearly as obscure as St Frusquin? Good choice though. That will be two scratch built tenders or did you spot the NT on the bay of E last week? Trough deflectors? Fitted 1962 and 1961 respectively.

For inspiration, try a Google search for "0 gauge tar works". Or the Harrogate Gas Works which had its own narrow gauge system. You might consider being the first to model a sewage works. Google the plants at Tinsley or Esholt. ( In particular try the Google images for Gordon Edgar's pictures of Nellie)9A good excuse to build a few of the side tippers from RT Models.

What we need to know is which loco you intend to model and which period? You might then get lucky with a photo!

Tar was usually a byproduct from other processes. A small tarmac plant with tar, road stone and sand delivered by rail? Or a small gasworks, Before the 1970s gas was produced locally so every small town had its own gasworks. If a full scale coke ovens is too daunting, there were also much smaller operations producing smokeless products and brickettes which were formed coal slurry from the colliery washers. Again, coal in and product and tar out.

You could have fun building the quenching car and cab over boiler locomotive as used at Glasshoughton.