doilum

Perhaps not universal but some collieries had wagons for a specific task. Both Whitwood and Glasshoughton ( and possibly Prince of Wales Pontefract) had a pair of 21ton steel hopper wagons used exclusively for taking house coal from the screens to the landsale drops. These probably replaced wooden 20ton NE hoppers which, along with the 13;ton version were commonly found. Does any one have any information on the pair of side tipping slurry wagons that are slowly returning to nature at the National Coalmining Museum? One day I will get round to finishing the model I started!

I guess the 4mm version has a different design. Perhaps an easy fit brass tube over the axles with some springy wire soldered to the top might do. You will have to cut the outer part of the axles off as per prototype. If doing a batch of ten there is scope to have a little fun with the wheels. Most had the ancient split spoke design but solid and three hole disc wheels were also common. At least one wagon should have a mismatched pair!

I went and had a look at my 7mm examples. They run in brass axle boxes with grooves to run in the slots in the frame. Not sure about 4mm but those with watchmaking skills might be able to fit some tiny springs. Adding hidden weight is probably equally important in the smaller scale.

Definitely in the background shots of Get Carter in 1970/1

I should also have included keeping left and right side components separate when building Walschearts valve gear......

Ferrero Rocher. The usual size make great drawers for sorting out your store of components and spares. The large flat presentation boxes are ideal for dismantling a loco in order to avoid losing tiny springs, screws and washers. This also helps if you need to clear the work bench quickly for another task, like feeding the child. Expensive? Look in the £shop just after Christmas!

The removable boards in the doorway of my grañdfathers coal house still had the remains of wagon numbers painted on them.

Would love to see this photo. There was a slightly longer version of the skip wagon built for the sewage works under the Tinsley viaduct in Sheffield that was approved for mainline running but the more common short wagon was prohibited. That said there were a significant number from the Durham area relocated in the Castleford area. Not sure how they were delivered. My own pet theory is that the skip wagons were built using wheels and buffers recycled from condemned PO wagons.

From local evidence: when a flat bed was required it was done by cutting down a damaged mineral wagon. Likewise, I have seen examples of "vans" which are clearly conversions of 7 plank solid end wagons. There is clear photographic evidence of main line 16 tonners being "borrowed" for internal use. It is possible that these were wagons that arrived in a main line train with an issue such as a hot axlebox or broken brakes/springs and " forgotten" about by BR. A quick visit to the pit workshop would see them fit for internal use. The provision for pit ponies is one that interests me. Having daughters with a dozen or so, I have a good idea about the quantities of fodder, bedding and manure involved, yet have never seen photographs of wagons or storage facilities.

Just remember that the prototypes could fall off the track faster than Scargill could call a strike! Good luck with this one, I shall follow with interest in case I ever get round to building another batch in 7mm.

This was the transfer run to the washer at Fryston about a mile to the east. Coal for the basin would be in 7 plank end door wagons whilst waste was taken in side tippers across the river using the BR metals by local agreement uñder the control of the signal box.

Had to double check this wasn't one of my previous postings!! Add to the list: transfer to adjacent coking plant ( Glasshoughton and Whitwood) and transfer of coal to stockpiles which balanced out the seasonal variations in demand. Pony poo was wound to the surface and taken in wagons to be dropped off for collection by local farmers. My late father used to recount how, once coal extraction was transferred to to Whitwood colliery, Dom Pedro was retained as a ventilation / man riding shaft and the only product was the muck from the underground stables. Wagons of coal would be sent up the internal line to fuel the boilers and office fire. Some collieries, Wheldale in particular, accumulated an amazing collection of oddball wagons which to my great regret, I never quite got round to photographing. Fortunately, others did and are easily located via Google image search. This is a great excuse for wagon fans to indulge their passion.

Fabulous bit of old school modelling.

A " disposable" sheet of 6mm MDF. Glue a strip of straight hardwood on the rear edge to keep things square. Add a green mat and a flat metal square. Job done. When soldering and paint spills bring you back to square one: repeat.

A lorry. By this time most would be sourced from the UK as the Forestry commission began to clear the trees planted in the 1920s in Keilder, Dalby, Sweet Lamb, Grisedale ( guess my other hobby of the 80s). I am not saying it didn't happen, but I cannot recall seeing any timber trains despite having a dozen collieries on my door step. By the 1970s most of the roof support was done in steel but much use was made of wooden "chocks" which were able to "talk" and give audible warning of changes in the roof above. Stacks of very short props / chocks were a feature of mines right to the end.

There may be a little more to the historical context. I am sure that I have seen elsewhere that in the immediate period after the war a shortage of wagons was seriously holding up fuel supplies and members of the public were encouraged to volunteer to empty wagons in order to reduce turn around times. The photo I was thinking of had a cricket team somewhere in the home counties shovelling coal!

Victorian factories made full use of that zero cost energy source: gravity. Raw materials would be hauled to the top floor and finished products left at the ground floor. Because they were tied to rail or canal side locations prime land was expensive and multistorey buildings more cost effective. Modern elevators are a more recent development and the external winch was well established by the start of the nineteenth century. As already noted this was simply a development of the medieval hay loft. Not sure if it is just a northern thing, but most of the shops built by cooperative societies used this system to access their upstairs store room.

Love the three seat sports car!

Great photo. A good study of a fired muck stack. And better than two? Four of course! ( Not counting the 50550)

I found a triple set on eBay for very reasonable money. The baby one takes tools and the other two take the tank engines in their display boxes. An old fibreglass brief case and it's wooden clone have a simple plywood divider for wagons. Coaches have their own boxes that hold four and were custom made by my late father in law.

Disposable teflon coated and less than a tenner!

Forty years ago a complicated hi tech solution would have been my first choice method. Funny it has taken so long to appreciate the low tech solution. By the time jigs have been made, cutters adjusted and measurements triple checked the guy with the drill is starting to join up the dots...... Maybe it is a result of retirement when time doesn't really matter but I have come to embrace the slower boring ( bad pun) approach and find it is usually quicker. I have every type of power saw available but, for the first time in my life really enjoy using a ten quid jack saw. Just a thought for Sunday morning!

Old school. A 3mm drill and chain drill the new perimeter. This is the safest way to minimise collateral damage. 40 grade grit paper glued to a bit of broom handle or similar round scrap makes a cheap rasp. Make a coffee, choose some music and accept this might take 20 minutes to complete.

Try the super thin gable end but pack it so that it isn't perfectly flat to the backscene. Opinions are divided but you might explore the possibilities of decoupage.

"Solid and stable geology..." Chalk or limestone would be a good bet.a