2996 Victor

Midland Railway Ballast Wagon, sans ballast (and buffer heads!): Hopefully attached is the RM article detailing the conversion process, which gives details of these wagons in Midland Railway, Cheshire Lines Committee and Brecon & Merthyr Railway service. Ballast Wagon Conversion Article 4MB.pdf

Hi Alex, that's fine! Would a scanned .PDF or a photocopy suit you better? I'm afraid my home printer/scanner/copier is extinct and I'm not in the office until next Tuesday, so I hope that'll be okay? Cheers, Mark

I'm thinking of adding a stub of a standard gauge transfer siding to the layout a la Gordon Gravett's legendary "Llandydref", which is likely to become home to a forgotten Midland Railway ballast wagon. To which end, said ballast wagon has been constructed from a Slaters 3-plank dropside, painted a fetching shade of red oxide and lettered "ED" courtesy of HMRS Pressfix Sheet 17, all in accordance with an article by David Goodwin in Railway Modeller of September 1983. Like everything else, it needs weathering, and I need to do something about the colour of the interior planking. Photo to follow..... Interestingly, the article also covers these self same wagons in the ballast-carrying service of the Cheshire Lines Committee (which were apparently a lovely shade of "red lead" which is actually bright orange!), and the Brecon & Merthyr Railway. If anyone wants a copy, let me know! Cheers, Mark

Mick, I've just done a quick Google search of "Robert Tivendale Wheal Louise" and the following came up: http://www.magazineexchange.co.uk/practical-model-railways-magazine-march-1985-issue.html which has an article about building wagons for the layout. I can't remember whether the article(s) were in consecutive issues or not, but it narrows the time frame down a bit! I'll have a look through my clippings and see what I've kept! Cheers, Mark EDIT: There was an article about his tin ore processing plant in the December '86 issue of PMR, and also apparently a layout description in the January 1990 Railway Modeller, though I've never seen it!

Hi Mick, many apologies for the delay in responding - I forgot to add a "follow topic" tag and only just noticed! I'm afraid I can't remember what edition of PMR the layout featured in, but I THINK it was called "Wheal Louise". From the depths of my memory, I seem to recall there may have been two or three articles covering different aspects of the layout. I used to clip articles of interest out of magazines, so I'll see if I've got any of it in a wallet file somewhere. The locos were named "Miner" (0-4-0T, later 0-4-2T), "Smelter" (0-4-0T, later 0-6-0T) and "Spitfire" (0-6-0T). Have you got a copy of the Bradford Barton "Mineral Railways of the West Country"? I imagine that's the one you mentioned above. There's a little bit of info on the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum website www.narrowgaugerailwaymuseum.org.uk but probably nothing new to you! I'll see what I can find, but I can't promise I kept it all through marriage, children and divorce! Cheers, Mark

Happy days: I have Bachmann "Peggy" waiting for me. Sad times: I won't be able to collect her for another two weeks.

Thanks, Alex! After I've sealed the decals and prior to weathering, I want to spray on a light coat of well-thinned light greenish-grey, just to tone everything down slightly, and then just a light weathering to make these two look like they've been through the repair shop in the not-too-distant past. With future efforts, I think I'll try spraying on a toning-down coat before adding the decals, so that I can hopefully achieve a more weathered effect. Now all I need to do is find my airbrush, which hasn't been used in over twenty years since I dabbled with 1/48 scale First World War aircraft..... Cheers, Mark

A couple of photos of the re-lettered Nocton Estates wagons: I'm really quite pleased with them, although I would like the transfers to settle a little more into the grooves between the planks. I've used some MicroSol on both of them, but it doesn't seem to have been that successful. However, I must have had it at least 20 years, so I'm wondering if it loses its efficaciousness over time? Anyway, I've ordered some new, so I'll see if that's any better! Cheers, Mark

My two recent purchases, the Nocton Estates Class D wagons, as taken from their boxes: Following the advice given in the Questions, Help and Tips sub-forum, I used a cotton bud dipped in Tamiya acrylic thinners to dampen the running numbers. I left this for a few moments to soften, then using a dry cotton bud, rubbed over the numbers, dampening again with thinners as necessary. This is the result of about a minute: And after a further minute: And after a further minute or so, the number was completely removed, leaving a slightly burnished surface: In total, it took little more than twenty minutes or so to remove the numerals from both wagons. The white paint of the numerals left a few specks, which were easily removed by another pass or two with a clean cotton bud dampened with the thinners: They then had a light coat of Tamiya acrylic gloss lacquer in readiness for the Old Time Workshop decals: I've applied the transfers, and they look really rather good! The light was starting to fail, so I'll get a photo tomorrow. Next job will be a waft of matt lacquer to seal the transfers, then a re-paint of the interior to better represent woodwork and some weathering. Incidentally, the Nocton Estates wagons have a brake stand on one bogie only, whereas the ALR (and other users, it appears) wagons had brake standards on both bogies. Something I'll have to remedy! Cheers, Mark

Also, I have a cunning plan to resolve my indecision over the track Watch this space......but as usual, it might take a little while, so don't hold your breath (unless you can do so for a long time!!!).

Having successfully found a couple of useful threads in the modelling Question, Help and Tips sub-forum (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/forum/25-modelling-questions-help-and-tips/), at the beginning of last week I bought a couple of Nocton Estates Class Ds from the wonderful WD Models in Chesterfield (with whom I have no connection other than as a satisfied customer!). In the meantime, I've been thwarted by various annoyances, for instance work, and haven't yet been able to have a go at de-lettering them. Tonight was supposed to be the night, and guess what? I'm about to make a start and my eyes start stinging and go bleary. I can see well enough to type this, of course, but not to be able to work on an OO9 wagon. Annoyed does not come close.....

…..and is this Roundhouse offering a genuine D&RGW livery? If so, what era was it in use?

Thanks, Nile and Paul, I'll head over and see what I can unearth! Cheers, Mark

Thinking a bit more about re-lettering the Nocton Estates wagons, does anyone have any experience of removing the running numbers on Bachmann RTR wagons? Is it possible without destroying the entire paint job??? Cheers, Mark

Does anyone have any experience of removing the running numbers on Bachmann RTR wagons, eg the WD bogie wagons, to re-number them? Is it possible without destroying the entire paint job??? Cheers, Mark

Hi Michael, firstly, may I say excellent work! I'm fairly new to US-outline model railroading, so although I've been aware of Evergreen products for years, I didn't realise until reading your thread that they actually make specific Car Siding! Presumably, then, the 3.25" board width was pretty much the industry standard in wooden car construction. Did you use the 0.040" thick sheet for the car's sides and ends? And what about the roofing? Do you add internal bracing or do you find the sheet strong enough to be self-supporting? I'll be following your thread with great interest. Best regards, Mark

Hi and many thanks! I've built many, many injection moulded plastic kits and scratchbuilt in styrene, so I think I'm fairly capable, but wood kits are a whole new world! I've enjoyed building a couple of Bitter Creek laser-cut wood kits, but the LaBelle kits are another step. Its good to know that with a bit of care I stand a chance of a decent result! Thanks again and best regards, Mark

So I took the plunge and picked up a couple of LaBelle kits on eBay, a Colorado Midland Stock Car and Colorado Midland Hanrahan Reefer, which arrived yesterday. And, oh yes, there's a lot of strip wood in there, and the instructions are sight to behold I think they'll take bit of building

Thanks for that - two very interesting links! So, in the US, stock cars were steam cleaned, at least after around 1907. It'd be interesting to know what happened prior to that, perhaps just a big brush and lots of water. Cheers! ​Mark

That's what I'd recently read - as far as livestock transport in the UK was concerned, lime washing was banned by Act of Parliament in 1926. Although the lower sides of the CP cars in the photograph I posted above appear to be white painted I read, also recently (although I cannot remember where!), that they would have been lime washed until around 1926. But to return to my original question, US stock cars in early 20thC photographs are not lime washed, so what was the standard method of cleaning and disinfecting them between use? Cheers, Mark

Hi, I've bought a couple of car kits on eBay, a reefer and a stock car, which aren't appropriate for either of my current projects, but which could be of use for a potential future project..... As far as the stock car is concerned, when it comes to finishing and weathering, I'd be interested to know what cleaning and disinfecting regulations were in place across the US around 1910. In Britain at that time, cattle wagons were washed out with slaked lime, which in traffic gave the effect as seen here on a rake of GWR wagons: And these are Canadian Pacific stock cars, which as I understand, it were washed with slaked lime until the mid-1920s: What did US railroads use to clean and sanitise livestock cars? Cheers, Mark

No tangible progress, as I've been engaged on other things, although the layout design continues through its' umpteenth iteration. Perhaps someone more learned then I (Prof?) could tell me whether logging railroads ever used, in their "more permanent" trackage, a diamond crossing in restriced areas? I would have thought not, but it would be interesting to know if it were a possibility even if a rarity. Cheers, Mark

But not it seems, according to Hattons' website, until May/June 2019 Ho hum! I do have several of Old Time Workshop's ALR decal sets, so whether there is scope for re-lettering the Nocton Estates version..... Hmmmm! Mark

Hi Alex, I absolutely agree! I see that Bachmann are releasing them in early livery, which although seemingly unweathered adds a bit of scope for "individualising" them, always a bonus when almost the entire fleet will consist of otherwise identical wagons! I'm quite frustrated with the Dundas kits, which is quite a shame. I can't fault the mouldings or the way the kits go together as a whole, although as I mentioned above I think the brake gear could have been done a little better. They just don't seem to work for me.....so although the Bachmann wagons are more expensive to buy, they'll be more economic than a stack of abandoned half-built kits. Which is strange, as I've been building wagon kits for 35+ years from all manner of manufacturers. I put an old CooperCraft GWR O4 kit together on Saturday afternoon with no trouble whatsoever, and the American-made HO-scale injection-moulded flat cars and wood "craftsman" kits for my US logging project have been great to build, and they are far, far more detailed and complex! So as far as my Ashover project goes, I guess I'll be RTR-ing it after all! Cheers, Mark

A minor frustration..... The Dundas WD wagon bogies are nice mouldings, but are quite basic when comes to the brake gear, just the stand/wheel and shoes. The linkage at the base of the stand is quite visible, so I wanted to add a vee hanger, rocking lever and the barrel arrangement at the base of the handwheel. All straightforward to do in evergreen strip and rod, and accomplished easily enough. Except that it occupies space required by one of the wheels. Now, the brake stands are positioned according to the kit instructions, but it seems like they need to be significantly further outboard. Those Bachmann RTR wagons are looking increasingly attractive, despite being twice the price of the kits! Cheers for now! Mark