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I can't believe that Parkside have discontinued PC05, really stupid decision from my point of view, is this a Peco thing? The Parkside model had the wooden underframe, the Bachmann model is a late van with steel underframe. The Parkside kit could also make a great conversion into the unfitted 9' w b van, with the 10' wooden vac fitted chassis, being repurposed under a Cambrian 9' w b unfitted 6 plank open. Unfitted stock is rare enough in Model railway land, another opportunity to produce them is lost, sad. I've never had a problem with the kit myself, it literally falls together. This is one of many I have built, repurposed as a 9' w b unfitted van.

Evening Frank, as Mick has pointed out, the ABS 7 mm range is back. They do the 9' w b LNER vac brake for a very good price, it would be a simple to convert it to 10' w b if you so wished. https://www.djparkins.com/product.php?productid=19072&page=1

Non of the RTR 4mm scale, GWR 12 T vans are much cop, better to scrap them all and start again.

Good afternoon 90614, a shame about the ABS range but understandable, it is so incredibly useful. A nice set of SR 9' wb, 8 shoe clasp brake gear would do me fine. As for LNER O gauge 8 shoe, there still seems to be bits and bobs about but you have to dig pretty deep.

That's a rather radical approach. I think it is worth replacing the roof at the same time, or at least thinning the edge, that on the model being as thick as slice of bread, . The rain strip is easily replaced and the T vents are more like pimples, so not much lost there. The only complication is the raised strip under the eaves on the body side, that genuine LMS vans lacked but the BR versions had. It would also be easier to produce it as a BR diagram because of the inverted vertical U channel, unless you fancy a bit more more surgery?

Good evening Frank, the earliest batches had the LNER vac brake and less ribs on the body. Later batches had the cheap as chips Morton pattern and the final batches had the BR version of the eight shoe clasp brakes. A kit was available from Red Pander for the later version and can still be sourced. Replacement chassis and brake gear are available for the LNER and Morton braked batches from Parkside.

Cambrian do quite a reasonable LMS late period Low goods. One of the distinguishing features being the exposed ends to the floor planks.

A more compact version with used tractors rather than brand new. For modelers with not a lot of space.

Here's a genuine train taken from a photograph. I had no choice, some fiend had bought up all the tractors. It shows ex military vehicles being tripped to the Ministry of Supply auctions at Ruddington. Author of the photo unknown.

Bottles of Champaign?

Ta-ra 2021, won't miss ya, wouldn't want to kiss ya. Proud to survive isolation and attempted cancelation. Poked a big stick at terrible freight trains and even more terrible stock and rip off products. Talked up the height of LMS vans, delineated (in accidental collaboration) GM wagons from minerals. Challenged the veracity of the official railway modelers list of ubiquitous objects. No to SR Van C's, bogie van B's and gangway luggage vans. Where are all the SR PMV's on LB? Will it make any difference? Not on your Nellie. Nostalgia and Accuracy are about as nourishing compatible as moonbeams on toast. Forwards.

Afternoon Mick, there was a lot of fuss about its failings but you can't fault them on the BR version having probably never existed.

Good afternoon Tony, I once had a tractor on a 3 plank, it was roped over the buffers like yours but I had a bit of a bus on a bridge moment and replaced it with a cement mixer.

That's an interesting post. I would have thought most people would see Fish vans as operating in dedicated rakes and never anything else. I seem to have spent quite a bit of time explaining radom Fish vans to punters in the past. Fish vans are really 'specials', being passenger rated. The Fish vans that I have constructed are not in fixed rakes. Five vans were dropped of at Leicester Central by a Grimsby - South Wales bound Fish train and attached to the backend of a Manchester - Marylebone express. The express was in effect a giant bogie van train with three passenger carriages for the fee paying public. Fish vans could indeed run in mixed rakes. My other two Fish vans are really ex fish vans, being LNER 9' wb vans that were downgraded from Fish to ordinary fitted van traffic. They are in a Dringhouses - Woodford Fitted freight, as per the photo I have of the working, stopped on the mainline for inspection at Leicester South Goods. Slightly cheating that one but another example of Fish vans not in a block train. On the mixed freight side, there were General Merchandise runners on the GC that produced some interesting formations and the evening goods to Woodford from Leicester and the early morning goods from Woodford into Leicester were more varied. Generally though the GC LE probably had a higher proportion of block trains than many places, most of which was coal or empty wagons.

I'm not aware of any particular problem with the 9' wb on the 6 plank LNER wagons. Examples were still going strong in 1978, fifty years after building. I have examples of bent 9' wb GM wagons from a cross section of the big four and earlier. The thing the have in common is wooden underframes. The LNER cattle wagons were just a stupid design and another example of a dodgy RTR model.

Agreed, some also found employment on new traffic, extending their lifetime still further.

Good question, some disappeared over time, there wasn't much call for new wagons to carry large Naval guns post WW2 but new ones were also created, the Pal van for instance. The specials were always a small percentage of the whole.

Conspiracy, that's not 1958, pull the other one it's got a dining service.

Good afternoon Jol, that's an interesting one because we start to get into the more specialised open wagons, those not built specifically for general merchandise traffic. It also features the other thing that Railway modelers tend to be very bad at on the whole, the loading of wagons. I suspect the photographers and staff trainers would have a field day at the average model railway exhibition. This ones a classic you see on many layouts that combines the two. How not to load a Pipe wagon

Good afternoon Northmoor I know containers are containers but is it sort of general merchandise or 80% dodgy wagons from China?

Re the dia. 1/204 dia. 2039, not a BR 1/204, see Simons (65179s) post with regards to the raised strip that the Dapol van has and the one in the photograph doesn't. In addition, it has RCH vac brake gear, that would suggest a genuine conversion from an LMS unfitted van. The two put together might be an LMS dia. 2039.

Morning Graham, I think it is easily forgotten how dominant the General Merchandise wagons was, well into the BR period. The take over by the van / container was probably aided by the simultaneous decline in freight traffic. Your going to have problems fitting planks of wood in a 12 ton van, better to put them on a lorry.

A quick addition, to flesh out a point highlighted by TGB (Tony). Its an obvious difference but easily forgotten The nature of the loads mean that a GM wagon can be loaded up above the body sides or beyond the ends, while a mineral wagon can not. The sheeting is then important, not only to protect the contents from the weather but also to secure the load in the wagon. See the image of the MR wagon below, awaiting its sheeting. I also include an image of an over hanging load and of baskets being loaded into GWR Highbars. The Highbar provides a frame for the sheeting. Some of these loads would be quite difficult to get into a van.

No need to apologise Graham, can you believe this is Wright writes?

Thanks for your feedback, your comments on height being greater than the sides is a good one, as it would also facilitate a persons body passing through the opening.