t.s.meese

Moving from my usual LMS/LNER territory, I've started the first of four Cambrian SERC vans. I've just discovered these had self contained buffers - kit and 'Southern Wagons V3' confirms. The plastic mouldings look, well... Anyone know a source for cast replacements? Approx would do. I feel sure I've seen such over the years, but don't see anything on the Dart/MJT site. Wizard have the CR self contained - but not what I would call approximate! Any help valued. (Also, if anyone can tell my *why* these vans used SC buffers, that would be interesting...) Err - SECR...

Did the 1907 survivors have their axel boxes changed to oil?

Yes - I was hoping that vol 3 wooden might be helpful on the matter, but on reading web blurb find it is dedicated to the RCH 16'6" design. Whether that in itself is telling me something I am yet to find out. Oct 2020 for that release, but whether delayed by Covid...

British Railways inherited countless wooden bodied 12/13T mineral wagons to RCH design. But did any of the earlier smaller bodied designs (e.g. those produced by Slaters, Cambrian and Hornby) survive to nationalisation and receive the patch-paint branding that the RCH ones did? I have a vague feeling that some of these survived as far as WWII but I can find no photo evidence beyond that? Perhaps BR had a policy to scrap them?

...which is by way of saying, the 57xx method is the way to go...

...additional to above. One might suppose that, given the u/f switch, if my doubt were with the Cambrian components then my problem would have been the other way around. Perhaps so, if I had built like 57xx in his/her post. But, by default, I tend to start with the floor, build body about that, then attend to the underframe. And, although the prototypes of both wagon and van are 17-6 OHS, the kits have very slightly different length solebars ... and the W irons in the parkside kit are not integral to the solebars, so you end up with more degrees of freedom than you would like...

Yep - just did it tonight. How?, you might think, given my post today! Well, like many of us I have 100+ unbuilt kits (shrinking with COVID; I think 'r' = 0.7, which means I'm building about 10 kits for every 7 I buy at present). Anyway, it all worked, as 57xx shows above, but I must say I found aligning the W irons across the 6 plank solebars to be a horrid experience (hmm, Cambrian components, or the claret... ?). I must have reworked that four times until I got the free running I require. The van, on the other hand, went together like a breeze... And, for what it's worth, the reason I'd forgotten about the Cambrian LNER 6 plank (just one unbuilt kit in my box) is because Oxford rail sated that appetite with their RTR. Leaving a (suppressed) desire for a 10' WB version of course. So a good day all in all. Now then, which supplier for a few more Cambrian 6-plankers to kill that 'r'...

I've just figured out how to do it: Cambrian C81 6 plank, 17-6 OHS, 9' WB wooden u/f. Parkside PC61 Van, 17-6 OHS, 10' WB wooden u/f. Swap the underframes and you can convert the van to unfitted, and the wagon to the later fitted or non-fitted versions. Perfect...

I'm not sure how I put out a call on this site. Does it go under classified adds?

Slaters do a 9' wheelbase, but most of their PO bodies and Midland bodies are shorter than what I'm after. I'm wanting to convert Pasrkside LNER vans to unfitted. I have done a couple using a steel underframe with 9' wheelbase, you can do that with Cambrian underframe kit C35 (LNER Diagram 15 (wood ends) and 171 (steel ends)), but the more numerous Diagram 14 is a wooden underframe... There are parkside kits with wooden solebars at 17'6", but with 10' wheelbase. I'm thinking I might have to chamfer these...

I'm looking for wooden solebars for 17' - 6" over headstocks body and a 9' wheelbase. I don't think the trade provide one, but thought I'd ask: perhaps there is one buried in a kit...

Nobody painted the inside of wooden body mineral wagons - just plain planks. And this is true for most RTR offerings. But I have noticed that 4mm RTR coke rails are painted on the inside (Bachmann and, I think, Oxford). Does anybody know what the situation was with the prototype? (i.e. should we be giving the inside of those top planks some coats of wood effect?) Thanks Tim.

I have a feeling I once read that the vac cylinders were painted red oxide (?) on Southern fitted wagons and vans. I think I've seen a picture if this too. My question is which periods did this include? SR, BR Southern, LSWR?

Thanks BoW - a nice addition to the thread. I have three sheets (LMS, LNER and SR - not ex) speeding my way as I type - a very efficient and friendly service too, I found... Tim.

Regarding Fox transfers - when I look back at my unused ones I find that unlike the MM ones (all about 9 years old - I became rather inactive following a house move) they have yellowed on the blue backing paper. I can't remember which of my wagons I used them on back then. Has anyone else noticed this?

Hi John - thanks, yes, I have the full set of HMRS group and pre-group sheets, which are great for Big and Small Company names and branding, but all those tiny individual numbers! With 105 unbuilt wagon kits, that's 210 sides, and with 6 digits per number, that's 1,260 individual press fixes. Hmm—that's why those kits have been unbuilt for nearly ten years ;-). But I agree - BoW's link to Old Time Workshop looks very useful indeed...

Does anyone know of a source of transfers for the maker's plates etc on the sole bars of pre-group, group and POW wagons? I have some etched plates, but they are probably over scale—too thick—and need ultra careful painting and fixing of course. The transfers on Bachmann wagon sole bars look much better to my eye... The only source I have encountered is on a small pressfix sheet that came in a Slaters kit. (They don't appear on all their sheets—e.g. the LMS sheet does not have them—it might have been a POW sheet.) They worked well, as I recall, but did not include enough spares! Thanks Tim.

I'm wondering if anyone knows a source for 4mm complete wagon number transfers (pressfix or waterslide) for the big 4 (i.e. full length strings such as this: 505391). Here is what I know about: 1. I have just (re-) discovered the modelmaster sheets that do this for BR - I find the post-war POW transfer sets (e.g. Modelmaster 4658) particularly useful, but they don't do the big 4 (expect a few ex-GWR sheets that also - very usefully - include the original GWR branding; for some reason, not so for LMS and LNER - anyone know why?) 2. I have an ageing supply of powsides rub on full number sheets for LNER wagons, but (1) I don't have many, (2) they are unreliable, the numbers often 'flaking' before you can apply them...) and (3) I'm not sure you can obtain these any more, can you? (I couldn't find any 4mm ones on the Internet.) 3. I have wagons and vans from all the big 4 to do, so (almost) any number strings of the correct size and length will help. Thanks in advance for any steer... tim.

This is why I assumed they were closely packed. But someone mentioned that for bulls, only a small number were put in wagons. Perhaps it was less important to worry about the health (from falls) of animals on their way to slaughter. Dunno...

I live on Shrewsbury and commute to Birmingham from that bay. I shall try to picture your scene when back to work in the new year :-)

Answer to my own Q. I've just found a photo of a Gloucester wagon in Cambrian/Cardiff livery, p40 in Turton vol 6. It shows nothing on the other side. Perhaps the main purpose of the door springs is to protect the brake gear, not the door's hinges as I now realise I'd supposed. Comments welcome... tim

This Q is about wooden bodied coal wagons from pre-grouping into grouping - the ones with brakes on only one side. Photos are usually taken from this side. Sometimes there is a door spring, often not - the side door just bangs against the bolt at the bottom of the v-iron. (There is often a metal disk or short strap on the door to align with this.) My Q is about the other side of the wagon where there is no v-iron. What happens there? Some photos in Turton (vol 6) suggest there might be a spring or banger on the other side but I can't be sure. Some photos seem to indicate nothing. Is it possible there was a side door on only one side? Seems unlikely. Tim.

It's all in the title - but I might add the following: 1. I have decided to put some animals in my growing fleets of big-4 cattle wagons. But most model cows are Friesians - I recall these did not appear in the uk until well after the war (please correct me if I'm wrong). So pigs - easily sourced - seemed like a good alternative, plus one or two loads of Jerseys... 2. I note that Hornby produce a pack of Hereford's but half of them are in a black and white livery of spots. I think this is like trying to pass off a King as an A4 by paining it garter blue... 3. I did a search for 'pig' on RMWeb. I found a lot of 'pig's ears', several 'pigs to fit', flying pigs', and the odd 'pig iron', but not much on the live pink thingies. Actually, somebody did mention seeing (and smelling) pigs loaded into 3 BR GUVs in the 70s, which was interesting, but not quite what I was after. Anyway, any help much appreciated... Tim.

How do you prepare for what I assume are the slide on transfers? In the past, when doing mods like this, I have glossed (either varnish or black gloss, depending on the wagon), slid, then matted. But it's quite a drawn out faff - converting a run of grouping wagons into post-war versions (usually on one side only). I wonder whether the initial gloss and final matt cover is important...