magmouse

Actually, it was the meeting of the S7 Group at Albury, where you would of course be most welcome. Given your previously expressed concerns about being press-ganged into joining the senior service scale, though, you might want to approach with caution! Nick.

Thanks, Mike - that means a lot given the high standards you set for the rest of us. It was great to meet you yesterday and see some of your superb wagons in real life. Nick.

Thanks Chris - glad you liked it. Nick,

Thanks, Mikkel. The paint is an automotive red-oxide undercoat, from Halfords. Where I had to repaint the inside, I used Revell matt 37 enamel, which is a close match. The colour then gets pushed about a bit with the oil paint - my palette includes Indian red and yellow ochre, as well as black, white and burnt umber. With that mix I can go towards pink, orange, or a darker, richer red. In the case of this wagon, I did that a bit on the inside, but not much on the outside, where it is mostly greys, warmed up with a bit of yellow ochre and burnt umber. Nick.

Thank you - I am pleased with this one. I’m getting to grips with the artists’ oils for weathering, and liking the results. Using the brass for the axle box covers also worked well, I think. Nick.

This diagram P4 ballast wagon was an eBay purchase, cheaply bought as a 'fixer-upper'. It's built from the PECO (ex Websters) kit, and the original builder had made a reasonable job of construction. The paint finish wasn't great, with a fair amount of dust in it, and the brake gear was smashed: The first job was a good clean up, and remove the broken brake gear and couplings - the buffer rams had to stay in place, as the retaining parts on the rear of the rams were very firmly glued on. I scraped the paint back on the main panels, but decided a full paint strip wasn't needed. The wheels needed changing for S7 ones - with these kits, they will spring out of the axleguards, though you have to bend them quite a long way so it is a bit nerve-racking. With the destruction complete, it was on to rebuilding and detailing. For me, the things that give the wagon its character are: the riveted body platework, which the kit does very nicely the door retaining pins with their chains, which are rather anaemic on the kit the large wooden door bangers the axle guard covers, which the kit omits - more on those later. I did the new door securing pins and chains as follows: I took a length of 5A fuse wire and folded it round the shank of a suitable sized drill (the diameter the ring needs to be). The ends were secured in a pin vice and twisted to form the chain, with the wire still around the drill. Slip the wire off the drill and release the pin vice, and you have a ring and chain. The securing pins were made from brass wire, about 0.3mm diameter. One end was bent over to form the loop at the top of the pin, and before tightening, the ring of the chain made in step 1 was put into the loop. That gives you a pin-ring-chain assembly. The pin was held in place on the wagon side with a length of the fuse wire folded over and the two ends put into a 0.5mm hole drilled in the wagon side. A drop of thin CA glue (Rocket 'hot') applied on the end of a bit of wire holds the assembly in place. This is definitely the fiddliest part of the whole operation. The 'chain' was formed into a loop so it looks like it is hanging down, and the lose end put into another 0.5mm hole and secured with CA glue. Repeat another seven times... I fitted one at this stage to make sure it worked as planned, but left the others off until later, to avoid damage to them. The door bangers provided in the kit are OK, but suffer a bit because the draw angle required to release the parts from the mould goes across the width of the bangers. They therefore look oddly unsymmetrical when looking at them straight on. Also, the original builder had glued some of them on not quite straight, so I decided to remove them all, square them up with a file, and re-attach them. I also noticed, looking at prototype photos, that the bangers have shallow holes drilled in them, corresponding to the rivets on the door strapping, so that when the door drops down the contact area isn't just the rivet heads. I decided to drill these holes once everything was assembled, so I could position them correctly relative to the door rivets. The prototype photos show that when built, GWR ballast wagons had sheet metal covers over the axleguards - a very distinctive feature. Later photos don't show them, so they were presumably removed at some point. Checking as many photos as I could find, I was fairly sure that for my 1908 period, the wagon should have the covers - and in any case, how could I resist such a characterful detail? Working from photos, I drew up the covers in CAD. The drawing was printed at the correct size on a sticky label, which was stuck on to four pieces of 5 thou brass sheet, previously sweated together: I cut out the outline with a fine fretsaw blade: I left a large 'tab' at the top to make it easier to make the fold where the cover attaches to the bottom flange of the solebar - it is much easier to made the bend this way then try and get an accurate bend parallel and very close to the edge of the material. The label was removed with white spirit, and the four pieces separated and cleaned up: I folded up the pieces in the vice, and trimmed the top flange to size: The part that goes over the axle box is made by bending the main piece to form the sloping top and short front edge. The sides were from scrap etch, chosen to be the same thickness as the saw cuts. They were cut oversize, soldered in place, and filed back to make a neat final assembly: I did a dry assembly to fettle the covers to fit - I made a mistake and glued the door bangers on first, and had to cut away parts of the covers to accommodate the bangers. It would have been better to do it the other way around. I numbered the covers to ensure they would go back in the right place, as each one needed slightly different adjustments. The brake gear was rebuilt using the kit brake shoes and hangers, and WEP and Ambis components for the vee hanger, push rods, and lever. The brake lever guard was my usual combination of the ratchet from the Ambis component, and nickel silver strip bent to shape. After a waft of etch primer on the not-yet-attached metal parts, the final assembly got me to a physically complete wagon: A coat of paint always brings things together, revealing any blemishes but also giving confidence that perhaps it will be OK after all: Lettering was from a sheet of HMRS pressfix transfers, which had the 'PT WAY' text I needed, but which I find difficult to get aligned accurately. I had to get a new sheet to do the 'PT WAY' on the ends as you only get one pair on the sheet, so I bought methfix this time, which allows adjustment more easily. The lettering isn't strictly accurate - the 'PT WAY' should have the characters all the same size, not a larger P and W. The lettering is generally slightly too big, and as a result there is no room for 'To carry' that should precede '8 tons'. There should also be the word 'Construction' on the ends, in italics. These observations are based on a photo of a diagram P5 - I haven't found a photo of a P4 in pre-1904 livery, so I can perhaps get away with these inaccuracies... I don't really have a need for a ballast wagon at Netherport, so, after some discussion: I decided to load it with sand being delivered for the sand boxes of locos and brake vans. The gradient inland away from the harbour at Netherport is steep, so it is important sandboxes are well filled before departure. The shape of the load was formed with a layer of thin corrugated cardboard followed by some cat litter, glued in place with diluted PVA and moulded to shape. As this was an experiment, I put cling film in the wagon first, so I could remove the former if the cat litter didn't work out: The result was OK, but it took a long time to dry and shrank considerably, so I am not sure I would use the cat litter again. Before gluing the load in and adding the 'sand', I did some initial weathering: With the former in place, I could add the sand. This was made using a product called 'Terrains Sandy Desert Acrylic' by AK Interactive - it's aimed mainly at military modellers for dioramas. I used a variety of tools to put it in place, with my biggest concern to get the edges to look natural, and keep it off the sides. I failed to keep it off the sides, and the edges took a fair amount of fettling, adding additional material to fill slight 'sink holes' and scrapping off material that had got in the wrong place. As a result, the inside of the wagon sides were rather scratched - the acrylic sand medium also seems to soften the paint quite effectively, which didn't help. I ended up repainting the inside of the wagon, being careful to keep the paint off the sand. With some final weathering, including the repainted insides, the wagon was complete. The weathering was mainly done with water-soluble artists oil paints, plus some weathering powders. Nick.

I love the undulating track formation in that first photo. The cows gathering at the gate are also a delight. Nick.

There was an earlier grease-lubricated box of type ‘K’, so I assume the OK type is an oil-lubricated replacement for that. Possibly there was a patent, to justify the logo? The grease boxes also had a logo in some cases. Nick.

Thanks Mike and Graham - yes, I’ll be bringing poles and wagon to the S7 meeting in Albury at the weekend. Nick.

Zooming into the picture (Midland Railway Study Centre item 66779), I’m pretty sure that it shows number 26, not 25, so the error may be in the archive description, not Johnson’s. Nick.

Thanks, Duncan - much appreciated. Nick.

I misread that and for a moment thought you meant: Nick.

Thanks, Chris. I find these kinds of project very satisfying - finding an everyday detail from over 100 years ago and translating it into model form. Nick.

Thanks, Louis - hopefully the positive effect is not just down to the photography! Well, quite.... There is the possibility of something in the current attic room (aka box room, junk store, room of doom...). Planning permission will be required, as well as considerable preliminary works to prepare the space. Other domestic projects will need to be completed first, to raise sufficient 'capital' - watch this space, but don't hold your breath. Nick.

There is a photograph in Jim Russell's book 'GWR Wagons Appendix' that shows a wagon loaded with long, thin conifer tree-trunks, of the kind referred to as 'Norway poles'. For some time I have wanted to model a similar load. The wagon itself has been described in this blog before, and has a rather chequered history. Amongst other issues, I put washer plates on the inside, corresponding to the attachment points for the sheet supporter mechanism at each end. I was following the RCH drawing for the sheet supporter parts, which was the only information I had at the time; since then, I have seen photos that show the GWR didn't put washer plates on the inside. I therefore wanted to add a load to hide the washer plates I had put in, so this was my opportunity to model the Norway poles. Making the poles has been a slow process - 15 months in fact. They are made from the twigs of a Christmas tree, with the needles stripped off and most of the bark sanded off. I collected all the suitable twigs from our 2022 tree, but there weren't quite enough, so I had to wait until the 2023 tree became available. Each time, I left the twigs for a couple of months to dry out, then stripped the needles and sanded then with coarse sandpaper. The remaining texture gives a reasonable impression of the partly-stripped bark seen in the prototype photo: The bottom layer of poles was glued to a piece of stiff card about two-thirds the length of the wagon. More poles were glued on top, and the final layer left loose, as I wanted to ensure there was no glue visible. The roping follows that shown in the photo, and is made with 0.75mm rigging thread, as used by ship modellers - the same technique I have described in previous blog entries. A small amount of thin cyanoacrylate glue holds the knots in place. And here with a 2-plank wagon as a runner: Nick.

That’s right, as shown by the plan view which has the internal compartment dimension between partitions. Nick.

I think the side elevation has been scanned in two parts and not put together quite accurately. There are discontinuities in the drawn lines in several places where the join is. That's why that window looks so narrow. Nick.

If Mike announces he is going to pass on some of his stock, make sure you don’t get trampled in the stampede! Nick.

Mike, even by your high standards this is superb. Though the body is all plastic, somehow the planks looks like painted wood and the washer plates look like metal. Wonderful stuff. Nick.

My immediate thought - think 'cockpit', with the operator seated half way between the beams, head immediately below the roof apex, facing the window. The layout wraps around, with the main scenic space between the beams, below the window, making use of all that lovely light. Track layout with station/harbour/yard/industry centred, fed by either dumbbells either end or a loop of track round the outside of the space. Could have a fiddle yard behind the operator, who sits on a swivel chair. Could be quite spacious for 4mm scale, but who needs that? Tight radii for 7mm scale but would suit an industrial scene, which would suit you. Nick.

And happy birthday from me too! I assume it’s tomorrow for you by now, though. Nick

Look on it as re-enacting the broad to standard gauge conversions carried out by the GWR in the early 1890s…. Nick.

Wow - I’ve looked at that photo several times, and never noticed the plate on the brake van. My focus has always been on the wagons beyond, and their sheets. I suspect the plate is for the home depot name, though it is interesting that it is on the right hand of the two centre panels, unlike the example @Miss Prism posted above (but the same side as the painted Crewe label in the photo in my first post). The best bet is to have a long depot name that has to split across both panels, as in @Compound2632’s model! Nick.

According to Slinn, Great Western Way, 2nd edition 2009, p.123 on, the chronology goes like this: 1873 onwards - guards allocated their own vans, and the guard’s name is painted on the side. By the end of the 1880s, guard’s name omitted, and depot name painted on, in italics. From c.1894, with the introduction of cast plates on merchandise wagons, similar plates were sometimes used to show the home depot. By 1896 the body colour had been changed to grey, including handrails. By 1900 the depot is shown in block letters, with 5” initials and 4.5” remaining letters. From January 1903, vans allocated to guards had their name painted on, with other vans marked “spare” (though this is not confirmed photographically). Allocating vans to guards ceased around 1912. Nick.

Thanks, Stephen. Interesting and helpful to hear that you have come to the same conclusion regarding the arrangement of the various elements. Slinn dates the change from G.W.R on the left to it being on the right to around 1893, so yours would be rather a straggler to have this arrangement still in 1902. In any case, Slinn dates to start of grey livery for brake vans as "by 1896", so LH G.W.R lettering would be with red livery. Slinn references the (re)introduction of painting the guard's name on vans as January 1903, citing a GWR circular. So you are only out by months - sorry if that means the ingeniously named F Goodish is, like Bunbury, quite exploded. Nick.