Western Star

1 hour ago, kitpw said:

The Basilica Fields blog has some GWR drawings dating to 1895 of both switches and crossings which might help...

Thank you Kit.  Maybe you have forgotten that I wrote the posts about permanent way for Adrian Marks...  and that you contributed to some of our discussions....  relating, I think to the practices of the Metropolitan Railway.

The content - text and drawings - are based upon a pamphlet that Harvie read to the GW Engineering Society.  I do not recollect that paper discussing chair and timber arrangements to address the problem of chairs getting in the way of each other.

regards, Graham

Given that the L1 Bridge chair did not become commonplace for S&C fittings until the 1930s then before that time the GW PW dept required a different method of accomodating Stock Rail and Closure Rail chairs on the same timber "where the separation of stock and closure rails is not sufficient to accomodate two plain line chairs end to end".  Enter the Z chair which is 6" in width and hence two such chairs can be placed side by side on a 12" timber....  or one Z chair and one plain line chair can be set side by side on a 14" timber.

Consider a 1:7 turnout with 12' loose heel switches.  There are 1S and 2S block chairs to support the switch heel...  followed by five timbers where there is not sufficient room for the adjacent stock / closure rail chairs if those rails are supported in plain line chairs.  Those five timbers are provided with Z chairs to avoid conflict between the chairs of the stock rail and the chairs of the closure rail.

There are two options:-

1/ use Z chairs under the stock rail and under the closure rail with 12" timbers;

2/ use Z chairs for the diverging rail and plain line chairs for the straight lead with 14" timbers.

Great Western Switch & Crossing Practice (D Smith, GWSG) acknowledges the use of Z chairs and the use of 14" timbers within turnouts generally, the text is not clear on how the switch end of the closure rail was chaired in the pre-grouping period (ie. the book does not discuss the options noted previously).

Anyone got chapter and verse from GW documents to throw light on the conumdrum?  Or maybe photos to show how the chairs / timbers / fittings were used?

thank you, Graham Beare

Discussion with Ian Pope re the PO wagons in the background of the photo...  both are thought to be from the Norchard colliery which is about five miles from the docks.  The lettering lower down on the RHS side of the RH wagon may well be part of (the last four letters of) the location as written on the wagon, being "LYDNEY".

regards, Graham

2 hours ago, airnimal said:

... I don't have any axleboxes left, but they are on order.

Mike,

I have some D1 bodies that Adrian (RIP) sold to me as "rejects"...  I have sourced the buffers, I have failed to locate axleboxes so please tell me where you are obtaining supplies.

regards, Graham

This photo has been provided by Ian Pope from his collection, the original photograph is thought to be by L Copeland.

The location is the fulls tipping roads at Lydney Docks (see coal tip to RHS background), the date is possibly circa 1924 if the numbers to the RHS of the solebar are a paint date.

There appears to be no wagon numberplate on this wagon...  why?  If this wagon is shunting truck no.1, were there any more such allocations?

Note that in discussion with Ian Pope this morning Ian advised that the existance of a "shunting truck" for the "S&W Joint" is not mentioned in the minutes of the Severn & Wye Joint company.

Russ, @Miss Prism, can you arrange for this truck to be added to the allocation list on gwr.org.uk?

regards, Graham Beare

Come on Stephen @Compound2632, please help us out with your experiences.

Mike,

The D1 photos show that you are using self-tap (?) screws to fix the axleguard etches...  the top photo shows that the screws (or fixing holes) come through the floor.  How do you finish the floor colouring so as to hide the evidence of the fixings?

regards, Graham

Slater's Plastikard has a small range of wheels for continental prototypes, see here.

A friend is sorting out a future MPD based upon a mineral area...  he tells me that he shall work all of the locos off of the shed before a show opens....  and then works the locos back on-shed just before the show closes.

Reality in the extreme.

Your model looks very neat and tidy so please tell us how you have constructed the model.

regards, Graham

On GWR metal framed wagons of the late Victorian / early Edwardian period the rear support is hinged from a bearer that runs between the solebar and the "short middle" - the bearer is a piece of plate with right-angle bends at each end.

1 hour ago, airnimal said:

Now I have put the doors on it is beginning to look like a NSR van.

How have you built the door / framing...  and then fitted the result into the body shell?

21 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

I'm possibly beginning to se a use for all those bits of injection-moulded kit sprue!

Accepting that you are working in 4mm and I am working in 7mm, the photos of ingots had me searching for sprue from Games Workshop models...  some of the waste material has the same cross-section as ingots in a couple of the photos (a trapezoid shape with two short and parallel sides).

Anyone got suggestions of the sizes of the ingots?

4 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

Going back to Tipton, here's a pig bed (third illustration down).

 

The illustration suggests pigs in the form of long bars.

What did the iron producing companies do with the sow iron?   (the long runners which fed the moulding recesses for the ingots).

regards,Graham

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Perhaps built for specific traffic flows? 

 

The only customer-specific Midland wagons I'm aware of were....

Built new for specific traffic / customers probably...  I am not sure that we ever got to the bottom of the MR opens with bottom doors and sheet bars as seen in the vicinity of the smelters in the Swansea Vale region.  OK, we understand why those wagons were where they were photographed...  and why those wagons had sheet bars... I do not recollect any comment as to how such wagons came to exist given that there is no obvious record of building in the standard tomes on MR stock, nor how many of those wagons existed at that time.

regards, Graham

55 minutes ago, airnimal said:

This pair of bolsters wagons was made about 18 months ago when I didn't always trim the surplus webbing between the spokes on the wheels. So I have done one wagon to show the difference before  and after.  I do think it does  make a difference because I think it makes the wheels or tyres seem smaller or more worn.

I agree with you about the improved appearance of the wheels after trimming the extraneous material around the spokes and along the inner edge of the rim.

55 minutes ago, airnimal said:

The couplings are still the old Peco ones and should be changed but I don't have many loose steel links left.  I don't know if anyone else sells them ?

If Slater's Plastikard has a part in one of their kits then Slaters is generally willing to sell that part separately.  I suggest that you call David and ask for a handful...  I did so recently and received a hundred split pins for the coupling hooks.

regards, Graham

2 hours ago, airnimal said:

I can't believe it !  I have finished the **********

 

Sorry if this has been a saga, I hope it was worth it.

I expect that many others shall share my opinion...  a resounding YES.

regards, Graham

I like the appearance of your roof covering - including the wrinkles which can occur with leaded canvas over time.  Looks like canvas bedded to wood with white lead so now you shall have the opportunity to "age" the look over time.

regards, Graham

Looking at the photo of the prototype...  how do the proportions of the angles on the lower body member appear when compared with the angles on the body member which is along the top of the diagonals?  Does that assessment help you to decide on the size of the angles on the model?

How is the most recent lamp iron part fixed to the body side given the position of the (previously fitted) body washer plates?

regards, Graham

I believe that the fitting is a double ended horse hook.

The photo seems to show an "inner-city" location...  with suggestions of industry close by...  with a station that has (at least) two island platforms - those thoughts make me feel that the location is not on the pre-grouping GWR (the water crane with water tank atop may be a clue to the company that owns the infrastructure).

I am inclined to suggest Leicester.

regards, Graham

Anyone got a copy that is no longer required?

thank you, Graham Beare

7 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

No indeed but the swinger in the 1898 Maidenhead express is, I think, the same carriage or one identical to the Bodmin saloon:

 

So is that Adelina Patti waving at the movie camera?

I think that you are correct in respect of the similarity of the movie clip to the restored coach...  bar one observation:- look at the upper footboards.

If there is someone at the open window near the middle of the coach, I think that window maybe for a guard's compartment - look at the lower roof deck where there is a single lamp top visible.  The clip reminds me of the current travel restrictions in regard to face coverings.

2 hours ago, airnimal said:

A quick tickle with a needle file and you have the required slot. The same method is used for the plate but with a bit more care. The corners are then cut on a little jig made from scrap etch.

That jig, so brilliant in design!  Thank you for showing us how you get the clipped corners.

regards, Graham