I’m new to this forum so excuse any howlers I make. As a further observation on the Ratio ‘5 plank’ coke wagon kit found by Dad-1 I offer these thoughts. I bought this wagon (see below) wheel-less and unloved as part of a job-lot of wagons on the bay of E (I only wanted the Palvan!).
Above the solebars my wagon seems identical to Dad-1’s kit but below is completely different apart from having a 10 foot wheelbase. It has no sub-floor ‘frame’, the floor is in two halves and without plank marks. Dad-1’s kit has a steel solebar and what seems to be a hole for capstan/horse haulage. My wagon has the steel solebar but no hole! I also think the buffers are quite different, mine being more spindly as if for a fitted van and not stubby RCH mineral. I think someone broke off the coupling hook on my model too.
If I didn't know it was Ratio I’d say my wagon was early Parkside or Kirk in origin. Page 8 of Ian Rice’s ‘Getting the best from plastic kits’ has a photo of this kit but he’s tinkered with it to use a Ratio 10 foot underframe kit. I’m wondering if that’s happened to my wagon.
As I'm modelling 1955-60 BR I’d just give it a random P number and weather it a lot as by 1963 nearly all these Private Owner wagons and LMS/LNE wooden wagons had been dumped in sidings or burnt according to Dave Larkin.
I've subsequently found two pictures. One of an unknown prototype and one a model of an LNWR wagon at the NRM which suggest that these type of coke wagons were once quite common but as beyond living memory have been forgotten. If I've en-fringed any copyright please let me and I'll credit you or remove them.
"Jurassic Models" ? Well Almost !!
in Dad-1's Blog
A blog by Dad-1 in RMweb Blogs
Posted · Edited by 21D
I’m new to this forum so excuse any howlers I make. As a further observation on the Ratio ‘5 plank’ coke wagon kit found by Dad-1 I offer these thoughts. I bought this wagon (see below) wheel-less and unloved as part of a job-lot of wagons on the bay of E (I only wanted the Palvan!).
Above the solebars my wagon seems identical to Dad-1’s kit but below is completely different apart from having a 10 foot wheelbase. It has no sub-floor ‘frame’, the floor is in two halves and without plank marks. Dad-1’s kit has a steel solebar and what seems to be a hole for capstan/horse haulage. My wagon has the steel solebar but no hole! I also think the buffers are quite different, mine being more spindly as if for a fitted van and not stubby RCH mineral. I think someone broke off the coupling hook on my model too.
If I didn't know it was Ratio I’d say my wagon was early Parkside or Kirk in origin. Page 8 of Ian Rice’s ‘Getting the best from plastic kits’ has a photo of this kit but he’s tinkered with it to use a Ratio 10 foot underframe kit. I’m wondering if that’s happened to my wagon.
As I'm modelling 1955-60 BR I’d just give it a random P number and weather it a lot as by 1963 nearly all these Private Owner wagons and LMS/LNE wooden wagons had been dumped in sidings or burnt according to Dave Larkin.
I've subsequently found two pictures. One of an unknown prototype and one a model of an LNWR wagon at the NRM which suggest that these type of coke wagons were once quite common but as beyond living memory have been forgotten. If I've en-fringed any copyright please let me and I'll credit you or remove them.