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clarkea1

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  1. clarkea1

    Steelworks wagons

    By clarkea1,

    Recently I've been working on building a rake of wagons based on internal users found at Workington steelworks. They were re-bodies from ex-Caledonian ore wagons bought by the works. One of the prototypes can be seen here:
     
    Workington No 977 @ Paul Bartlett's fotopic site
     
    Realising that I wanted to build a few, I designed a batch of etchings for this wagon back in the early 2000's, using a drawing and batch of photos kindly supplied by Phil Baggley of Workington (although I believe the drawing was published in the Modeller in the 80's.
     

     
    Construction is fairly straightforward, the main side and wagon floor fold up into a channel, with the top lips along the sides folding down from these as well. Given the state of the wagon in the prototype pic, I didn't use bending bars for these lips, to end up with a slightly wavy, bashed about look. The ends are separate, and are soldered in place from the underside of the buffer beam, and then the joints between sides and ends are seamed.
     

     
    The completed basic body can be seen in this shot, with the underframe in its flat state. Both the body and the underframe have lots of half-etched rivets which I pressed through with a darning needle.
     

     
    The underframe folds up like this
     

     
    and is then soldered in place to the bottom of the wagon floor. This is all hidden, so plenty of solder isn't a problem!
     

     
    The body reinforcing ribs are then added - these fold up and have push-through rivets so are quite a fiddle to put together.
     

     
    The ends have double reinforcing ribs (study of prototype pics showed these are not T section but two L sections rivetted back to back
     

     
    Finally so far, I have added the corner brackets - in this pic they're still attached to the etch as it's much easier to hold them whilst sweating them in place.
     

     
    Stuff still to be done involves a few other etched details etc, plus brakegear and the bogies (which are Ratio diamond framed ones). However, I'm building three of them at once so it might be a while until the next update.
     
    Also in the pipeline is a little experiment with rapid prototyping - this wagon body is for an internal user from Ravenscraig (based on a picture in the IRS Industrial Wagons book) and has been produced by rapid prototyping from my CAD model. It will sit on one of the Gibson 10' etched underframes. OK, so rapid prototyping is a bit of an overkill for a wagon body, but I wanted to test the process out before using it for a locomotive body....
     

  2. clarkea1
    I've pretty much finished the main work on the 3F now. In the photos taken of it in industrial use, you can still see the BR smokebox number and the overhead line warning flashes, so these have been added using Fox transfers. This was my first time using the Fox transfers, and I must say how impressed I am - you can barely make out any carrier film and the detail is excellent. The only downside was having to buy a whole sheet of 100 or so smokebox numbers of which I wanted just one! I have also painted the chassis. I started by using a permament marker to blacken the faces of the wheel rims, which seems to help to key subsequent paint to the wheels. I then mixed up a grimy black/brown and painted wheels, coupling rods and the visible bits of the chassis. The bunker now has the patch which can be seen prominently in photos of the actual engine, in 5 thou styrene (courtesy of Adam of this parish).
     

     
    I'm just waiting to scrounge a lump of coal from a neighbour to coal up the bunker, and a set of fire irons and lamps from Springside (bought from an Ebay seller who listed 10 items in stock for immediate despatch and them emails to say he's waiting for a delivery from Springside - grrrr), in order to detail the loco to match the prototype pics. Hopefully by the time they arrive I will have summoned up the courage to weather the loco. I'm lucky in that there are a nice set of prototype photos which show all sides of the loco in industrial service, so it should just be a case of copying what the photos show (famous last words!).
     
    I have also finally finished off a loco which has been some 8 years in the making! It's a Thomas Hill Vanguard, again in 4mm/EM.
     

     
    I built it from styrene on a Black Beetle way back, based on drawings published in the OPC book on the Bicester Military Railway, then promptly forgot about it and didn't get much modelling done for quite a few years. The main body is a mixture of 20 and 40 thou styrene as appropriate, with details added in thinner material. The cab was built in 40 thou clear sheet, with overlays of 10 thou forming the actual cabsides. This gives a strong cab, but with acceptably thin looking sides. The railings around the footplate were added from hard brass wire, soldered up with plenty of singed fingers. It was painted, but I never got around to finishing it off. However, I have just unearthed it and found it still runs acceptably. A quick order from Mainly Trains saw the loco acquire some Alan Gibson 24" sprung buffers and that, together with some 3 links, saw it join the fleet. It does still need the lifting lugs which are quite visible on the buffer beams, and some more grime particularly around the underframe.
     

     
    Not sure if it really passes muster compared to the recent Judith Edge kit, but it was fun to build and I'm pleased to see it finally nearing completion. I'm toying with the idea of building one of the Judith Edge kits as a comparison, but might have to keep them at opposite ends of the layout!
     
    Next in the loco sheds - a Dapol Austerity, but it will have to wait for the Bachmann mineral conversions I have just started.....
     
    Cheers
     
    Alastair
  3. clarkea1
    Just a quick update - have spent the past few modelling sessions converting a rake of Bachmann 16T mineral wagons to EM. The work required was surprisingly minor. Firstly, the wagon was disassembled to its constituent parts:
     

     
    This included removing the brake gear, which was to be repositioned to line up with the wider EM wheelsets. The first job was to remove the stiffening ribs moulded on the inside faces of the W irons. This can be easily done by carving them away with a sharp scalpel.
     

     
    Once this has been done, the new wheelsets can be fitted. The Gibson wheels I was using were on standard 26mm pinpoints and are a direct replacement for the Bachmann wheels. I didn't even fit pinpoint bearings as they seem to fit well into the chassis without any slop or problems. The converted wagons run fine through my EM pointwork, but I guess we'll see how things go. The next stage is to widen the slots in the chassis for the brake gear, filing them out right up to the solebar. In the photo below, the upper slot has been opened out, whilst the lower one is original.
     

     
    Next, the brake gear mounting block needs filing down to remove the "lip" on the front face. The pic below shows it all....
     

     
    The next job before wagon re-assembly is to fit your choice of couplings. In my case, I use 3 links, and like to fit them through the buffer beam and bend the shank of the coupling over behind the buffer beam as a "belt and braces" job in the event of glue failure. To allow this, the metal weight needs to be shortened by a few mm at one end, where it sits flush against the inside of the beam.
     

     
    I use the Smiths 3 links, but usually cut the shank of the coupling hook down as shown (I don't bother with the springs etc which are supplied with the Smiths couplings.
     

     
    Final job is then reassembly. Firstly, the door bangs are re-fitted with some cyano (they had to be removed to get the brakes out). The weight can also be glued in place, and the chassis re-fitted to the wagon body. Wheels in, and a quick run along the track to check clearances. The brakes can now be dropped into the enlarged slots in the chassis (the bigger slots and removed lip on the brakes means that they can now be inserted into the chassis from below). I then lined the brake shoes up with the wheels and fixed them in place with some solvent. Job done!!!
     

     
    The only complication was on the wagons fitted with single sided brakes as there is a cross-shaft which I had to cut to remove but which was easy enough to replace with some 0.45mm brass wire. Of course, there is only one set of brake shoes to deal with, but the original coupling mounting bosses are removable on these chassis, and I had to fit some washers of 40thou styrene to enable the fixing screws for the chassis to do their job. You could, alternatively, just glue the chassis to the wagon body.
     

     
    All in all, a pleasant way to spend a few hours, and a quick way to build up the wagon fleet. Just got to repaint and weather them now - will report back when this is done if anyone's interested.
  4. clarkea1
    My interest in creating this model was first sparked by an entry in the "From Mainline to Industry" book (Published by Lightmoor Press) which mentioned that one BR 3F (Jinty) had been sold into industrial service in the coal industry. I thought nothing futher of it, until the release of the Bachmann model made modelling a 3F a significantly easier option! Although my industrial models usually centre around the steel industry, I really wanted to model this loco, so I set about finding prototype photos etc. Initially, all I could find was one tiny photo in a book, until I stumbled over Geoff Plumb's fotopic site, which had an album of industrial loco pics including some of this engine. See here for Geoff's site. The loco was operated by William Pepper at the Crigglestone (British Oak) disposal point near Wakefield.
     
    So, I now went ahead and got hold of a suitable Bachmann model, and an Ultrascale drop in conversion kit to convert it to EM gauge for my industrial layout. This is such a straightforward way of getting up and running in EM (or P4 for that matter), and the whole thing took about 30 minutes to convert, including a slight cock-up where I accidentally adjusted the quartering of one of the wheelsets....... The completed chassis can be seen below:
     

     
    Anyhow, the thing now ran on my track, and was found to be a good slow speed performer. I now set about making it look more like the real thing, which included removing things like the Dreadnought injector gear and various other bits which, according to Geoff's photos, appear to have been removed (or fell off) in industrial service. Also, I had bought (very cheaply) a 3F with plain tank sides, so I had to cut the keyholes in the tankside where the sandbox fillers lurk. I found the profile of the 3F's written by Graham Warburton in the late, lamented Modelling Railways Illustrated to be very useful for getting the size and position of these cutouts exactly right.
     
    I also changed the handrails and knobs for finer versions using Gibson's knobs and 0.45mm brass wire. It was also off with the coal rails, and a few scraps of plastic card were pressed into service to represent an additional box (toolbox?) on the right hand side of the running boards next to the smokebox. The most interesting thing about this loco is its rather striking bright orange tanks and bunker! The photo below shows the loco body with basic painting completed - sorry for the pic quality but my SLR's batteries are flat so I had to use my phone camera.
     

     
    I'm now waiting for some Fox Transfers to arrive so I can add the smokebox number plates and the electrification flashes which appear to be left over from the BR livery! Then, some fairly heavy duty weathering......
     
    I'll post some progress updates as and when some more progress is made!
  5. clarkea1

    Further wagon progress

    By clarkea1,

    Just a quick update on the various steelworks internal user wagons on my workbench. The Workington scrap bogie opens have made it as far as the paintshop - all three have had a good blast of grey primer. I have also splayed out the sides on the wagons as per the prototype photos. The next stage will be painting (in "rust" livery) followed by some fairly severe weathering with a mixture of dry brushing and powders.
     

     
    Two of the wagons will be finished in a fairly poor condition, but I've really gone to town on one with bent bits of reinforcing angle, splayed sides, dents etc. I'll post further images of the painting and weathering process.
     
    Secondly, I've not sprayed the rapid prototyped wagon body shown in my last update. The paint shows up the ribbed finish which is an unfortunate side-effect of the layering method the rapid prototyping machine uses to build up the model. However, it doesn't take long with some wet and dry paper to get a smooth surface finish. In the photo below, the central panel has been rubbed down whilst the rest are yet to be treated. I suspect the rivets won't survive the rubbing down process, and will need to be added afterwards. Whilst this is disappointing, the whole idea of the wagon bodies was to find out what is and what isn't possible using the process.
     

  6. clarkea1
    We're back!!!!
     
    Just thought I'd post an update on a few things.
     
    Industrial 3F
    This is now finished, bar the weathering, and had a good running in session on Saturday at the EMGS members day. At home, my embryonic industrial layout has no more than a 4ft run at the moment - this will get a bit longer once there are fiddle yards attached but for now that's it, so you can imagine how difficult it is to run things in. The solution would be a rolling road, but I'm trying to avoid spending too much at the moment. So I took it along to the EMGS members day/AGM in Chippenham on Saturday, and gave it a good half hour in each direction. This has really sorted the running to a lovely smooth crawl - one of the fellow attendees thought it had a replacement chassis with a Portescap or something! I wouldn't go that far but would suggest a bit of running in for poor runners before anyone panics - I guess as a mechanical engineer I should know these things anyway but it's interesting how rarely we follow our own advice!
     
    Workinton Bogie Opens
    One has now been fully painted and weathered - I'm going to take some photos as I do the remaining two and put together a blog on the matter. I don't claim to be any good at weathering, but I'm quite pleased with how it has turned out.
     
    Ravenscraig scrap wagon and other experiments in Rapid Prototyping
    It's sat on the shelf looking at me funny.... I really should finish this off! You may remember it was an experiment in using rapid prototyping technology for modelmaking. Broadly successful but, like all experiments, there are things I'd do differently next time! Speaking of next time, the CAD for the BSC Port Talbot Brush Bagnall loco is also nearly finished - I've got an issue with the front steps at the moment which is driving me mad but other than that it's ready to go. I'm probably going to try a different rapid prototyping method - namely stereolithography (SLA) - for this loco as it offers a better surface finish and the chance to incorporate more detail than the FDM method used by Shapeways for the Ravenscraig wagon body test piece. Watch this space.... I've also acquired some drawings for the Alco Bo-Bo's which used to run at Port Talbot, so I think one of those may be on the way next.
     
    Bachmann Class 20
    No, I can't think of a reason to have one on a 1970's steelworks layout (unless I can think of an excuse for one to venture into the works from the exchange sidings - no? Me neither....). But I've always liked the Class 20's and saw one on offer in my local shop and couldn't say no. Another £11 for new wheelsets from Alan Gibson and I've got a beautifully smooth EM gauge loco. I'm very impressed by this model - just needs a spot of renumbering, a few extra details, screw couplings and bit of weathering. I like projects like this one - it was converted in about 3 hours including extending the pickups etc.
     
    So, there we have it - that's where things are at the moment. I'll put some pics up in the next few days.
     
    Cheers
     
    Alastair
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