Eric's Chop Shop - Kit and RTR Bashing. Lima LMS 42ft Van.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Going Retro (1) – Kirk 5-plank Open

 

I decided late last year that it was about time some of the project ideas and unmade kits under the layout should see completion this winter. Rather than go on with the blog format I thought it was easier to run a thread for a few of the stories of kit building and RTR bashing by a self-confessed bodger

 

Recently I got out what was the oldest manufactured item from my kit stash. It was an Ian Kirk kit so probably made over 20 years ago, definitely before the Colin Ashby days, picked up from a well-known internet site recently.

 

Apart from the generic 5-plank of Airfix parentage there is a lack of a good RTR model in this style. The old Kirk kit is attractive in that it has corrugated ends in the style of the late LMS version which was then built in large numbers by BR. A version with sheet rail and clasp brakes is still available in the Parkside range. That version is a bit finer in the chassis moulding but the Kirk one is a bit stronger for the ham-fisted.

 

 

The kit was made up as intended, with the addition of axlebox tie bars from plastic strip, some Wizard door bangers and vac pipes/coupling hooks from Dave Franks.

 

 

A quick spray with the Halfords rattle cans and some modified Modelmaster transfers and it emerged in the guise of one of the LMS version converted to vacuum brakes in the 1950s.

 

 

It's just waiting now for a few finishing touches and a load. Not for the P4 purist but I think it is a fair representation of a type not available RTR for use on the layout.

Edited January 19, 2018 by TheSignalEngineer

[timbowilts]

Given its vintage those mouldings compare very favourably with more modern examples. Gives heart to an old ‘un

 

Regards, Tim T

[Steamport Southport]

That's a coincidence. I found an LMS version the other day when I was tidying up.

 

4M2 LMS 5 Plank Good Wagon

 

 

No idea how old it is or where I got it from, but the price on the pack is 50p.   

 

 

Even has a decent set of whitemetal buffers. 

 

 

 

Jason

[RANGERS]

That kit is a lot more than 20 years old, I'd put it around double that. Ian is on here and will be able to date it exactly but I seem to remember Panther Plastics/ Parkside took over his wagon range in the very early 80's. I have an LNER steel open kit still in it's packaging identical to this, bought from SMS Models when they were in St Enoch's Sq in Glasgow along with a couple of 24t mins which did get built. They date from 1977.

 

How well the kits have stood the test of time is testimony to the standards of the originals which were well ahead of their time.

Edited January 2, 2018 by RANGERS

[TheSignalEngineer]

That kit is a lot more than 20 years old, I'd put it around double that. Ian is on here and will be able to date it exactly but I seem to remember Panther Plastics/ Parkside took over his wagon range in the very early 80's. I have an LNER steel open kit still in it's packaging identical to this, bought from SMS Models when they were in St Enoch's Sq in Glasgow along with a couple of 24t mins which did get built. They date from 1977.

 

How well the kits have stood the test of time is testimony to the standards of the originals which were well ahead of their time.

I have another corrugated end wagon which I think is Parkside but couldn't confirm. It was built a long time ago and has a different floor to this one.

Ian's kits were a work of art for their time standing up well, especially in the body, to modern productions. Other comparable stuff was the iconic 3H Coke Wagon, three of which I am still running now mixed in with three Hornby ones.

[RANGERS]

I have another corrugated end wagon which I think is Parkside but couldn't confirm. It was built a long time ago and has a different floor to this one.

Ian's kits were a work of art for their time standing up well, especially in the body, to modern productions. Other comparable stuff was the iconic 3H Coke Wagon, three of which I am still running now mixed in with three Hornby ones.

 

The kits dating from that era were pretty much all of a standard well ahead of their time and never bettered since. Aside from the Kirk ones, 3H were pretty much unique, a range of common prototypes which nobody else had produced, all executed beautifully, the MGW wheels are still among the best wagon wheels ever made. The Slaters range are still my all time favourite kits of any description, superbly designed and mastered, they go together so easily they're practically ready to run. Ratio have stood the test of time, again well engineered with neat production which are a pleasure to build. 

 

Parkside have built solidly on the legacy of the 70s, improving even further along the way but in my experience, Coopercraft were the odd one out. The kits were nicely detailed but never quite went together as well and always seemed flimsy and brittle, the material thinner and not as robust as the others. The few I did build all ended up being retired ahead of their time after they warped out of square.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Going Retro (2) - Yes, We Have A Banana!

 

Rooting around in my bits box a while ago I found the body, minus roof, of an old HD or Wrenn Banana Van. Looking at BR Diagram 1/246 it seemed to be a fairly accurate representation, possibly one of the best products of the SD6 era, being introduced 56 years ago in 1962. For those into terminology that was definitely 'Modern Image' at the time, the real version only having been built in 1959-60.

This is an original from my HD collection.

 

 

Although Banana Vans were often seen in block trains between the docks and inland ripening sheds they did turn up on mixed freights when needing repair or when moving to where a large cargo was about to be landed.

 

Banana shipping from the West Indies was suspended in 1940 as it was deemed that they were not vital to the war effort. The first shipment post-war was to Avonmouth in December 1945. The LMS built new vans to D2111 in 1946 and this design was perpetuated by BR, albeit the later lots had 10' WB instead of the LMS 9' WB version. By 1958 over 1500 had been built in this style.

 

During 1959/60 BR built more wagons based on the standard 12T plywood sided vans with BR Clasp Vacuum Brakes. These were Diagram 1/246 There are numerous pictures of these, and some of the earlier builds, at Paul Bartlett's site http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brbanana

 

I found that Red Panda had produced a suitable chassis, so made a mental note to track one down. These look good but are a bit flimsy in some quarters so careful handling is required during building.

 

Firstly I filed off the raised panels on the body sides which HD put on to make printing the number easier.

 

 

A bit of strapping detail is lost in doing this.

 

 

Next a new roof was made from styrene sheet and strip.

 

A chassis kit was duly acquired so then it was on to the next steps.

The hole in the middle of the floor was filled with a piece of 80thou styrene and the chassis was built directly onto the bottom of the body.

Due to the fairly weak nature of the thinner components I replaced the buffers with some from Dave Franks and used whitemetal clasp brakes from Wizard.

 

 

The chalk boards were fabricated from scraps of styrene sheet and strip. Note that the left-hand edge overlaps the side portion of the corrugated end and is at the same angle. This is possibly the only type of van where I have seen this. At the same time the strapping was restored below the number.

 

 

The whole thing was sprayed with Halfords Grey Plastic Primer during construction. The body sides were finished with Halfords Red Plastic Primer, which I feel is quite a good approximation for ex works Bauxite livery in the late 1950s. The chassis was done with Halfords Matt Black.

Transfers were from a Modelmaster large assorted sheet for covered vans. Unfortunately it didn't include the yellow spot, so I had to do that myself.

 

It's now just awaiting couplings and snagging before being put into traffic. At the time of my layout it was virtually ex-works so will just be dulled down a bit and the roof needs painting in its final shade.

 

(Oops! spoiler in background for on-going project)

Edited October 22, 2022 by TheSignalEngineer
Pictures restored

[cheesysmith]

I'm sure you can use a banana van on other trains. IIRC they were used as fited head on otherwise unfitted steels/minerals to provide brake force.

[TheSignalEngineer]

I'm sure you can use a banana van on other trains. IIRC they were used as fited head on otherwise unfitted steels/minerals to provide brake force.

After banana traffic finished the 1970s they were used as fitted heads, also as barrier wagons to stop sand in open wagons blowing into the brake van. This particular use went on into the 1980s at Stoke. A number also ended up as departmentals, internal users and industrials. The latest picture on Paul's site is 1992,

.

Edited January 4, 2018 by TheSignalEngineer

[Fat Controller]

They were definitely used as fitted heads on some mineral workings in South Wales in the mid-1970s; not just the type modelled, but the earlier type based on LMS practice, and also the Southern types. Ratio do the LMS-style one, which can be combined with the Red Panda chassis. ABS do/did the SR type with the simple-arc roof, whilst the one with the three-centre roof can be done using the Ratio SR vent van, omitting the vents, fitting a third set of hinges to the doors, and using an ABS SR-fitted underframe.

[Fat Controller]

Not all bananas went to cities and major industrial centres; in 1974, I saw banana vans being unloaded at Warminster  and in the following year I saw some at Barnstaple, neither of which was that far from the ripening depot at Exeter Central.

[TheSignalEngineer]

There were quite a few local depots at one time. In Birmingham, local fruit wholesaler Nicholls had a ripening shed next to Moor Street and Fyffes (IIRC) had one in the old Grand Junction yard at Curzon Street. At Wolverhampton there was a siding we called the 'Banana Yard' but I don't know if that was use or shape derived.

[griffgriff]

Not all bananas went to cities and major industrial centres; in 1974, I saw banana vans being unloaded at Warminster  and in the following year I saw some at Barnstaple, neither of which was that far from the ripening depot at Exeter Central.

Didn’t Fyffes have a depot in Warminster?

 

Griff

[31A]

There was also a fruit wholesalers in Cambridge with their own siding which I remember receiving small numbers of banana vans in the late 60s / early 70s.  It was on the site of the LNWR goods yard, on the corner of Hills Road and Brooklands Avenue.

[TheSignalEngineer]

There was also a fruit wholesalers in Cambridge with their own siding which I remember receiving small numbers of banana vans in the late 60s / early 70s.  It was on the site of the LNWR goods yard, on the corner of Hills Road and Brooklands Avenue.

I've spotted a reference to vans going to Llandudno Junction.

 

Around Birmingham we had train paths shown from Avonmouth to Moor Street, Avonmouth to Water Orton, Southampton to Moor St. Southampton to Crewe and Barry to Bradford. Most of these would be for onward distribution to smaller centres I would think.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Going Retro (3) – Lima LMS 42' Bogie Van

 

Several years ago I flush-glazed a Lima LMS 42' van and fitted Bachmann LMS bogies. It re-discovered languishing in the 'To Do' box with buffer damage during a recent tidy-up.

 

I decided it might look good on the rear of a parcels train so I gathered the bits needed and set to work, firstly removing the coupling from the damaged end. Next I cut off the old buffers and fitted vacuum and steam pipes and a screw coupling from the odds and ends box. Then I added some appropriately shaped LMS buffers from Dave Franks, repainted the damaged area and added a bit of weathering to the end. Finally a Springside BR tail lamp was stuck on.

 

 

 

I don't like the way the steam pipe came out, it's actually a brake pipe and looks a bit too high so that will get re-set before it goes back into service.

Edited January 19, 2018 by TheSignalEngineer