Catfish Help Required.

[TheSignalEngineer]

I'm currently building three Cambrian Catfish kits for my ballast train. 

I'm struggling to get a picture of the inside of the hopper showing the bracing above the ballast door. 

Does anyone have a picture of the inside of the hopper, or a drawing of the arrangement?

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Eric

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

Shold've gone to Barnard Castle Specsavers. Found one in the prototype photos on the Cambrian site.

Any additional info would still be appreciated.

[SP Steve]

Hi Eric,

 

here's an image kindly provided by a fellow RMwebber when I had a similar quandary.

 

It depicts the inside of a Dogfish rather than your specified Catfish requirement but I believe they were the same in this department (should add I've secured his permission to post the image).

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by SP Steve

[Trog]

Err Catfish have only a single door at the bottom of the hopper. 'Hinged' to one side which is why the stone drops out into the 4' slightly off centre depending on which way round the wagon is. So at least the bottom of the hopper is going to be slightly different.

[SP Steve]

45 minutes ago, Trog said:

Err Catfish have only a single door at the bottom of the hopper. 'Hinged' to one side which is why the stone drops out into the 4' slightly off centre depending on which way round the wagon is. So at least the bottom of the hopper is going to be slightly different.

 

Original request was for details of the internal bracing which I think is the same for both Catfish / Dogfish wagons.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the picture from Dave. It shows the interior of the Dogfish from the platform end better than most I have seen.

4 minutes ago, SP Steve said:

 

Original request was for details of the internal bracing which I think is the same for both Catfish / Dogfish wagons.

Only the principle of the bracing is the same. The shape of the hopper is considerably different, the only common dimensions being the length and width of the top opening.

 

 

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

1 hour ago, Trog said:

Err Catfish have only a single door at the bottom of the hopper. 'Hinged' to one side which is why the stone drops out into the 4' slightly off centre depending on which way round the wagon is. So at least the bottom of the hopper is going to be slightly different.

The only bit of a Catfish and Dogfish which appears to be identical is the underframe, saying that a Catfish is a smaller version of a Dogfish is akin to saying that all Great Western Pannier Tanks are the same.

[TheSignalEngineer]

The drawing in the BR diagram book from way back when shows the position of the bracing in the case of the Dogfish but not the Catfish. At least that confirms my guess of the dimension of the angle iron.

 

This evening a bit of searching and a free trial on a magazine reading site has thrown up an article in the May 2020 issue of Rail Express on building the Cambrian Catfish.

It shows a nice interior picture of a hopper from the vacuum cylinder end rather than the handwheel platform. Hopefully from this I will be able to work out the details required as it shows better how the bracing is fitted to the middle of the side sheets. At least it confirms that the part privided in the kit is too short and located too low down.