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GWR 4 Plank Open (O21)


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‘Standardisation’ is a word often used in association with the Great Western Railway but it didn’t just apply to locomotives: the GWR used the same underframe from its ‘Iron Mink’ van under a new open wagon too.

 

So having announced the ‘Iron Mink’, we thought it rude not to produce what became the Diagram O21 open wagon too.

 

IMG_6472.JPG.5a675caf248d8d5482c43c3fb10bb2fd.JPG

 

The GWR’s open wagons evolved from simple, archaic one-plankers to this more contemporary looking four-plank design in just 16 years. The number of body planks increased, buffers replaced wooden dumb buffers and, in 1886, the steel underframes from the new ‘Iron Mink’ was also used under a new four-plank, 10 ton capacity body.

 

The GWR built thousands and thousands of four-planks with either single-sided lever brakes or DCI brakes (with minor detail differences) until a fifth plank was added to the design in 1902. In 1927, the Board or Trade ‘Either Side’ brake regulations came into force and resulted in over 18,700 single-sided four-plankers being given an additional lever brake and shoe. These wagons finally appeared in the diagram book as Dia. O21.

 

IMG_6473.JPG.7ff6698b9ec49ac342ebae1206e46396.JPG

 

Despite being built in huge numbers, these wagons remained in the shadows for all their lives. They kept the railway moving but never grabbed the headlines and it’s difficult to track when they finally disappeared from the network.

 

If it were not for the GWR 813 Preservation Fund, it’s likely that the Dia. O21 would have slipped unnoticed into history. It managed to acquire the final three survivors (Nos. 41277, 52137 and 52243) but only No. 41277 is anything more than a rusting underframe. This vehicle was saved from Sharpness Docks in 1984 where it had apparently lain since being withdrawn in the 1930s. Restored in the 1980s, it’s based at the Severn Valley Railway where it requires a full overhaul to bring it back to its former glory.

 

These are available to order now (RRP £32.95) and are available to pre-order from any Official Retailer or direct from ourselves. The orderbook will close on the 1st May with delivery scheduled for later this year.

 

538005311_GWR4Plank.jpg.bc9e88b529a162ac2aa65bd4598bbad6.jpg

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1 hour ago, Wickham Green too said:

Don't tell the wallet - but you'll need even more of the five-plankers .................. whenever Rapido get round to them !

 

there were over 24,000 4-plankers built; where there as many 5-plankers of any single design built? Anyway, how many of each one needs depends on one's modelling date!

 

Mildly disappointed that Rapido have not come down in favour of pre-1904 red, unlike Rails.

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Loads of different Diagrams of "five plank" wagons though. There was really only these and the "undiagrammed" DC braked version with four planks like Cooper Craft did. So you probably don't need as many as time goes on.

 

I believe the extra brake gear came from scrapped vehicles so they were probably withdrawing two to make one.

 

 

Most of these were gone by the late 1930s or were used for waste, spent ballast and manure until time for scrapping. Good photo and drawing of one somewhere in BR days with MANURE WAGON written on it, might have been in Model Railways, mid 1970s.

 

 

A quick Google suggests MR February 1977.

 

https://www.magazineexchange.co.uk/cw/model-railways-magazine-february-1977-issue.html

 

 

Jason

Edited by Steamport Southport
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Nice pic of a prototype. I've just built the WEP kit of one of these in 7mm and I wonder how representative that photo is of how they weathered in service. The grey is certainly a good few shades lighter than original and appears to be flaking back to bare wood rather than an undercoat. The mould is probably due to the wagon being out of service. 

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8 hours ago, dpgibbons said:

I wonder how representative that photo is of how they weathered in service. The grey is certainly a good few shades lighter than original and appears to be flaking back to bare wood rather than an undercoat. The mould is probably due to the wagon being out of service. 

 

There's a vast difference in paint technology between when that wagon was built - or last repainted by the Great Western - and when the preservationists gave it a once-over. The lead-based paint that would have been used a century and more ago is moisture-repellent, so was applied as much to preserve the wood from rot and the metalwork from rust. Where the lead compound was white lead (i.e. any grey) the effect of reaction with hydrogen sulphide - present as an atmospheric pollution in the coal-burning age - was to darken the paint, lead sulphide being black.

 

On the other hand, if the model being offered is intended as a model of a preserved wagon, that photo is a good guide!

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As built, the diverse range of 4-plankers that lead to the conglomeration of O21 did not have the triangular gusset between the lower lip of the solebar and the headstock:

https://www.svrwiki.com/mediawiki-1.28.2/images/9/97/GWR_41277_20160319.jpg

 

Some of these wagons possibly acquired the gusset later on in life. I think the gusset first made an appearance on the O4.

 

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I just made my largest splurge on RTR that I have ever done. After build 8 of the Coopercraft 4 plank wagons using only the sides and ends and a lot of other parts from other sources and having to face up to another dozen kits I have just ordered 11 of the open wagons and 4 Iron Minks. A selection of wagons from Oxford and Rapido are certainly helping me expand my pre- grouping wagon fleet.

 

Well done and I hope there are more pre-grouping wagons to follow. An 09 or 014 5 plank wagon for us GWR types and then perhaps an LNWR open wagon - a Diagram 84 perhaps?

 

Regards,

 

Craig W

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13 hours ago, The Great Bear said:

The CO branding in a circle on the 925007 running number model isn't something I recall seeing before. What does this mean?

 

I think this has been discussed before - was it something to do with Sharpness Docks?

 

@wagonman will know

 

 

Edited by Miss Prism
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23 hours ago, Miss Prism said:

As built, the diverse range of 4-plankers that lead to the conglomeration of O21 did not have the triangular gusset between the lower lip of the solebar and the headstock:

https://www.svrwiki.com/mediawiki-1.28.2/images/9/97/GWR_41277_20160319.jpg

 

Some of these wagons possibly acquired the gusset later on in life. I think the gusset first made an appearance on the O4.

 

 

It's visibly absent in the OP prototype pic.

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17 hours ago, The Great Bear said:

The CO branding in a circle on the 925007 running number model isn't something I recall seeing before. What does this mean?

CO was GWR (and BR(W) way of indicating a wagon was for use of engineers on "Construction" projects - in otherwords, many departmental uses. Very common well into late BR days on MERMAID, the various all steel ballast opens eg etc. https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/gwrlingzco/e27503c58  https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/gwrstarfish/e2550f23f

 

Paul

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On 02/04/2022 at 09:09, Craigw said:

I just made my largest splurge on RTR that I have ever done. After build 8 of the Coopercraft 4 plank wagons using only the sides and ends and a lot of other parts from other sources and having to face up to another dozen kits I have just ordered 11 of the open wagons and 4 Iron Minks. A selection of wagons from Oxford and Rapido are certainly helping me expand my pre- grouping wagon fleet.

 

Well done and I hope there are more pre-grouping wagons to follow. An 09 or 014 5 plank wagon for us GWR types and then perhaps an LNWR open wagon - a Diagram 84 perhaps?

 

Regards,

 

Craig W

 

I look forwarding to seeing those 19 four-plankers in one train, Craig - should be quite a sight, if that's the plan.

 

And I can see your point: I like building wagon kits, but as you know all too well the Coopercraft kit had various issues in the construction.  Also, who says the RTR versions can't be modified for variety, as per the kits.

 

24637866037_015568e61d_o.jpg.cfe9f4d015816c1c2a3da491b40e7bfc.jpg

 

 

Edited by Mikkel
Pic reinstated
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3 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

Also, who says the RTR versions can't be modified for variety, as per the kits.

 

... and even painted red!

 

Cast plates, though. That's the problem. I look out for Coopercraft O5s on Ebay now chiefly for the plates, for use on O4s etc - another 4-plank is just a bonus!

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19 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

Try persuading Mike Clark to resurrect the Masokits plate etches??

 

Did he do plates with separate numbers so you could solder up your bespoke number?

 

The Coopercraft moulding has three numberplates:

 

781

1460

10070

 

From which I worked out the following possible permutations giving numbers of wagons that plausibly had cast plates:

 

10670 O- Lot 345

11070 V6 Lot 207

11401 V5 Lot 411

71460 O- Lot 220

74670 O- Lot 321

74810 O2 Lot 486

76001 O4 Lot 414

76070 O4 Lot 414

76081 O4 Lot 414

76146 O4 Lot 415

76460 O4 Lot 426

78460 O2 Lot 522

 

Ones I've done are in bold. That used four sets of plates. (A wagon sheet covers up the place where the GWR plate would be on one side, on a couple of wagons.) 11070 was made from 10070 by carving off the first 0 and replacing it with a sliver of plasticard; the second half of 76001 uses the first half of 10070 rotated through 180 degrees!

Edited by Compound2632
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Are there any technical drawings for these cast plates?

 

I guess the relief of the lettering was so small as to be almost invisible at 4mm scale. If that's the case then it might be not worth trying to 3D print them and even when etched it might be difficult to accurately pick out the numbers and letters with paint.

 

So, I'm wondering if they could simply be printed (do I need to say "2D printed" these days?) on stiff card/photo paper. I've had good results with modelling the similar cast iron signal box nameplates in this way because most people's home printers are very dimensionally accurate and can reproduce details at quite high resolution. E.g.

92230852_IMG_20220402_175735r.jpg.7ccbec31a20c944981fade6a6db42589.jpg

 

That's a cruel close-up picture - at normal viewing distance it looks very sharp. It's 3mm high (scale 8 & 7/8th inches) and the lettering is 1.3mm high (scale 4in). 3D details like the fixing bolts are suggested by the graphics.

 

The advantage would be you could have any number you want and there would be no need to cannibalise or cut-and-shut anything and no need to paint the details. Just print it, cut it, paint the exposed edges and glue in place.

 

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14 minutes ago, Harlequin said:

I guess the relief of the lettering was so small as to be almost invisible at 4mm scale. If that's the case then it might be not worth trying to 3D print them and even when etched it might be difficult to accurately pick out the numbers and letters with paint.

 

So, I'm wondering if they could simply be printed (do I need to say "2D printed" these days?) on stiff card/photo paper.

 

That method was my first attempt:

 

558284893_GWO4sheetedbrakesidecrop.JPG.078d3587bb25845a996fb3f4ddd7f1eb.JPG

 

... I wasn't so happy with the colour-matching.

 

But the relief of the lettering is evident on the prototype:

 

image.png.2073752ce41029ba84b3a11be214ef52.png 

 

Besides, working out the possible numbers with the Coopercraft plates and splicing them up is fun and gives a sense of achievement, which is surely why we do model railways? If I could just buy a 4-plank wagon off the shelf, where would be the fun in that?

 

Oh.

 

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13 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

I think the plates were 0.5" thick.

 

Looking at the photo I posted, that seems about right, if the corner plates were ¼" thick plate and the diagonal straps ⅜".

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