In particular I think the idea of making up rakes of matching rolling stock is very appropriate from railways like the WLLR.
I was fortunate to meet Andy Bell at the 2008 Merstham Steam Rally when he was just starting his business. Having never modelled in resin before he demonstrated his Mark II wheels which include iron in their content, and I bought one of his Guards Van kits. Recently I obtained a Workman's Coach kit off eBay, and a 2nd hand 3 plank open wagon & box van through this Forum.
These 2nd hand vehicles helped to highlight a problem I was partly aware of whilst building the 2 kits, plus another one following a spectacular roll over behind a rather fast Mamod Brunel locomotive.
1. The chassis rails come pre-assembled with the axle boxes. However some of these axle boxes have not been mounted centrally so you need to allow for that when assembling the chassis. In addition there seems to be some inaccuracies in the base inner and chassis rails so if they are mounted at 90 degrees there can be some excessive sideways play of the axles. This is worst on the box van which having a high centre of gravity makes it susceptible to roll over at speed on curves. This is on the 32mm versions - I'm told that the 45mm versions do not have this sideways play by a fellow Forum member.
2. The brass rod used to make the coupling connections under the buffers is quite soft and the link pulled apart in the above box van roll over. So I solder up this coupling links.
I have also adopted some standards for this rake of rolling stock - matt black riveted strapping and buffer beams, white handles on brake operating levers, and white entrance/exit steps.
No.3 - 3 Plank Open Wagon
This was obtained 2nd hand from this Forum and needed some brass rod replacing in the brake gear, a minor repair to some riveted strapping, and the matt black paint touching up.
I already have enough coal wagons so I'll either leave this wagon empty to fill with a load as necessary, or perhaps make up a removable load of gravel.
It is fitted with curved spoke wheels and the maximum sideways play of the axles is 0.12"/3.05mm.
This model has been updated and is available (July 2013) with a new chassis and one piece body casting.
No.5 - Box Van
Again this was obtained 2nd hand from this Forum and needed some brass rod replacing in the brake gear, a missing coupling hook made from brass rod, the riveted strapping painted matt black and the roof glued back down. The roof has a crack which was previously repaired and I'm filling that in with milliput when resources permit.
Running this behind my Mamod Brunel which was speeding along at one point ended up with this box van rolling over on a curve and opening one of the coupling links which then de-coupled.
It is fitted with 3 hole disk wheels and the maximum sideways play of the axles is 0.14"/3.6mm.
I may add some lead weight to the bottom of the chassis to lower the centre of gravity and reduce the roll over tendency. This model is no longer available from AnDel.
I've nearly finished the Workman's Coach (takes time to paint everything), but the Guards Van is still work in progress as I wish to enhance the interior and make the roof removable.
Chris Cairns.
