Hello again,
Readers of the Inspection thread will have seen a new addition to the (WH)WHR's rolling stock - a Permanent Way trolley. The old WHR seemed to have a number of these, some powered, some hand propelled, which were attached to the back of trains to enable the PW gang to reach their work site - there's a great 1935 photo here:
http://217.34.233.120:8086/zoom-item?ke ... joVWgA/852
The trolleys feature in a surprising number of photos and accounts, and seem to have been such a feature of WHR life that I've been thinking for a while that I ought to model one. I had planned to scour every photo I could find so that I could produce drawings for an accurate model, but the impending arrival of the inspector (who I thought would enjoy a trolley ride!) encouraged me to temporarily shed my rivet-counting tendencies and purchase a quick and easy Lineside Hut kit for about £6.
The figures are toys from my People Box, hacked about and glued back together in a seated position, and the crate (no doubt containing some essential PW supplies...) and rucksack (probably containing the gang's lunch...) come from the same source.
- Trolley 1.jpg (151.65 KiB) Viewed 5427 times
- Trolley 2.jpg (163.73 KiB) Viewed 5427 times
I thought it would be useful to have the option of the trolley as a small flat wagon too, so made an alternate load as well. I've had these since I was about five, when they trundled around the carpet behind a battery powered engine on red plastic track! They could do with a coat of paint - they were last painted about 30 years ago, and the coloured plastic's beginning to show through.
- Trolley 3.jpg (143.83 KiB) Viewed 5427 times
The "loads", including the people, have washers glued underneath, which affix to strong magnets set into the surface of the wagon - I'll probably paint them at some stage to disguise them a little.
- Trolley 4.jpg (195.08 KiB) Viewed 5427 times
They're pretty powerful:
- Trolley 5.jpg (152.37 KiB) Viewed 5427 times
The figures don't stay put so well, so I think I'll need to swap the washers glued to their posteriors for some stronger ones - there's no dignity if you're a member of the (WH)WHR PW gang!
Cheers all,
Andrew.