Morning all!
Another slate wagon update, I'm afraid - what else do you expect, when the Welsh Highland had about 100 of 'em, and the Ffestiniog over a thousand?! Actually, I think I'm only going to build a few more after these ones, but that's for another time...
For now, here are the latest two:
- Slate wagons Feb 23.jpg (351.33 KiB) Viewed 5614 times
They're based on some grainy and rather unclear photos of original WHR wagons which had "W iron" axleguards, and those horseshoe-shaped bits of strapping (anyone know the name of those?!). Otherwise, they're similar to the ones I've already made.
I couldn't find any suitable axleguards, so I made them from plasticard and wedge-shaped bits of Lego - they're an approximation at best! The "horseshoes" are just nylon washers cut in half.
- Slate wagons W Irons.jpg (182.54 KiB) Viewed 5614 times
I was planning to return to carriages, but then came across a picture of an intriguing little dropside wagon, Ffestiniog No 27, which you can see here:
http://217.34.233.120:8086/index.php?a= ... 5679046704. It's the only image of this that I've seen, and I don't know of any drawings, but happily it stands next to an early coal wagon, which looks pretty much the same size, other than the height. Even more happily, I was given a Phil Sharples kit for one of those for my birthday last month, so I got to work, by simply cutting off the top two planks:
- Oyster Wagon A.jpg (332.85 KiB) Viewed 5614 times
I also cut the dropside door out - I don't intend to make it opening, just thought it might look more realistic. I hindsight, I'm not sure it was a great idea, it'll make the whole wagon weaker, and MDF doesn't really like being messed about with, but we'll see...
Intriguingly, the iBase caption refers to this as the "oyster wagon". Some quick research has revealed that there was indeed a trade in oysters from Porthmadog - that seems to have been principally by sea to Liverpool, but I guess some maybe went by rail, being shipped from port to main line via the FR? It appears that oysters were shipped in ice-filled barrels - if those needed to be kept upright, I suppose a dropside wagon would have made it easier?
Or, is it like the "beer wagon", in that there's a photo of it somewhere in which it just happens to be carrying such a load, rather than being designed specifically for the purpose? Does anyone know more?!
Cheers,
Andrew.