Garden Railway Forum

Back in what seems like ages ago now, I was looking for a wagon of a type which I could run with my trams, on another forum some people answered my call for advice and offered an option or two.
This led to me discovering the LGB Grizzly Flats range which happens to be ideally suited size wise to run with my trams, unfortunately for the wallet this grew arms n legs so to speak and I ended up obtaining more than just a vehicle or two for a wagon adaption, thankfully my wife doesn't access this forum or I would be in trouble.

The first operational adaption needed to be a works wagon for the tram side of things, the donor for this was a 4 wheel coach, coach body off, chunky running boards off and fill all the holes I won't be using again before a re-paint.
New running boards and brackets, new buffer beam, new couplings, new fine scale wheels and a new deck. Because this vehicle is intended for the tramway I have opted for a dark oxide underframe, all wood is stained with my own mix of IPA and shoe polish dye, which was also used to weather the underframe.

Its not perfect, but as my first real modelling in the larger scale I am happy with it.

That looks brillaint to my eyes, David. Love the paint job.

I agree with Philip, a wonderful job indeed, particularly as you point out your first in the larger scale! For your initial outlay, and after removal of many parts of the original model, you appear to be left with only the axle boxes, or have I missed something here?

This is another coach chassis minus its body etc, various holes filled and given a coat of primer, it's one of these that was the basis for the tramway wagon. LGB seem to have used the same underframe for all the Grizzly Flats models, which is handy if like me you model 16mm ish on 45mm gauge.

The first two coach bodies are being used to make a bogie coach on a scratch built underframe, riding on scratch built bogies.

Bole Laser, who supplies the couplings I've opted for, has drawn one of his bell mouth couplings with a long square shank so I can pivot the coupling for the bogie coaches.

I haven't decided how the underframe in the photo will be finished yet, that's for another day when the bogie coach has been finished.

I was a bit concerned when I heard you were chopping up coaches just for the chassis. Then I looked up the coaches, and (if these are the ones) there's not much more to them than chassis! Looking forward to your bogie coach with the remainders.

drewzero1 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 14, 2023 2:09 am I was a bit concerned when I heard you were chopping up coaches just for the chassis. Then I looked up the coaches, and (if these are the ones) there's not much more to them than chassis! Looking forward to your bogie coach with the remainders.

Yes, those are the ones.

Two other projects from the donor parts; two coach bodies are being adapted as a bogie coach which will have a wood underframe, and a wee bit of work to improve the open passenger wagon, the wee eyelets for the doorway chains were a bit of a challenge but I think they were worth the effort, I'm still not quite happy with the passenger wagon, the green is the original plastic body colour, I didn't want to simply paint the body brown to simulate wood, but I'm not happy with the green plastic colour a bit more thinking required.
Their is a third open wagon that is being fitted with a door instead of the chain, and a scratch built all wood roof, which has posed a few new modelling challenges to form the curved roof cross frame.

Both are still a work in progress.

Dripping with character already.