Garden Railway Forum

Very very nice that van is Andrew.

A Christmas Mail train would be an excellent idea, for which I think you are doing secretly

I like the subtle weathering

Rik

ge_rik wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 7:56 am I like the subtle weathering

Thanks Rik - I wanted to go for "work worn" rather than "worn out" with this one...

Absolutely agree the weather is brilliant. Stunning job.

Famous last words, of course, but I thought I'd try to squeeze in just a quick little project before Christmas.

Inspired by JMORG of this forum, indeed by his words on this very thread, I'm having a go at using a couple of Lineside Hut slate wagon kits to recreate a pair of the NWNGR's wooden slate wagons, as seen in this builders photo (courtesy of Gloucestershire Record Office, D4791/16/1):


At first glance, it's pretty similar to the Ffestiniog's wooden slate wagons, so my first attempt at a model used the classic Binnie kit. The problem is it's clearly too narrow, so Take Two involves Lineside Hut's wider wagons intended to run on 45mm track, as suggested by JMORG. LH kindly made me a special version of the kit, with an extra chassis piece, so I can use larger wheels of the correct pattern.

So far, I've made up the kits, with various minor modifications along the way, including biro inner tube slices on the uprights to represent the "bobbins", extra planks along the sides, and Binnie axleboxes. I've pinched the distinctive brake handle from the original Binnie version, which will revert almost to its original FR guise as art of the project.

Before I undertake lettering and weathering, I thought I'd temporarily put it together and try a quick recreation of the works photo - and here it is:


You can clearly tell that it's an approximation rather than an accurate model but it (and its unbraked twin) are turning into quite attractive models, I think...

Cheers all,

Andrew

Looks very good Andrew. As you say "approximation", but the curved brake plate should have 2 rows of holes and a man of your perspicasity could surely knock one up from styrene?

philipy wrote: ↑Thu Dec 08, 2022 8:49 pm Looks very good Andrew. As you say "approximation", but the curved brake plate should have 2 rows of holes and a man of your perspicasity could surely knock one up from styrene?

Ah, naturally I would have loved to make myself go cross-eyed doing that, but that's an optical illusion - the second row's on the rearmost plate. Phew!

That is very good Andrew. You have shown it to be the real interpretation of the Ffestiniog's wagon.

You are really good at this aren't you.

Very nice work Andrew, a fine representation.
Question..... on the 12" scale wagon, with 'bobbins' on the posts, how would the laths be slotted on and what then keeps them in place?

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 9:09 am Question..... on the 12" scale wagon, with 'bobbins' on the posts, how would the laths be slotted on and what then keeps them in place?

I don't actually know, but there are nuts on the top lath, so I think there's probably a threaded rod that runs all the way through, with the bobbins acting as spacers?

Andrew wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 9:29 am

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 9:09 am Question..... on the 12" scale wagon, with 'bobbins' on the posts, how would the laths be slotted on and what then keeps them in place?

I don't actually know, but there are nuts on the top lath, so I think there's probably a threaded rod that runs all the way through, with the bobbins acting as spacers?

Aha! Here's a picture (from Festipedia) illustrating just that! Looks like the place of the bobbins is being taken by some plastic pipe during construction?

That makes perfect sense in our 21st C. way of doing things but in the mid to late 19th C. I might question the availability of threaded rod. Perhaps a metal bar with threads at either end would be pushed through once the framework has been built (as per the picture) and the (hollow?) bobbins threaded on as it is inserted? Just a guess!

I think I'd agree with Peter ( not that I know!). Quarry workshops could turn out some amazing stuf, so threaded rod may well have been possible, but from a manufacturing cost, time, and simplicity, point of view, cutting a thread on a few inches at each end might make far more sense.

philipy wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 4:41 pm I think I'd agree with Peter ( not that I know!). Quarry workshops could turn out some amazing stuf, so threaded rod may well have been possible, but from a manufacturing cost, time, and simplicity, point of view, cutting a thread on a few inches at each end might make far more sense.

This is the remains of a slab waggon (upside down) rather than a slate waggon, but it shows the concept perfectly. The iron rods are all basically long bolts rather than threaded rods:


From: http://www.penmorfa.com/Rhosydd/gallery2.html

StuartJ wrote: ↑Mon Dec 12, 2022 10:51 am

philipy wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 4:41 pm I think I'd agree with Peter ( not that I know!). Quarry workshops could turn out some amazing stuf, so threaded rod may well have been possible, but from a manufacturing cost, time, and simplicity, point of view, cutting a thread on a few inches at each end might make far more sense.

This is the remains of a slab waggon (upside down) rather than a slate waggon, but it shows the concept perfectly. The iron rods are all basically long bolts rather than threaded rods:


From: http://www.penmorfa.com/Rhosydd/gallery2.html

All that lovely rust, mmmmmmm...

Last week saw me complete the latest project, the two NWNGR/WHR slate wagons bashed from Lineside Hut kits, and the re-Ffestification of the Binnie kit that was previously representing that type of wagon. And here they are:


I ought to get back to my carriage projects really, but I find building small wagons awfully distracting, and I could do with a few more WHR ones to make up an authentic train...

Cheers,

Andrew.

They all look great Andrew, particularly No. 38 showing years of hard work.

Hi all,

More slate wagons underway here, this time on modified Phil Sharples flat wagon kits.

One will have a plastic strip representation of an iron body, using the jig I created for a similar wagon a while ago, and the other will be another all wooden one. Based on the few photos and relatively small amount of information about WHR/NWNGR slate wagons (of which there seemed to be a surprising variety) , both will have dummy "W" iron type axleguards rather than the Ffestiniog or pedestal sort. So far I've modified the chassis and built the bodies:


I've also been experimenting with slate loads. I decided that life was a little short to make them, so purchased three sizes of Lineside Hut ones to experiment with modifying them (ie a little "cut and shut") to fit my WHR wagons. I'm pretty pleased with how they came out and will purchase some more in due course. If you look closely you can see the steel screws in the top to allow wagons to be loaded and unloaded with my fancy magnet on a stick device...




I'm hoping to get some time to begin painting the new wagons at the weekend, and to start work on the axleguards, maybe...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Nice slate loads Andrew.

The Jig looks brilliant and it seems to make the job of making the wagons a lot faster and easier.

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:


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.


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:


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.