Adam

In a word, no. There were ballast hoppers of a broadly similar outline on the LNER an SR (ex-SECR) built by Leeds Forge but those were fully riveted and had a rather different stanchion arrangement. The SECR versions had some rather odd cupboard doors in the middle of the vertical bits of the sides. On Paul Barlett's site you can find them by searching for 'Trout'. Adam

I think so, yes. It's an unusual working in another respect: no tail lamp! Some of that film was clearly a railtour which ended up at Broad Street. The pictures of EDs propelling rather than hauling are quite normal; the units in question were TCs (Trailer Control - no motors so operated push pull) and designed to be able to operate either a loco (ED or 33/1) or another unit, usually a 4 REP down to Bournemouth. Adam

I know that it's all gone quiet, but now the strip coil is all but finished in construction terms. Curiously, the packet of buffers I had contained one pair each with different sized heads (almost certainly my fault, an error in tidying my castings stock) so it's not quite ready for painting until I get that sorted. Anyhow, the interesting bit is the interior fabricated from plastic sheet and section with etched strips full of holes; on the real thing, these were used for stuffing locating pins (of indeterminate nature) in to stop the coils which were loaded 'eye-to-sky' from shifting. On the model, these strips have been superglued to some Evergreen 30 thou x 60 thou strip glued to a dummy floor of 10 thou'. The interior of a real one is shown in this Paul Bartlett picture: http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brstripcoil/h3577f06d#h3577f06d My interpretation is below; yes, I did drill out all those holes and yes, a couple of drills bit the dust. It'll show up better under a coat of paint, hopefully. Adam

But it does! (Under e for Edge). Adam

The Hornby HAL has just excused me from even contemplating scratchbuilding an EMU; they are just the thing for the bit of the London end of the BR(S) we have in mind. I might even beak the habit of a lifetime and pre-order one. At least I know how to make the compressor. Adam

Those steps are a great improvement Colin. It will be interesting to see the commode handles add to the effect. Given the rumoured resurrection of an EM third rail layout (shown as a 'work in progress at Expo EM some twenty years ago; it has singularly failed to progress since) that dad is involved in, this topic has assumed increased significance! I fear that Bachmann EPBs and all sorts of unlikely loco-hauled stock will be the order of the day for some time yet, assuming we can make the thing work. There's no way I have the time at the minute to contemplate something like this... Chapeau. Adam

After what was a longer pause than I thought it might be, the Strip Coil now sits on its wheels. The bogies are a set of BR plate types derived from GWR practise from Cambrian. Now these aren't blessed with absolute dimensional fidelity but this is only really obvious when shown next to a picture of the real thing so I am not too concerned about this. From a practical perspective, they come as a one-piece moulding with seperate axleboxes which is a great improvement on the last set of Cambrian plate bogies I built the better part of twenty years ago. I had to countersink the bearing holes a smidge to get the wheels to run properly but that is no big deal. The designer's preference is for compensated or sprung bogies so he only provides a location hole for a bolt. Cambrian provide a suitable bolt (c. 3mm diameter) with the bogies and a moulded mounting plate; I used both. I opened the etched plate out sufficient to clear the bolt and soldered that in, cut the collar out of the moulded mounting plate and epoxied that around the bolt. There isn't much thread protruding above that but there's enough - a bit of thread lock after painting will fix it. The bogies need packing to the correct height and the easiest way to do that is a bit of 60 thou' plastic. Using an old dodge, I've placed packing as shown in the picture below to keep the body more or less level at one end and to allow rocking at the other; simple three point compensation really. Brake cylinders and buffers still to do... Adam

One 2mm wagon and a Dinorwic Quarry slate wagon (the latter a very nice bit of pattern making indeed)... Adam

I reckon that the picture is simply snapped or badly scanned, if it's taken from the book I think it comes from... Adam

Just a quick heads up regarding Justin's Strip Coil. I acquired one and have got, rather quickly, most of the way through building it. There's another picture on my workbench thread, but here's where I'm at right now. For what it's worth, I reckon this to be a good kit: the basic body folds up very accurately; as many rivets as possible are represented by half-etching rather than embossing; the detail overlays line up well and the joins are sound. The only really fiddly bits are the detailing parts for the brake linkages... Recommended (should you want a model of the prototype, of course). Adam

PS - for anyone wondering, this isn't evidence of my butterfly mentally - well not exactly - since the minfit body has been joined to the chassis and gained a set of vacuum cylinders and some buffers. The one from ABS and Parkside spares, t'other from Lanarkshire Models, and very nice they are too. I still have to sort out the springs and make a set of axleboxes... Adam

If it's any help David I don't model South Wales in the '70s either, or anywhere very much. I simply like building wagons and am currently assembling a rakes of coil carriers, simply because I can. With this in mind, while I was in the mood for soldering, I embarked upon another Rumney Models production, a BR 1/403 Strip Coil: http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brstripcoil/h3d61539a#h294aa921 As was typical of the early BR coil fleet, only a small number were built - in the case of this particular diagram, only 15 - though there were another 35 broadly similar vehicles (dia. 1/401) but these had different bogies and were built unfitted and later converted to vacuum brake (as dia. 1/407). There's a picture of one of these, loaded, in Mike (Stationmaster's) thread from a little while back: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/66924-the-stationmaster-goes-train-spotting-part-1/?p=914471 The kit will do both the fitted versions but not the unfitted (the reasons are in Justin's instructions if you're interested), but only the BR plate bogies for the 1/403 are available at the moment; these can be had from Cambrian. Because I was enjoying myself, I've got to the point of assembling almost all the etched bits before taking any pictures but, in all honesty, this is a reasonably straightforward kit of a relatively simple prototype. You get two sheets of etch which include some thoughtful touches notably spares of some of the componets that will vanish to the far corners of the bench/room. Being a riveted prototype, there are quite a few to emboss, but roundabout half are represented by the etching process which means overlays and all the associated fun and games they represent; RSU owners would doubtless snigger. Note that the bogie mounting haven't yet gone in because I haven't got my hands on a set of bogies. Other things on the to do list are acquiring and fitting the castings and vacuum pipes. I have a etch worth of Masokits screw couplings to do as well. Really the dummies supplied for the vacuum pipes are too short but since they're properly modelled I shall lose no sleep over this! The distinctive interior, shown in this Paul Bartlett picture - http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brstripcoil/h3d61539a#h2b070267 - (note the colouring, muck and scale off the coils), will be assembled on a false floor from plastic sheet and section. The etches give you the strip with the holes. Adam

Hi David No forgiveness need be sought! I pleased that someone else has seen fit to have a go at this simple conversion. I would agree that the baulks as modelled are too small - the boards protecting the ends definitely overlap the tops of the ends for example which suggests to me that the measurements were guestimates rather than a record of the great big lunps of wood that sat in the bottom of these wagons. That said, I reckon that the colouring and overall weathering on your models is excellent. What sort of project are these for? Adam

That's where the kit makes life easy: the springing is designed in and therefore the brake shoes are positioned to take this into account. If I were building the wagon as a rigid chassis then I might have made some efforts to bring the shoes a bit closer to the wheels but that might compromise the brake linkages. The other thing to bear in mind is that the spring/bearing carriers are in a little resealable bag along with the wheels while this is going on. There's no risk of soldering or otherwise gumming the whole lot up, The next question is whether to assemble the chassis to the body before painting. One plus of the design is that the two can be treated seperately and assembled afterwards. In this instance, I think that I'll assemble the two before the other components go on so as to ensure even pressure while the epoxy sets. My fear is that the second vac' cylinder will get in the way! I'm away for a week now so may change my mind before I get back. Buffers are on order and I've located a 'spare' set of screw links so its otherwise ready to go. Adam

Thanks Andrew (although all you're doing is praising the thoroughness of Justin's work). Where did I hide my supply of vacuum cylinders? Adam

A bit of a leap and some rather dodgy pictures (I shall have another go in the morning), but I've forged ahead and all soldering is now complete prior to the solid details - vacuum cylinders, lable clips (included, but I shall glue these), axleboxes and springs - being added. The safety loops are formed from 0.3mm nickel wire around a template that is part of the etch fret which is quite neat; they could, perhaps, be more securely located, but I think that's being picky. The underside view shows off the rather indifferent quality of my soldering! The coupling hooks are Masokits - I have yet to assemble the screw couplings that will hang from them, while the vac' pipes are from copper electrical wire wound round with some very fine stuff from a defunct pair of headphones - since the dummy is modelled in proper detail I left it hanging. A dose of metal black next, I think... Adam

I've no real need for grain wagons or transfers - and CCT's do fill a number of gaps - it's simply frustrating that the HMRS which has done such great service to those interested in wagons down the years produce what is arguably their worst sheet for what should be the most useful. Adam

Heavens yes! Although the type brandings are useful the sheet is only really suitable for lettering very plain individual vehicles; very few of the specialist vehicles you get the brandings for can be done properly since there are no instructions (as you might find for conflats, lowfits, hump shunting, etc.), return to markings - which are on the other sheet in fairness (but not reflecting the idiosyncrasies of the real thing as the old Woodhead sheets did so well) The general problems are that there are not enough numbers, no made up sequences and hardly any tare numbers; that they vanish into the background of the backing sheet cannot really be avoided but it simply adds to the frustration of attempting to use the thing. Better than nothing, but, given what else is available, only just. Nice work Jonathan. Adam

No worries Colin. I also note that there's a mention of Justin's kits in the Small Suppliers Forum bit of the new MRJ. Adam

A Lowfit is probably one of the trickiest wagons to get up to weight in 4mm (I've no idea how the 2mm types would manage). I would add that Justin used Exactoscale wheels and bearings which make the removable axle keeps near essential since the journals (for want of a better word) act more like the prototype and work better if dropped out as you would the real thing. Since I'm using conventional pinpoint bearings the wheels can be sprung out by flexing the W-irons in the usual way. So long as you remember to put a fillet of solder in the fold between them and the chassis top plate and don't take the wheels out too often this should not have any adverse effects. Well, that's the hope anyway. I installed the vacuum dummies, coupling hooks and brake cross shaft yesterday evening, but it was late so no pictures eventuated. Brake levers next and then I can muck about with safety loops, castings, vac' pipes and the like. The result will be somewhat crowded! Adam

Go on Andrew, you know you want to. Seriously, this is an excellent kit and that's just as well; I have a couple of the 10' versions salted away. It takes the pain out of mucking about with brakegear and gives a very good result without too much effort if you don't mind the - unavoidable - small parts. Justin deserves to do well with his rapidly growing range. I'm especially heartened by the possibility of the - long overdue - finescale option for the 12' wheelbase push rod braked chassis and intrigued by some of the planned items, the Shochood B in particular (a kit is the only way I'll ever build another!). Adam

Actually, it isn't the painting that's the problem: the spring carriers are somewhere out of the way while paint is being waved about. The problem, generally, is the incompatibility of the brake gear with the W-iron components which makes judging the distance tricky and getting the springs equalised on each wheel so that the thing rides level. Justin's design with springs you don't have to shape seems better in this respect. Painting, by the way goes like this: I generally give the W-irons a dose of metalblack first, in this case it'll be the whole underframe - and protect the axle slots with a bit of masking tape before giving it a waft of primer so that there's no paint on the sliding surfaces.. Best Adam PS: the way you get that many wagons is by not wasting time building locos or carriages.

The instructions - http://www.rumneymodels.co.uk/resources/BR+Clasp+Brake+Chassis+Instructions.pdf (page 2) - suggest 50g altogether using 8 thou spring wire which I think is finer than that usually supplied. I say 'I think' because I have only five or six wagons with sprung W irons that I haven't lost patience with and soldered up solid and all those I persisted with had it designed in. To put that in some sort of perspective, the last time dad and I had a census I think there were something like 180 wagons. Since that may well have been 10 years ago now I wouldn't be surprised if the figure is now nearer 300. Obviously, once the chassis is complete I shall put this to the test and will report back. The springing, by the way is by individual spring carriers which is more or less normal for wagons. It rolls nicely, even now. Adam

So here's the result of half an hour's noodling. Spring stops have been added as have the apparently fiddly brake yokes. These are modelled like the real thing, fabricated from rod and strip but because they're assembled in situ with four fixed points (the two brakeshoes, and each end of the transverse brake linkage), it's simply a case of bending the strip into a 'v' - there's a small notch in the centre which clips over the link - and threading the wire through the relevant holes. Should the worst happen, Justin has helpfully provided spares; I didn't need them so there's every chance they'll go on some future wagon from a different source to its benefit. A drop of flux, four touches of the iron, clip the excess wire and, er, it's done. Good design, well executed. There's not all that much left on the fret now. Adam

Just a quick heads up that Im currently describing the construction of a vac' fitted 16 tonner with one of Justin's chassis on my workbench thread which can be found here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/37002-adams-em-workbench-a-clasp-braked-16-tonner/?p=1192780 Adam