Martin S-C

Wonderful info, thank you. I'll go do a search for those books but as you imply I suspect they will be expensive and overkill for this model build. Here's where I am at the moment. I went with two brake shoes on the hatch side as the photo I was working from implied that - if this is incorrect it isn't a huge job to remove one of them. I haven't put a brake shoe on the opposite side. I can easily add one from scrap bits. I wanted a left hand facing brake lever because it just looks so weird! Haven't started on the roof yet, but holes are all drilled for grab rails and other handles.

Silly me, I have found it now: So ... *squints hard* doors both sides but the canvas roof hatch on one side only. And the van centre left with the figure next to it shows a left-hand brake lever too which is useful. There was quite the extreme arch to the roofs of these, much more so than the Tri-Ang van body I'm using.

Some questions principally aimed at @Compound2632 I'm not attempting scale fidelity or accuracy with this conversion, but I could do with more help with the brake arrangement so that I can get things looking more or less right. Originally these vans were built with brakes one side and a lever one side - was the braked wheel always on the side with the canvas roof hatch? The few photos I have found (prototype and models) suggests tit was. Was there just one brake shoe on one wheel or a pair operating on both wheels on that side? I've taken a look at your own model builds in your D299 appreciation thread which suggests one wheel but there is this photo which seems to suggest a brake shoe on both wheels although I can see the photograph has been edited with some background under the wagon blanked out. With the safety grab rails that seem to have been fitted at the brake handle end would these just be on one side/one end for a single brake lever? I assume that's the case. I've taken a look at Bob Essery's Midland Wagons Vol.2 plate 379 and that seems to show a van with brake levers both sides, and hence grab rails both sides at that end. Looking at the above photo I'm puzzling over how the canvas roof was secured. Under it you can see the outline of wooden slats and I'll try to indicate these with lengths of 0.3mm brass wire laid on the roof and then tissue paper over the top. I can see there's a cut-out in the roof overhang that goes back to the body side and the canvas edge is secured down by what looks like an iron bar with a locking mechanism each end that shows in the above photo as a rectangular block, then below that is what I assume is a board that is the end or edge of the folding roof arrangement as it clearly prevents the side doors being opened when its in place and I can't see what other purpose it might serve. There is a locking bar of some kind on the right hand end which I can't decipher as well. The two wooden strakes - did they run right across the roof - did the canvas awning slide back across between them or are they just wind/rain strips? I appreciate that the canvas awning only opened to the centre line of the roof, but was wondering if these strakes went further. Man thanks for any help you can give.

What I find most interesting from a modelling POV is that when closed across the railway the two gates are longer than the gap, so they overlap. I've never seen anything like that before. I wonder if the old gates had been smashed by a train and these were temporary replacements until a correctly sized pair could be installed?

A brake lever facing left? That's interesting and unusual. I might add that, just for something different.

Progress of a sort. All the little brass bits attached now. Undercoat painting tomorrow. I may be odd but I do think that slapping all the handrails on tends to bring a brake van to life. Its equivalent to painting the faces of the little metal or plastic people - they cease being objects and gain a personality. I've also finished the two open bogie wagons. One will be a general merchandise vehicle and the other will convey minerals. They had their undercoats added today. The Tri-Ang Insulfish van conversion to an L&Y themed van has begun. I'm using a Cambrian 16ft 6" underframe kit as the basis under the body. Did these vans have brake levers both sides, or just one side? That is until no doubt the LMS added brakes both sides. Then there's this thing. Bought second hand, its a brass kit and nicely made. I've popped out the EM wheelsets it came with and replaced them with 00. I need to repaint this into my NMGS departmental livery which is basically the red oxide the LMS used - does anyone know exactly which paint colour that is ... in any acrylic manufacturers paint? The oxide colour I need to match...

I'm confused why you need a testing track and a programming track. One track can serve both jobs.

Some more progress - a little slower now as some pre-Christmas cheer has entered the house and my hands are a bit unsteady after a glass of two of cheer. I've got the side doors to a stage where I'm happy with them - not ecstatic, but happy. I can hide some of the grimness with a subtle weathering job, and I'm pretty good with a paintbrush and can make a convincing trompe l'oeil effect to hide the not-so-straight vent slats Holes drilled for handrails which is the next task. Fitting all the little brass twiddley bits is a real joy. I used to hate working with such tiny items and get angry when they pinged out of the tweezers never to be seen again but as I get older and my eyesight weakens it becomes a happy achievement to enjoy success with small parts like this - so satisfying to be able to work with them. I have no idea how the 2mm FS people do it though! And yes, I noticed a few days ago that the upper foot steps should be mounted at the lower edge of the frames but by then it was too late! I like them up there, it adds to the character of the van I think and I'm sure some vehicles had high foot steps for whatever reason.

I like the stylish rear wing to keep the rear wheels on the road at high speed.

I'm sorry Lez - my bad - I wasn't clear - I support mine as well, there is just no need to invest in more rollers is what I meant. Trix is the one I use. Brilliant. No complaints at all - and the brushes are brass wires I think. I wouldn't call them aggressive though, a loco still needs a good few minutes running on it to remove all the crud. I usually place the brushes on a dead end bit of track and trap a piece of sponge or foam between it and a suitable heavy bracing object like a book and just leave the loco trundling against this stop for a while. To get the worst dirt off I even apply some downwards pressure to the loco (hold it down by hand) so it abrades even more against the brushes. I think you may be over-thinking things? I plonk the rollers anywhere I need to do some testing, on a few inches of loose scrap track on my workbench if I want to run a loco in for a half hour. I run in before the decoder is fitted and power this bit of track with an ancient Hornby controller and wires attached by crocodile clips. It doesn't need to be pretty to do the job. The only fixed "test track" I use is 18" or so of programming track.

I would definitely do that. I bought something like this though it wasn't the Gaugemaster one and it definitely didn't cost that much. I bought 2 in fact which clip together to allow twin power bogie diesels to use them (yes, sorry... I confess to having some diseasal stock as Annie calls it). https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gaugemaster-GM-GM59-Scale-Wheel-Cleaning/dp/B01FFDRBUI/ref=asc_df_B01FFDRBUI/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310762591863&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6669903020286824624&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006984&hvtargid=pla-756417051072&psc=1&th=1&psc=1 For rolling road I bought a pack of DCC Concepts rollers - just 6 of them and I've ever only used 4 at once since pony and bogie trucks do NOT need supporting. If someone sells you a wheeled/rolling support for non-powered axles they are taking the Mick, so save yourself some ££.

Olympic standard wagon collecting! I dare not count mine. Don't think its 500 though.

I'm selling off a bunch of wagon kits if anyone would like to increase their stash? All sorts - Ratio, Slaters, Powsides, Coopercraft, Cambrian, Parkside and a couple from D&S, Fourmost, 51L and Nu-Cast. Mostly pre-grouping stuff but most lasted into the 1950s. Shout by PM if you'd like a list. I'm doing discounts for bulk

They must have been huge bananas. ... only then did I realise what you meant. Derp.

Sod the A4, it was the GP40 that scared me!

I agree, so this year I'm going to go for...

I warn you, this brake van malarky is a slippery slope. I have too many already and still keep finding little quaint old style ones I want to model. I've got three of the Slaters NER birdcage ones to build which will be the NMGS standard design. And two more open veranda MR ones for the NMR... resistance is futile.

My rule of thumb is that a steam engine must never have more than two driven axles. So 4-4-0 is good, as is 0-4-4 and 0-4-2 and 4-2-2 and so on and you can just about scrape by with 4-4-2 but its when you couple 6 driving wheels together and then add a pony truck in front (even just a single axle) that the whole house of cards comes tumbling down. I might just make an exception for the Aberdare 2-6-0 on the basis of its plain ugliness (and luscious outside frames) which redeems it... but other than that... [/please note this post was made after G&Ts were consumed and any statements made herein may not seem true to the author on any subsequent date on which G&Ts were not consumed.]

I can't believe I just gave an applause response to the Luftwaffe. That's what almost 24 months of stressful isolation gets you *shrugs* Now you see that cream bus has a roof and to me that's a step over the forbidden line. If they are horse drawn or fit into the unroofed "charabanc" category then they are fine and dandy but once they get roofs they all begin to look much alike, a bit like Churchward locomotives and therefore need to be terminated with extreme prejudice.

Are horse drawn buses allowed? I have nefarious plans for a Lledo one.

... told you you needed a bigger yard, but you wouldn't listen!

Looks like you already need a bigger MPD old chap!

It's one of those rare raised double blast pipes. They were not a success.

The loco depot is going to look fab. Great work aiming the pointwork exactly at the pre-cut inspection pits - I'd never have the confidence to do it that way around. When you refer to pinning the track do you actually pin through the sleepers or tack them down by using a broad-headed pin put in next to them? I find pinning through Peco sleepers almost always results in some unhappy distortion of the plastic and ruins the look. Second photo from the bottom looks like there is quite a length of unsupported ply - which I assume is 9mm? Or will there be some light sub-framing under the ply and on top of the main legs/stretchers? Having suffered from wibbly-wobbly ply in my last project I'm concerned now about bracing it regularly and frequently.

A small update. It looks crude by most people's standards but I think its headed the right way now. I have done almost no scratch building in my life so I'm quite pleased with the bodge factor on this one. I'm confident I can patch up any gaps with a skim of filler. I also found out today by wasting an hour on Google that my 3D print is of a North British brake van. I honestly do not remember buying it, which is worrying in itself!