Overseer
Western Thunderer
One of the wagons missing from my 1950s gas works project is a steel 13 ton ex-Private Owner wagon. They were quite distinctive as the thinner sides, ends and floors meant they were slightly lower than the equivalent wooden wagons to maintain the same cubic capacity. They look something like the centre wagon in this image -
I am pretty sure this is a 1930s Butterley built wagon. Paul Bartlett has a number of very useful photographs on his website of a couple of very similar wagons at the very end of their existence.
I am not aware of a suitable kit in 7mm scale so I will be scratch building one. The attached drawing is based on a few dimensions and the available photographs. It should be reasonably accurate but there are no guarantees. One area I am unsure about is the end door hinge arrangement as it is not visible in the photographs I have studied.
This wagon is an ideal scratch building project in brass or nickel silver and could be a good way to develop or practice some skills which are useful for more complex projects. I know plenty of WT members have (or have access to) rivet presses, soldering irons and the hand tools needed to make this wagon.
If there is interest I will do a blow by blow account of scratch building the wagon. I won't have time to start this for a week or two, so there is time for people to get the necessary bits together and have a go at the same time as my build progresses if they wish. As well as 0.2 and 0.25mm (8 thou and 10 thou) brass sheet, I will be using an Exactoscale 9' wheelbase 9" solebar underframe unit (there are other options), RCH buffers and axleboxes. If you don't have a non-ferrous metal merchant nearby a packet or two of K&S 10 thou brass sheet shouldn't be too hard to find locally, or order from Eileens or Metalsmith. Other similar wagons will be similar to build so you don't have to build the Butterley wagon.
Any interest?
I am pretty sure this is a 1930s Butterley built wagon. Paul Bartlett has a number of very useful photographs on his website of a couple of very similar wagons at the very end of their existence.
I am not aware of a suitable kit in 7mm scale so I will be scratch building one. The attached drawing is based on a few dimensions and the available photographs. It should be reasonably accurate but there are no guarantees. One area I am unsure about is the end door hinge arrangement as it is not visible in the photographs I have studied.
This wagon is an ideal scratch building project in brass or nickel silver and could be a good way to develop or practice some skills which are useful for more complex projects. I know plenty of WT members have (or have access to) rivet presses, soldering irons and the hand tools needed to make this wagon.
If there is interest I will do a blow by blow account of scratch building the wagon. I won't have time to start this for a week or two, so there is time for people to get the necessary bits together and have a go at the same time as my build progresses if they wish. As well as 0.2 and 0.25mm (8 thou and 10 thou) brass sheet, I will be using an Exactoscale 9' wheelbase 9" solebar underframe unit (there are other options), RCH buffers and axleboxes. If you don't have a non-ferrous metal merchant nearby a packet or two of K&S 10 thou brass sheet shouldn't be too hard to find locally, or order from Eileens or Metalsmith. Other similar wagons will be similar to build so you don't have to build the Butterley wagon.
Any interest?