MRJ236 and Those Wagons

Steve Cook

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
My copy of MRJ236 arrived this morning.
Wow.
I have to say, those 5" wagons have blown my mind - just brilliant.
If like me, you are tempted by the idea of a 'trophy wagon', this may or may not help :)
(Wagons are on page 24 if you download the catalogue -if you think O gauge is expensive, read it sitting down.)

I'd love to know more about the working vacuum brakes though, its a shame a bit more technical stuff couldn't have been included in the article. Won't stop me drooling over the photos though!

Steve

Broken link replaced 290117
 
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AndyB

AndyB

Western Thunderer
Steve Cook said:
I'd love to know more about the working vacuum brakes though, its a shame a bit more technical stuff couldn't have been included in the article. Won't stop me drooling over the photos though!
Click to expand...
You'd better start reading 'Engineering in Miniature' magazine then - that is where Doug Hewson's articles get published.
Oh, and you'll be wanting to join this crowd too....

Edit - thought I'd add this link too, for your delectation

Andy
 
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Steve Cook

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
Thanks for the links and info Andy, should keep me quiet for a little bit.
I'm just toying with the idea of a 'one wagon' temptation though ;)
Steve
 
Neil

Neil

Western Thunderer
I must be made of stern stuff; the wagons are indeed impressive but I don't feel the urge to try something in 5" gauge. For me the impressive bit was the weathering rather than the engineering. Though there are exceptions it seems that the bigger the scale the more likely something is to be clean and polished rather than grubby and careworn. A friend of mine thought my suggestion that his 16mm Darjeeling tank would look better weathered was confirmation of my insanity and in my 1:1 scale endeavours fine paintwork and many layers of varnish are highly prized.

However I wonder if this may change, in the classic car and bike world 'rats' seem to be gaining an appreciative audience. I live in hope that one day this might filter down to the railway preservation world, I'd love to see a ratty rebuilt Bulleid pacific or an Austerity.
 
AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
I'm with Neil on this. The wagons are - if I'm honest - the only reason I bought this particular issue because the sheer presnce of the SR plywood van on the cover was too good to walk away from (for all MRJ may or may not be one's cup of tea from time to time, how many model railway periodicals would ever put a wagon as the sole subject on the cover?). Impressive though they are I feel no desire to follow that path. Where would I put the thing? I could build an EM micro in the space, I might yet...

Adam
 
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David Taylor

David Taylor

Western Thunderer
Aside from the initial cost of the workshop, which an increasing number of small scale modellers are acquiring anyway, 5" gauge isn't that much more expensive. Especially when compared to G1. When I see the cost of a G1 loco I wonder who would buy one. Certainly not me. My 5" gauge 0-4-0 cost less second hand.

I'm pretty sure the driving wheel castings for my current 5" loco were cheaper than an equivalent set of A. Harris 7mm wheel castings. Aside from the copper boiler the material for a loco is probably about the same as a good 7mm kit. Might get cheaper if you build subsequent locos because you always buy more than you need. I have bought 2 sheets of brass for the current, but there is probably enough left over for two more locos and steel is cheap.

But yes, the boiler is damned expensive. You could always make an electricly powered model of a steam loco :) It has been done, and commerically too. But it wouldn't smell or sound right, and wouldn't be as much fun.

Regards,
David.
 
ceejaydee

ceejaydee

Western Thunderer
I always fancied a few wagons to run behind my 5" gauge loco but that was in the days when I enjoyed a potential large run in my folks garden rather than my current postcard.
Running a scale train was never really an option at the local Model Engineering Society track as they were too busy adding to the club funds hauling children around.
Regardless I always enjoyed driving the loco even though at ground level it was a touch contorted given my 6'+ frame :rolleyes:
 
David Taylor

David Taylor

Western Thunderer
Wow, you must be bent up like a pretzel. Raised tracks never took off down here, and I've only ever seen one for 3.5" gauge. Given it's mostly an old man's hobby it's a bit hard on them. I have a while to go before it's a problem but still need a few breaks over an afternoon of passenger hauling.

I'm surprised your club doesn't do closed days for members to run what they like. We have a monthly passenger afternoon but many clubs also have a few inviation runs and interclub runs per year which are not focussed on paying passengers. My local has a NSWGR scale running day where only steam models and freight/passenger stock is run. And any 5th Saturday in a month is a free for all afternoon.

We haven't got to the point of your ground level org though. We just put a train together and run around for fun.

A British 4 wheel wagon would be a pretty small model in 5" gauge so a string of 3 should not be too big to use as a display piece. But perhaps more suited to the shed than the living room as it's still a bit much for the coffee table or mantle.
 
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