Assembling a ragtag fugi-fu-f-freight fleet

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Western Thunderer
Over the past ten years or so I have been slowly working on rolling stock for an early to mid 1950s BR layout. The main focus is coal wagons in various states of decrepitude with a few new BR standard wagons to provide contrast. I have decided to start a thread for the non mineral wagons and vans which are needed to fill out the background scene, really to help me remember what I have done over the often long periods between starting and finishing models. Most of the models have been seen previously on WT in various states of incompletion and most are built from Slaters or Parkside kits, plus some scratch builds and rtr.

To start with, a Slaters 7024 Midland Railway 10T Covered Van kit. These kits assemble very well and the compensated brass W irons and some brass castings are included in the kit. The kit produces an accurate van in original condition. From photographs, the vans which staggered into the 1950s had extra braces and bolts added to hold them together. These are easy to add to the basic van and I think add quite a bit to the character of the model.

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As these are 'supporting' wagons I am trying to use as much of the kit as possible. The plastic kit brakes have been used but replacement Ambis brake levers substituted for the etched items in the kit which are a funny shape. Injection moulded brake levers as supplied in most kits never look right, so replacing them with etched brake levers from Ambis, Exactoscale or MMP is an easy change which makes a big difference to the look of the finished model.

After a coat of undercoat and an intentionally uneven coat of BR grey as the starting point for the eventual finish.
MRvan2.jpg
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Another victim staggering towards completion is a Parkside Dundas PS27 GWR 12/13 Ton Open Goods Wagon (Diags. O32/O33). The kit comes with alternate ends with replacement steel channel 'planks' which is useful for these wagons in their 1950s condition. What is not mentioned in the instructions is that the wide second plank which was a feature of these wagons when built was replaced with a standard width plank and a half plank from the 1940s onwards. Paul Bartlett refers to these wagons as 5 1/2 plank wagons, which is what they were by the 1950s. Adding a few bolt heads and scribing the extra plank line is a quick change which alters the appearance significantly. The photo shows it as it is at present, awaiting brake levers etc. I am not a fan of the Parkside etched coupling hooks so these will probably be swapped for Ambis hooks at some stage. I will add chains to the door catches as well but not too much else.
GWopen1.jpg

We'll see what comes next. Possibly one of the Freightman van kits in need of its underframe.
 

Overseer

Western Thunderer
Not the Freightman LMS van, but a Parkside PS09 LMS 12 ton goods van (D1832A) has had some attention. The 3,450 D1832A vans were built between 1929 and 1931 and were to the RCH standard length of 17'6". They were similar to the D1664 vans of 1924-6, but updated with ventilated pressed steel ends. The D1664 vans were a continuation of the final Midland Railway design but on a 9' wheelbase instead of 10'. Strange that the LMS chose to revert to the shorter wheelbase which the Midland had stopped using for vans in 1892 (apart from two smallish lots of 8T vans around 1906 to the pre 1893 design). Anyway, they were built with Morton hand brakes and not many seem to have been vacuum fitted.

Work in progress-
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I have used Exactoscale brake blocks, Ambis push rods and hangers, Exactoscale V irons and Ambis levers and guides (still to fit).
 

Overseer

Western Thunderer
The LMS D1832A van is heading towards completion. The brake gear is assembled
lmsvp2.jpg
I forgot to finish adding the little triangles of plastikard in the T iron verticals where they tuck in to the solebars, and the two brackets under the doors before spraying some grey at the body. Not sure how I managed to get a run in the paint, it will be dealt with during weathering.
lmsvanbr2.jpg
And with some matt black on the underframe. The gloss black paint didn't want to play nicely on the patches for the lettering so they will need tidying up a bit, not too much as the original looks like it was painted freehand but less blobby than my effort.
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A bit of grime will make the brake gear a little easier to see.
 

Overseer

Western Thunderer
Staying with the LMS theme, a Freightman kit for a diagram 1897 van which I am building as a diagram 2039 van. Diagram 1897 was built as unfitted and fitted vans, as was diagram 2039. There was also diagram 1978 which were all fitted. They are RCH standard 17'6" long on 10' wheelbase. The bodies look identical between the diagrams. D.1897 fitted vans were built with the longer springs and 8 shoe brakes while the unfitted had Morton 2 shoe brakes. Lots of the unfitted vans from all these diagrams were fitted during early BR days, ending up with 4 shoe Morton brakes and mostly low mounted vacuum hoses. Most of the vacuum fitted vans had additional diagonal bracing added. The reason for explaining some of the complexity is that the kit came with white metal solebars with standard wagon springs plus 8 shoe brake gear, a combination I couldn't find a photograph of. I decided to build M522304 whose portrait in BR days appears in LMS Wagons Vol 1 by Bob Essery. It had wagon springs and had been converted to 4 shoe vacuum brakes but had not had the extra diagonal braces added. It also had RCH split pan axleboxes, a feature of the D.2039 vans instead of the LMS flat front boxes used on D.1897, so I swapped the axleboxes in the kit with some ABS RCH boxes I happened to have in stock. I will put together etched brake gear for this one and use the 8 shoe brakes and axleboxes on something else.
LMS d2039 c.jpg
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I have also converted it to 3 point compensation using a couple of pieces of brass, a piece of nickel silver wire and a few bits of styrene.
LMS d2039 d.jpg

It should end up as a good representation of the original. It is a pity the Freightman kits are no longer in production. They covered some very useful types and with a little effort build into good models. I would like to buy more, and have to thank Heather K. for selling me this kit some years ago. Not having ABS bits available also makes it harder to build accurate models.
 

AJC

Western Thunderer
Some very nice models, Fraser. So far as I’m aware, there weren’t any LMS vans with 8-shoe brakes and plain suspension. A very similar form of 8-shoe brake (and no J hangers) was fitted by BR to some vehicles - a few of the later shock opens and the Vanwides (and some of the Pipes?). An odd error to make but there you are.

Like you, I’m finding the non-availability of ABS parts a bit of a trial, though there are ways around it, not all are simple.

Adam
 

Overseer

Western Thunderer
Some very nice models, Fraser. So far as I’m aware, there weren’t any LMS vans with 8-shoe brakes and plain suspension. A very similar form of 8-shoe brake (and no J hangers) was fitted by BR to some vehicles - a few of the later shock opens and the Vanwides (and some of the Pipes?). An odd error to make but there you are.

Like you, I’m finding the non-availability of ABS parts a bit of a trial, though there are ways around it, not all are simple.

Adam
Thanks Adam. I didn't want to be definitive about LMS vans with 8-shoe brakes as I don't have any real depth of knowledge but you confirm what the limited number photos I have seen show.

I have managed to get a few odd half hour sessions at the bench through the week and the LMS D2039 van is now near complete, it still needs low level vacuum brake hoses (I thought I had some but it seems not) and I need to check whether rain strips should be on the roof.

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The kit came with plastic buffer heads which wouldn't last long so they were replaced with steel ones from a previous iteration of C&L Finescale, labelled 7BGW, using only the steel parts. They are useful as the ram diameter is larger than normal so fits the holes in the kit buffers perfectly. The rest of the brake gear is mainly Ambis. Some strip brass was cut and bent to form the brackets between the body verticals and the solebars.

I like this van and have enjoyed the combination of parts and materials. I think it fits in with the other models. Hopefully once it is painted it will be easier to see the body detail in photos.
 

Overseer

Western Thunderer
The two LMS vans are progressing through the paint shop.

In gloss.
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After lettering and a coat of matt varnish.
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Anyone notice the tide line on both models? Being lazy, I only masked the upper half of the body (1 width of masking tape) while spraying the roof and there was some overspray. Fortunately the roof mix was mostly thinners. It is less visible to the eye and will become part of the weathering so I am not too bothered by it. But next time I will use a bit more tape.

Due to running low on old Humbrol matt oil based varnish I have been looking for an alternative with a similar flat finish. The Midland van has a problem with one of the paint layers - I used a spray can of grey primer which turns out to be a strange enamel which is softened by mineral turpentine (similar to white spirit). This is a problem as I use turps to thin the washes used for weathering and a wash intended to darken the paint slightly caused all sorts of ugliness. Most of the problems will be useful to represent deteriorating paint but I wanted to seal it before applying more washes so I tried some Cabot's Cabothane matt varnish to see how it looked. Cabots is a Dulux Australia brand which doesn't seem to have a UK equivalent, it is a polyurethane varnish intended for timber furniture etc. A previous test had not been great so the tin has been in the cupboard for a couple of years. After much stirring and then diluting with about 50% turps it sprayed beautifully and produced a nice flat surface, so I kept going and used it on the two LMS vans as well. It should be a good base for the rest of the finishing.
 

Overseer

Western Thunderer
The paint failure on the Midland van has been rescued with another coat of grey and a coat of matt varnish so it can progress to completion. After a spot or two of brown as the base for rust patches -
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Painting and brake gear installation has also commenced on a LNER van. This is a straight build of the Parkside kit, the only change will be brass brake levers and guides. I don't have any short brake levers in stock so will modify some standard levers to suit. I have painted it a faded bauxite colour to represent the faded colour seen in many photographs of heavily weathered vans in the 50s. It is actually Humbrol No9 Tan, from a tin purchased in Nairobi in 1988. I presume the current colour is the same. It will end up with quite a lot of smoke blackening. This is after lettering and matt varnish -
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The 8 shoe brake gear is a bit of fun to put together, mostly ABS mouldings, and it captures the look I think. I am not so convinced about the buffers, they are turned brass with blackening but too domed on the face and flat on the rear of the buffer head. I usually file the front flatter with these buffers but they are not great. There seem to have been different batches from Parkside Dundas so not all are the same.
 

John Ross

Western Thunderer
Your assembling an interesting fleet, thanks for the inspiration and spur to raise my modelling standards.

All the best

John
 
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Overseer

Western Thunderer
Your assembling an interesting fleet, thanks for the inspiration and spur to raise my modelling standards.

All the best

John
Thanks John. The inspiration for the vans comes mainly from photographs of trains of vans serving the paper mills around Edinburgh and Fife. I like the variety of shapes and details the railways came up with, mostly within the same RCH specification. There seem to be quite a few common vans which are not available as kits in 7mm, particularly later LNER designs.
 

John Ross

Western Thunderer
Thanks John. The inspiration for the vans comes mainly from photographs of trains of vans serving the paper mills around Edinburgh and Fife. I like the variety of shapes and details the railways came up with, mostly within the same RCH specification. There seem to be quite a few common vans which are not available as kits in 7mm, particularly later LNER designs.

It is a shame that the Freightman range of wagon kits are no longer available as Frank produced interesting vehicles. This range went to 62C models, but something occurred and their reintroduction stumbled.

All the best

John
 

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Western Thunderer
It is a shame that the Freightman range of wagon kits are no longer available as Frank produced interesting vehicles. This range went to 62C models, but something occurred and their reintroduction stumbled.

All the best

John
I agree, it would be good if the Freightman range could be brought back. Presumably they were made on a low tech injection machine which could be hard for a commercial injection moulding company to cope with. I have one more Freightman kit to complete, an SR unequal plank van, bought as the plastic mouldings only. I would like to buy more as they make up into very nice models.

Freightman SR.jpg
 

John Ross

Western Thunderer
I was reading the on-line 7mm Railway Magazine Lineside Look and came across these Freightman items on for sale on his site Shop pages Perhaps a bit pricy, but as there is a number of LNER vans, it might be worth taking a look.

All the best

John
 

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Western Thunderer
I was reading the on-line 7mm Railway Magazine Lineside Look and came across these Freightman items on for sale on his site Shop pages Perhaps a bit pricy, but as there is a number of LNER vans, it might be worth taking a look.

All the best

John
I think there would definitely be a market for the kits if they were reintroduced. Parkside Dundas were careful not to duplicate any of the Freightman kits so it leaves some big holes in what is available now. If the built up ones were cheap enough I would consider buying them to partially dismantle to convert to S7 but I would much rather start with a kit.
 

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Western Thunderer
I can blame/thank @AJC for this one. Totally unplanned but having offered to draw transfers for a 4mm scale Roads Reconstruction tar tank and having a Slaters square tank kit to hand (meant for a more northerly tar tank) I decided that I should try the transfers out, well a larger sized version of them. I stuck the tank parts of the tank together and sprayed it Humbrol gloss black yesterday and applied the transfers this morning. The transfers are printed on two sheets, white on one and colour on another. The white went on well, the colour overlay is more of a fiddle and the first side didn't go too well until I worked out how to do it better. The colours are very hard to see on the black but when on white they become visible. Keeping the colour layer in place while blotting the water away is fun. Even on the better side I had the colour transfer film fold over on the first few letters. Even with the faults I think it looks quite good. I like the RR Ltd roundel logo on the ends, I traced it from an old Roads Reconstruction advertisement found online. The underframe is borrowed from another tank wagon which fortunately had the tank left loose so can be swapped over easily. I need to make a riveted dome for this tank to finish it.

I hope the envelope gets to Adam safely and he manages to get the transfers onto the wagons without too many problems.

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AJC

Western Thunderer
I see that I've led you astray, Fraser!

Thank you so much for your efforts and I'm pleased that they look good in the larger scale. The 4mm version(s) should be a bit more delicate, but they don't look at all bad in 7mm; a striking little thing.

Adam
 

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Western Thunderer
I see that I've led you astray, Fraser!

Thank you so much for your efforts and I'm pleased that they look good in the larger scale. The 4mm version(s) should be a bit more delicate, but they don't look at all bad in 7mm; a striking little thing.

Adam
Yes, I need to buy some more square tanks now. The intention was to use the underframe from this one under an early Altrincham Gas Works curved top tar tank, and the tank cut up and combined with another to make a larger Lancashire Tar Distillers or JEC Lord tank.

The 4mm tanks are considerably smaller and I expect aligning the red shading will be more difficult. It is a pity that the printer doesn’t have a way of accurately registering the paper for a second pass. It is possible to print the colours over the white but it is hit and miss, especially for the fraction of mm accuracy we need for these transfers.
 
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Western Thunderer
Not much action on this front for a while. A bit of online retail therapy thanks to David Parkins resulted in a couple of ABS 43two1 white metal wagon kits arriving yesterday. Both are 17' 6" long open wagons, one LMS and the other LNER. The reason for posting is that I was really after a LMS Diagram 1666 high sided (5 plank) goods wagon but none were available amongst the remaining ABS stock being sold so I ordered a kit for the similar but 10' wheelbase Diagram 1895 high sided goods wagon instead. The two diagrams are similar apart from the wheelbase and a minor difference in the lowest plank on the doors. On opening the box, packed after November 1994 (thanks to the ever informative Radio Times), I was surprised to see that the door was flat and without the angled bottom plank - so it matches D.1666 exactly rather than D.1895. It will be built as a D.1666 wagon, just a few nuts to rearrange on the solebars, the axles a little closer together and adjusted brake rigging. I am surprised about the discrepancy but happy that I can easily build a D.1666 wagon. If anyone is wondering why a D.1666 wagon was preferred it is simply because it was by far the most numerous single design of wagon owned by any of the companies - 54,450. D.1895 was only 1,200 wagons. For some reason Parkside Dundas made the similar steel underframe D.1667 wagons which were much less common, and the ABS kit for D.1667 is now available as well.

D.1895 seems to induce confusion. Bob Essery muddled up the D.1895 and D.1896 wagons somewhat by suggesting that one lot of D.1896 were actually D.1895 because they had curb rails. The more important difference between these two diagrams were the outside knees, D.1895 had forged knees while D.1896 had vertical angle irons, some with curb rails and some with the floorboard ends exposed.

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And a comparison with the side of the other kit received, a LNER D.92 6 plank open, note the tapered lower plank on the door, actually the plank was set at an angle to provide a less bumpy ride for sack trucks etc being wheeled into the wagons. It would be quite a bit of work to alter the LMS wagon to have a tapered plank as the hinges need to be altered as well.
wagsides.jpg
 

Overseer

Western Thunderer
Opening the bag of bits has revealed that two wedge shaped pieces are included to modify the doors to the D.1895 with angled bottom plank. Makes it easy to alter the doors if anyone is building the kit as a D.1895 wagon. It makes me wonder whether some of the D.1895 wagons had different doors. No mention that I can see in the instructions. I will still be building a D.1666 wagon from the kit.

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