4mm Jan's 4mm WB: Hello, Old Friend

[Lyndhurstman]

Plywood You?

Greetings from all here. We hope your New Year has started as you would wish.

Something a little - little in scale, and little in information - bit odd, this time. Odd in that she's real enough, but mostly constructed on a slight subframe of conjecture and interpretation.

She's a L&NER Dia. 172 - the Unfitted sibling of the vac version (Dia. 195). Built - according to Tatlow - around the end of the last World War, we have little information about the original size of the planned population of her kith and kin. And her numbering raises an arched eyebrow from the massed ranks of our Works expertise. However, Tatlow has an L&NE example (the only one found so far) as 265436, so our speculative aim - whilst not neccesarily true - is (please, by all that is worthy) hopefully not that wide of the mark. Railtec - lovely, clear Railtec - supplied her index and tare.

Update:
A subsequent appeal to finer minds resulted in jjnewitt supplying clarity to the numeric niceties of our subject and her familials:

The unfitted version of diagram 195 was 172 and they were built 43/44. They were the same except for the brakegear which, as you correctly presume, was 2 shoe Morton when new. Many were later given 4 shoe Morton brakegear by BR when they were vacuum braked. There were 1200 diagram 172 vans built and numbers were 261549-262448 & 265400-265699. All from Tatlow, volume 4a.

She came to us in a joblot, upright, but naked as she was concieved on the east coast of Scotland. But her journey into being apparently coincided with an earthquake - or maybe a large explosion local to her original manufacturer. She was certainly upset by the experience.

Careful (we can be, if it's early enough in the week..) disassembly of one corner managed to true up most of her skewiffedness, but her roof refused to budge. In a generous act, and not to be deflected by her unwillingness to part with her roof, we've added some rainstrips.

Now she sits on a chassis courtesy of the ever-growing Stores (run by Zmy Bhitz - a Czech refugee who joined us early in the War, and a veritable hoarder of all manner of doubtful designery). Her brakes (Morton, 2-shoe) have been given the Rice Extension treatment (page 31 of his Irwell Handbook No. 2) to get them into closer proximity with the wheels. Her hook and buffers are sourced from Lanarkshire, and the 3-link is Kean Maygib. She's outshopped in acrylic (Railmatch Early Freight Grey 2322).

Our Best To You All

 

[Lyndhurstman]

More Plywood peregrinations.
In a bid to establish some kind of momentum in our endeavours, we thought decided to divulge a little of our remedial Work In Progress.

As mentioned previously, the greater part of these projects are recycled, having come to us after a successful bid on a well-known property disposal site (we're under orders from On High to improve our return, but even the more mathematical minds in Accounts have yet to devise a winning formula, and frankly I believe the effort as impossible as the fundamental alchemical transmutation of lead into gold).

That said - and reigning in my diversive prattling - I present herewith an ex-L&NER 12T van (Diagram 172).

We have been focusing a lot on this one, lately. Its six siblings are in a similar state - complete as a basic box, with chassis attached, but without rooves.

The Works Photographer has cunningly crafted a couple of composite views.

In the first brace of pictures, you can see (top) the issue, and in the accompanying lower image, our tried-and-tested methods to enable a clean divorce of the misaligned components:

The separtion of the glued sides takes about 30 minutes, and the sharpest of Swann-Morton's No. 11 in a No. 3 handle. Our experience has taught us to leave the parting of the vertical until the last; leaving it serves to maintain rigidity of the box. We are thankful for the modern developments in adhesive - such as Plastic Weld: the effort involved in breaking a join made with previous adhesive incarnations - such as polystyrene cement - I believe would make this sort of work impossible.

In the second view, you can see the benificial outcome of this judicious jiggling:

What you may not be able to see is the successful closure of the approx. 1 1/2" gap between roof and wagon side.

More on this as we progress. We have an order to place with that nice Mr Franks in Lanarkshire.

Our best to you all.

 

[Lyndhurstman]

A warning upon the perils of overconfidence

Friends,
The delights of reworking previously-built stock are many. However, the pitfalls - and pratfalls - can be equally numerous. Indeed, the road to completion - in our experience - is trod firmly into the teeth of a gale, and with limbs weighted by a sapping mud.

Thus, this 172.
In a typical delivery of bodies and rooves, and unaccompanied by anything in the way of pairing information, a decision has to be made on the ground as to the best fit of one to the other. This done (by unnamed people subsequently struck down with Sloping Shoulder Syndrome), I felt secure in being able to pronounce the successful closure of the offending gap.

Sadly, this confidence was misplaced.

Closer inspection by the Carpenters highlighted that the closure wasn't perfect. Close, but not close enough. From being on top of the world, we realised we've only just begun.

It's good to know that - though the trials and tribulations of our work are many - the weight of experience in these matters is growing. An hour or so's brainstorming in the back room of the Volunteer - suitably smoothed by some (several...) bitters - soon had us back on track. His vigour renewed by hops, Chippy soon found some lengths of 1 1/2 in x 3/4 in strip to act as filler, and had soon placed it along both upper edges.

Having waited tensely for the glue to go off, the roof timbers were been offered up again, and the consensus is that the join twixt the two is considerably improved (although I've a suspicion that one or two were not quite seeing straight after our impromptu Brains Trust outing) . I'm loathe to say fixed..

We will leave the roof of for a while longer - the van needs internal weight and sound insulation fitted internally.

Until next time

Our best to you all

 

[jonte]

The devil is certainly in the detail, Jan. Chin, chin!

Jonte

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Approachable and Dependable, but Nothing Out Of The Ordinary

The latest plain grey box creeps slowly towards the paint shop for numbering, standing mute in her RailMatch acrylic wash, applied in thin brushed layers upon the hard dried demob suit she was delivered in.

For some reason best known to her previous owner, her brake V's - an exercise in delicacy we take for granted these days - were removed. We presume this was to refit her with the more robust (but to our eyes less finessed) FourMost whitemetal replacements; this has already been done to another of her lot, so it's a fair bet, we think. We've therefore cobbled some V's up from stock Plastruct section, and the cross-shaft ditto. All mods rendered unto homogeneity and anonymity via RailMatch 412.

As with her sister, her brakes and levers came courtesy of Zmy Bhitz in the Stores here.

Our Best To You All

 

[Mike Sheardown]

Some of the best (railway) modelling prose I've ever read !!
If I were not on this forum, I would think you were offering instruction on the battle of life itself.
Many, many thanks for your ongoing inspiration
Cheers
Mike

 

[jonte]

'.......the hard dried demobsuit she was delivered in.' Classic!

I have to agree with Mike; you're like the Leonard Sachs of W.T.. I can almost hear the 'whooshes', sharp intakes of breath and ribald cheers of the gathered throngs (I'm right out of wordiness now, Jan).

She looks magnificent btw. And like all your creations has a soul. Uncanny.

Bestest,

Jonte

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Some of the best (railway) modelling prose I've ever read !!
If I were not on this forum, I would think you were offering instruction on the battle of life itself.
Many, many thanks for your ongoing inspiration
Cheers
Mike

'.......the hard dried demobsuit she was delivered in.' Classic!

I have to agree with Mike; you're like the Leonard Sachs of W.T.. I can almost hear the 'whooshes', sharp intakes of breath and ribald cheers of the gathered throngs (I'm right out of wordiness now, Jan).

She looks magnificent btw. And like all your creations has a soul. Uncanny.

Bestest,

Jonte

Gentlemen, I blush deeply. Thank you for your kind words.

@Mike Sheardown Far be it from me to confirm your suspicions regarding our little philisophical excursions into the Wonderful World of Wagonry, but I shall say that there is just a hint of the Bigger Picture (rendered in something of an abstract manner, it has to be said ) in our recounting of the vagaries of our vocation.

Truth Be Told, in casting these slight stones into the cyber torrent, we offer a hefty nod of appreciation to the previous work of Mr Rice for such seminal artistry exponded in the accounting of the North Cornwall Minerals - including Tregarrick (the delights of which I never managed to see in the flesh, sadly) and its offspring. We would not be here, taking this chance, were it not for them.

Our Thanks, Sir.

@jonte

As ever, I am grateful for your support and consideration. Certainly, the tiny whorls in the fabric of existence that arise from the activities of The Works are definitely something of a performance I think it only fair to warn you that - one day soon - we may well venture into etched brass and whitemetal, and experiment with Resistance Soldering. Then, truly, we will be in a state of flux.

I must go now, as the squeak of the Tea Trolley beckons to me from across the Yard.

Again, Gentlemen, Our Thanks

 

[iak63]

Ye wot?

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Under The Weather


Numbered as E261798, our latest Diagram 172 sits in the early morning light, having survived another night in the open, showing the evidence of the washes of dirt from the grime-laden rain that our locale has been blessed with recently.

She's waiting - Indeed has been waiting - for the nod from Our Esteemed Visitor so she can begin to repay her investors, and trundle to and fro with her belly full of Goods, Various. Maybe, today will be her day.

Here investment of intricacies have been described previously. The only evolutions since our last are her Railtec numerics (Sheet 6313), the usual Lanarkshire loveliness in her hooks, and a light pouffe of rust - courtesy of Carr's - so she'll merge well with her kith & kin out in The Big Wide World.

Our Best To You All

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Out in the Open, Westward Bound.

We're gathering pace, now. It must be the Spring evenings making the blood flow faster.

Hot on the wheels of our last, I bring word that work has begun on our latest resurrection; viz an ex-GWR Diagram 029.

It marks something of a departure for us, ensconced as we are in the blurred, dishevelled greyness of the East End of London, nourishing ourselves upon the small pickings thrown down from the High Tables of Eastern and Midland. We don't see much of countryside, out here.

She arrived semi-evolved (she should feel right at home, here...) We've already removed the large blocks under the bufferbeams that played host to a version of the Rovex coupling, and set her bearings parallel in her boxes, enabling us to fit some of Mr Gibson's 8 spoked wheels to P4 gauge, and relocated her brakes from the previous builders narrow-minded bent, to suit. We've also attempted repair to one of her corners, as the end planks were bowed inwards.

More to follow. In the meantime, I've sent our apprentice off across town with his uncle's Ensign Selflix do some research on these . We hope he can stay focused...

Our Best To You All.

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Morton This Than Meets The Eye
A couple of shifts have been spent in addressing the significant missing components of this Open wagon; namely the brake levers, loop, and cross-shaft. The first and third are from Craig Welsh's wonderful nickel silver etches, while the second is a piece of 0.7mm brass.

Holes were drilled out in the brake V's - initially to 0.4mm, and then to 0.7mm, with the brass cross-shaft being held in a pin vice, and rotated as slight pressure was applied. This was done until the cross-shaft was clear of the external face of the second V by couple of inches.

The Elfix impersonator has captured a couple of shots of our fiddly fettling.

We are aware that the plain lever is on the wrong side; we're waiting for the fitters to bring us the correct one. Complete with cam.

Having stared at it for a while now, we are currently suffering cranial confusion, and are wondering whether this wagon should not be a 4-shoe Morton - if being a good 15 years or more after the end of the War - rather than its 'as delivered' state of a simple 2-shoe.

More anon.

Our Best To You All

 

[AJC]

Hello Jan,

I suspect that - were it not one of those modified to a 10' wheelbase and vacuum-fitted - that it would have retained two shoe brakes until withdrawal, which would not have been overlong in coming c.1960 had it remained in that condition. This example sold out of service to the Port of Bristol Authority at Avonmouth certainly has that form of brake:

GWR open merchandise OWV ZGV | PBA63074

As does this at Teesport (note the replacement W irons):

GWR open merchandise OWV ZGV | PBA63074

Might it be worth refining the corner plate joins a little? They seem to be something awkward to get right on this kit as I found from the pair I rebuilt last year.

Adam

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Hello Jan,

I suspect that - were it not one of those modified to a 10' wheelbase and vacuum-fitted - that it would have retained two shoe brakes until withdrawal, which would not have been overlong in coming c.1960 had it remained in that condition.

Might it be worth refining the corner plate joins a little? They seem to be something awkward to get right on this kit as I found from the pair I rebuilt last year.

Adam

Hi Adam,
As ever, I'm very grateful for your reply.
I spent quite a lot of time pouring over Mr Bartlett's site, but I didn't get to those.
The Ratio kit is the 9ft WB, and - I think - only came with locators for brakes on one side, so I'm presuming it was intended as 2 shoe and nowt else. Basically, for those modelling Halcyon Days and not the 'Make Do and Mend' survivalist ethos that forms the bulk of our Working Days.

As to the corner plates - yes. I had a go at them already, as the end was pushed in off the vertical, leaving an overhang on the sides. It's nor perfect, but the best I can make it (the glue used by the previous assembler looks similar to the old Airfix polystyrence cement, and is impossible to lever apart, so I could't do the full Bottom Up rebuild). As the walls of the wagon are so thick, I might sheet it - but that would risk losing the lovely detail - both inside and out.

I still have buffers to source, so this one will go into the queue in the Fitting Shop.

Thanks again.

Jan

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Arresting Oragami
We present the (partially-ripened) fruits of our labours to day. Not much in the Grand Scheme Of Things, but we declare our pride in reaching this far without recourse to some of Mr Fullers finest:

One side of the Open gets it's arresting gear. Here, we have to admit that the Morton lever is a fudge; our Planners (a doubtful branding for such a loose grouping of poorly-focused nit-pickers) had completely forgotten that there is no representation of a 9ft Morton clutch in Craig Welsh's range, so we have had to undertake some sleight of (under)hand in order to get it off the books. So...

The levers come in a lovely fret - complete with bending guide:

... along with a second thickness to layer up the boss at the cross-shaft end.

We had the tricksy idea of using the combined assemblage from the fret 'as is' - to represent the stacked figure 8 that is so indicative of the Morton gear. All that was needed was a bit of fret soldered across both, and drilled through for the cross-axle. It passes muster for us, but we're prone to investment in tinted visual aids...

As can be seen, on the same fret is the Delightful Minefield of the lever guard. I will not bore you (presuming of course that you haven't switched off already...) with the work undertaken, as these beautiful sculptures are well described in the instructions:

https://www.scalefour.org/downloads/craig-welsh-levers.pdf

Not for the faint-hearted. Not the time-starved. Oh... an ability to hold your breath for about a quarter of an hour while staring with one eye shut might well pay dividends, too.

Our Best To You All

 

[jonte]

With you right to the end, Jan, as always.

Immense patience required for drilling out all of those holes, Jan. Hope the workshop isn't intending too out-shop (sincerest apologies if that's the incorrect term) too many, lest the workforce rebel!

They're doing a top job so far though.

Please pass on my compliments to the foreman!

Kindest,

jonte

 

[Lyndhurstman]

With you right to the end, Jan, as always.

Immense patience required for drilling out all of those holes, Jan. Hope the workshop isn't intending too out-shop (sincerest apologies if that's the incorrect term) too many, lest the workforce rebel!

They're doing a top job so far though.

Please pass on my compliments to the foreman!

Kindest,

jonte

Thank You Jonte, for your kind words and support.

Don't worry; we have no intention of letting just anyone muscle in on our intentionally idiosyncratic intricacies. Indeed - and forgive me for this brazen expansion of your concern, but we're not in a position to pass up a chance - we would gladly undertake such works as heretofore described for a suitably understanding clientele. If for no other reason than to save the sanity of The Greater Good; as well - as you say - to ensure the Union men have no grist to mill.

Again, Thank You

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Glued To The Box

The additionals are done.
New buffers (LMS B020), hooks (LMS CH04), chain from Stores - it ninth have come from our initial intimacy with the EMGS many moons previous - and door bangers (51L UC054) complete the build.

The door bangers were initially formed from Plasticard, but they looked more like depressed stalagtites than pukka preventative protrusions, so Stores were raided to provide the more pugnacious repost. In order to provide some resistance to the vagaries of life in the area, they have been drilled 0.4mm and pinned through the solebar with brass, and fixed in plaice with a dab of Loctite. They might not look that brill close up, but we've been floundering about with them all week, and we're pollocked if we're going to make bigger sprats of ourselves.

We're still not sure if she'll leave sheeted; those boards are thick enough to be mistaken for our Foundrymen!

It's over to The Paint Shop Boys.

Until next time, our best to you all.

 

[Lyndhurstman]

A Slight Return


Ken (left) and Geoff strike a pose. These two stalwarts of BR(E) will - one day - take their rightful place aboard the J15 as it deals with the pickup freight that runs from the commercial alveoli of Goods Depots clustered around Fenchurch Street up to Temple Mills.

The Stratford chaps - country boys to the Devons Road men, and rumoured to be pulled from the ground at birth - have special permission from the suits at Fenchurch Street to bless their six-coupled wheels upon the elevated chord of the Limehouse viaduct.

Truth be told, having squeaked and squealed their steed down the inclined chord (strangely missing from all maps of the area) to all-but sea level by the Basin, these two pals are in no hurry to return, preferring to pass the shift well away from the X-Ray eyes of the Time & Motion Men; those fresh-faced New Brooms, disdainful of coal dust, water, and oil, who size up the little meat left upon the dying carcass of 30A at the end of steam. Maybe they recognise something in the friendly anarchy of the Watkins Wharf workforce. Or maybe it’s Beryl.

In reality (we had to get there eventually...) they’re both MODELU figures, and my first attempt at people. They’re painted with a mix of acrylics, over a base coat of Halfords rattlecan grey primer. Ken (WS067 to his mates in the catalogue) is a tad fresh-faced, but at normal viewing distances, his Aldermaston tan isn’t so radiant. I have more to do, but they’ll have to wait for an improved sable.

Cheers

Jan

 

[jonte]

A Slight Return
View attachment 88261

Ken (left) and Geoff strike a pose. These two stalwarts of BR(E) will - one day - take their rightful place aboard the J15 as it deals with the pickup freight that runs from the commercial alveoli of Goods Depots clustered around Fenchurch Street up to Temple Mills.

The Stratford chaps - country boys to the Devons Road men, and rumoured to be pulled from the ground at birth - have special permission from the suits at Fenchurch Street to bless their six-coupled wheels upon the elevated chord of the Limehouse viaduct.

Truth be told, having squeaked and squealed their steed down the inclined chord (strangely missing from all maps of the area) to all-but sea level by the Basin, these two pals are in no hurry to return, preferring to pass the shift well away from the X-Ray eyes of the Time & Motion Men; those fresh-faced New Brooms, disdainful of coal dust, water, and oil, who size up the little meat left upon the dying carcass of 30A at the end of steam. Maybe they recognise something in the friendly anarchy of the Watkins Wharf workforce. Or maybe it’s Beryl.

In reality (we had to get there eventually...) they’re both MODELU figures, and my first attempt at people. They’re painted with a mix of acrylics, over a base coat of Halfords rattlecan grey primer. Ken (WS067 to his mates in the catalogue) is a tad fresh-faced, but at normal viewing distances, his Aldermaston tan isn’t so radiant. I have more to do, but they’ll have to wait for an improved sable.

Cheers

Jan

Handsome chaps, Jan, or perhaps they’ve merely benefited from your artistic enhancements. The shading on the overalls is especially impressive.

I’ve given up trusting to maps, Jan, especially with regard to old railway lines. Most unreliable

Adore those precise early Nineteenth century terms such as ‘the chord’. The term ‘points of tangency’, believe it or not, was assigned to the broad curve that aligned the old GWR route from Liverpool to Warrington, with the bridge that crossed the Mersey prior to reaching the town, although I’ve no idea why. Still, it strikes a chord.

Jonte