Loco coal wagon

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Michael Osborne

Western Thunderer
image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg I am still trying to finish these ballast wagons. Chris Brown very kindly etched some plates for me along with the large letters for the ends. This is where I am going to ask for help from our more knowledgeable members amongst our tribe.
When were these large letters introduced ? Was it after 1889 when the five engineering divisions went to nine ?
And when we're these extra numberplates on the end of the wagons introduced with different numbers from the wagon number.
Chris did me some extra numbers because he found that there appeared to be different sizes of letters. I just want to make the sure these models are right for a time period about 1900.
 
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Michael Osborne

Western Thunderer
image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg Also nearly finished over the last couple of weeks are some more wagons.
A L&Y wagon which justs need some safety loops on the brake gear.
A pair of small ballast wagons from the LNWR and a larger one which needs couplings and buffers.
I don't know why I get so near the end of finishing a wagon and then go on to start something new, I should be more disciplined.
 
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Michael Osborne

Western Thunderer
image.jpeg I have finished the body work on the cattle wagon but I have run out of castings for the brake gear. I was given lots of LNWR wagon casting by Adrian Swain back in 2004 but I have used all the single shoe type both wooden and metal.
I do hope whoever gets to take over Adrain's business will make the castings available again, but I am sure it will be a big job for someone and will take a long time to happen.
In the mean time I have started on a NSR single bolster wagon to go with the one I made last year but this one has self contained buffers in place of the dumb buffers. I turned these yesterday along with special nuts because there isn't a lot of room with the axleboxes so close to the headstock.
 
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Michael Osborne

Western Thunderer
image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg I have nearly finished the small NSR bolster wagon. I am using the Ken Werret from the NSR wagon book and being mindful
of the accuracy or not I have changed the bolt pattern on the corner plates from 6 bolts to 4 that appears on other similar wagons in photos. I have found faults with some Werret drawings in the past as have other people.
I have heard different stories about Ken Werret and his sources of information so I wouldn't like to spread false gossip without knowing the full facts but we must be greatful to these people who took the time and trouble to draw these drawings for our benefit.
 
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Marc Dobson

Western Thunderer
Every time I have cross referenced his work I have found his work to match the other info I had. There could be drawing that don't match anything but I haven't come across one yet. But I was always told the the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Marc
 
Mike W

Mike W

Western Thunderer
Marc, maybe it depends how fussy one is. There is an LNWR D103 wagon drawn and dimensioned with a 9ft 6in wheelbase which the LNWR didn't use. The same drawing has a number matching an official Earlestown photograph which seems a coincidence as he claimed to have measured and drawn them from real life. There are others queries too. It may well be that most of his drawings are correct but I don't know of any for which official drawings are not available, so why take the risk?
Mike
 
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Marc Dobson

Western Thunderer
I would trust a GA and a photo over anything else but his drawings are considerably better than others I could mention. Naming no names but he produced a book on Furness Railway rolling stock. Even the stats in the Furness Railway book are wrong and the drawings make Ken's work look like a masterpiece of drafting.
I have to say I don't start anything without at least 2 pieces of matching evidence. I got bit 20 years ago by dodgy information. It cost me money.
Marc
 
Overseer

Overseer

Western Thunderer
I happen to have RW Rush's Furness Railway books on the desk (looking at Whitehaven & Furness Junction Railway locos). I agree the drawings aren't great but they come with an introduction saying "All the drawings, with one or two exceptions, have been produced from the official Furnes Railway Diagram Books. The original diagrams contained in these books were somewhat crude and lacking in detail, and as far as possible these have been elaborated with the aid of specimen photographs, into drawings which can form a good basis for the modeller to use." Quite different to claiming to have measured wagons and then producing well drawn but fundamentally inaccurate drawings. My experience of Wherret drawings is similar to Mike's, every one I thought about using turned out to be a fantasy. A GA and photographs are definitely the safest way to avoid spending time building incorrect models.
 
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Marc Dobson

Western Thunderer
Rush doesn't even match the diagram book. I'm hoping to rewrite Rush later this year using as much info as is currently available with CAD drawings and photos were available.
Marc
 
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