The Heybridge Railway, 1889 to 1913

[Richard Gawler]

With the GER and LTSR getting near identical horse boxes from three firms, I wonder if there was another firm (Claye or a fifth participant) providing the drawings. A bit like doing a self build house nowadays.

 

[Rob R]

With the GER and LTSR getting near identical horse boxes from three firms, I wonder if there was another firm (Claye or a fifth participant) providing the drawings. A bit like doing a self build house nowadays.

Or the same draughtsman flitting between jobs, much the same as Charles Beyer moving on from Sharp Stewart across Manchester to Gorton.

 

[Richard Gawler]

GER No. 180 (now masquerading as MSLR No. 15) was built by Samuel Claye (ref. MSLR article), so does that make it four companies?

I have read somewhere, the GER supplied locos and rolling stock to the LT&SR.

If so (ignoring the earlier GER no.180) I wonder if the GER designed the horsebox and provided drawings to the Birmingham Wagon and Carriage Company, the Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Company and the Swansea Wagon Company. The horse boxes thus being built in batches, with minor variations according to the builder.

Indeed, if the Gladiator kit builds into a fair representation of a near-identical GER horse box, I can decide on the company livery after the build!

I have placed four book requests with the local library. In the meantime, the photograph of MSLR horsebox no. 9 (ex-GER no. 408) is very helpful for making a start on the model.

 

[Richard Gawler]

Last year I treated myself to a G W Models rivet press.


The press came with two punches, for full-thickness and half-etched brass; and three dies, these for 2, 4 and 7 mm scales. And it works a treat.


For example on this solebar overlay, the bolt head detail on the strapping is embossed with the press.

This has worked out rather well because I sold my first press to someone working in 4 mm scale where its quite tiny impressions will work much better.

The rectangular handle could do with a bit of hose pipe or similar for comfort.

 

[Rob Pulham]

Hi Richard,

If it's any help I fitted mine with a piece of 20mm diameter acetal/delrin rod. I drilled a hole in one end that was a tight fit across the rectangular end of the handle and tapped it home. It also extended the handle a little, meaning it required less effort to press out the rivets.

 

[Richard Gawler]

A few days ago I assembled my collection of kit- and scratch-built wagons into a train, 19 wagons in all. This lot was slightly too much for 'Heybridge' to get underway without wheelslip, so I took away three wagons. The rest made for a nice-looking train at NEEGOG earlier today.


I need to work out how to best record a complete train. The main thing is, there are no coal wagons here, and no timber either. The Heybridge Railway would have carried very little of these; most went along the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.


The train made several laps, I think people enjoyed watching it. My recent acquisitions had their first run here too.

When I get my GER brake van (and this is looking like a scratch build for something suitably 1890s) then I can put the Y14 on the front and call this a GER train. It's funny how the original idea for a such a minimal light railway is bringing along quite so much stock to run a service

 

[Dog Star]

What good photos to record your successes in progressing the model of your railway.

 

[Phil O]

Richard,

It might be the camera, but the inner track looks to have quite a dog leg at the board joint.

 

[Richard Gawler]

It might be the camera, but the inner track looks to have quite a dog leg at the board joint.

A wise man assembles his train in the outer track. This is easier to reach for coupling up and the trains run pretty well there too

The train was coupled up by one of the younger club members. Smaller fingers, more dexterity, faster.

 

[Richard Gawler]

What good photos to record your successes in progressing the model of your railway.

Graham this is very kind of you.

Something the photos do not show is the way the club track lets me watch a train running in the distance. The effect is more than the sum of its parts; the consist looks as though it is going somewhere with a purpose. I cannot create the same feeling at home, nor in a smaller scale.

Quite how this helps the project along is a bit unclear, but if I know how a full-length train looks then I can remember this while a shortened version potters along the line at home. It's reassuring to see everything staying on the track at a scale speed too.

 

[Osgood]

...
Quite how this helps the project along is a bit unclear, but if I know how a full-length train looks then I can ......

.... plan the garden outdoor section?

 

[Richard Gawler]

.... plan the garden outdoor section?

Let's not be too hasty. I spent this morning barrowing sleepers for a different sort of "garden railway".


Cut, move, drill, move, install, repeat. About 3,500 of the little fellas.

So far I have been trained and trusted to use the wheelbarrow

 

[simond]

Do check the gauge of the outer and one of the inner lines. The Wirral 3.5 & 5” gauge tracks left a 1.25” gap on one side, which worked for my Big Big Hymek a gazillion years ago…

 

[Richard Gawler]

Do check the gauge of the outer and one of the inner lines. The Wirral 3.5 & 5” gauge tracks left a 1.25” gap on one side, which worked for my Big Big Hymek a gazillion years ago…

I expect the Wirral rails were made from quarter-inch thick steel strip. 5 - 3.5 - 0.25 = 1.25 inches.

Whereas at the club, the rail is a rather broader aluminium extrusion. What is left are a pair of non-standard distances.

Still, this does open up a wild idea for my own garden planning . . .

 

[Richard Gawler]

I tidied up a lot of loose ends at the end of last year. This was good but starting Heybridge Basin means I haven’t tackled even a moderately complex kit since ‘Lady Marion’ in 2023.

View attachment 230743
I found the Slater’s instructions for the Manning Wardle almost impossible to understand, but I did end up with a loco. So on the basis that what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger, I want to try a Gladiator horse box next. This is for LT&SR diagram 31, built in 1878. Such a horse box could be bringing a prize animal to an agricultural show near the railway.

View attachment 230742
A familiar story, I cannot understand swathes of the instructions. I mean, the opening sentence here leaves me completely bamboozled - who was the designer? The instructions include I think fourteen errata. There are two parts marked “do not use” which have to be used, and I have just found a fifteenth mistake working through the narrative to see which part goes where. A bit of a comedy really. Still, the Manning Wardle experience lets me prepare. And there is nothing in this paragraph here to influence the build.

View attachment 230744
The kit is obviously well-presented, and the use of heat-sealed polythene for the detail parts seems really sensible. The etch nearest the camera is signed by George Dawson of Majestic Models. Some of George’s other models are now with Connoisseur Models, and the tender truck is George’s design. The red ink is marking the parts I know I need to ignore.

I will try to put everything together in my head first, then sit back and enjoy the build. The photos included in the kit are encouraging, and I can look at the similar horse box at the Middy if I think this helps.

The Gladiator kit for the LT&SR horse box is underway. The sides have rather a lot of strapping detail, all half-etched too, so I have started half-way through the instructions.


The solebars are simple folded-up L shapes with half-etched overlays sweated on. The ends fold up too, this is all straightforward.


The casements for the grooms compartment can be modelled closed or open. If they are to be closed, the etched trimming line will be visible.


So for the closed window I have attached the casement inside-out.


I have trimmed the other casement so I can fix it open.

The beading on the upper doors is cut from half-round brass wire with the corners mitred. I am sweating this into place with the usual 40 W iron.


Returning to the first side, I have set the sliding flap open as well. So a horse can have a look outside.

The overlays for the door hinges and their strapping are much more difficult, and I have borrowed a RSU from a mate. So I am teaching myself how to use this. There is a helpful article by Jol Wilkinson in MRJ 74.

 

[paulc]

The Gladiator kit for the LT&SR horse box is underway. The sides have rather a lot of strapping detail, all half-etched too, so I have started half-way through the instructions.

View attachment 231468
The solebars are simple folded-up L shapes with half-etched overlays sweated on. The ends fold up too, this is all straightforward.

View attachment 231470
The casements for the grooms compartment can be modelled closed or open. If they are to be closed, the etched trimming line will be visible.

View attachment 231469
So for the closed window I have attached the casement inside-out.

View attachment 231466
I have trimmed the other casement so I can fix it open.

The beading on the upper doors is cut from half-round brass wire with the corners mitred. I am sweating this into place with the usual 40 W iron.

View attachment 231467
Returning to the first side, I have set the sliding flap open as well. So a horse can have a look outside.

The overlays for the door hinges and their strapping are much more difficult, and I have borrowed a RSU from a mate. So I am teaching myself how to use this. There is a helpful article by Jol Wilkinson in MRJ 74.

Strapping and an RSU , the perfect combination . I'm warching with interest as i have a soft spot for gee gee boxes .

 

[adrian]

Strapping and an RSU , the perfect combination

I would beg to differ - just as easy with a standard iron and a little solder paste. Personally I think an RSU applies the heat in the wrong area. I've applied 3 thou strapping to a 2mmFS wagon using a standard iron.

 

[Richard Gawler]

Personally I think an RSU applies the heat in the wrong area.

I wish to unleash my inner pedant and, given this is my own workbench thread, I will. The RSU causes the generation of heat, it does not apply heat. So there!


I put this piece on with the RSU.

I tinned the strapping with 145 solder wire. The obvious overheating came about during the tinning not the application of the part. The main thing for me is, there is no solder running into the etched lines between the planks. Also I found this really easy to do, indeed the heat was so localised I held the part down with my fingers.

As an aside, we can see where I managed to burn through another piece of strapping near the corner of the window. This piece went on with the iron . . . I've since turned down the temperature.

I have some solder paste on order and I want to have a go with this after it arrives.

 

[paulc]

I would beg to differ - just as easy with a standard iron and a little solder paste. Personally I think an RSU applies the heat in the wrong area. I've applied 3 thou strapping to a 2mmFS wagon using a standard iron.

Hi Adrian , my mentor who taught me scratchbuilding could apply strapping with an iron , so can i . The difference was the solder runming into the planking gaps on mine but not on his so it all became messy and took an age to clean up . An RSU became my saviour and has proved its worth on many wagon and loco builds .
I still use my Hako for the majority of the builds but the RSU has its place . It always comes down to what works for you.

 

[simond]

I wouldn’t be without mine.