Gallery of 'Pretty Things' - Wagons that I have built in the past.

I have a number of models that I built predating Platform 1's existence and rather than create a build thread for each of them, I will share photos of the finished models that I have recently retaken on this thread.

Starting with an LNER Pipe wagon, which was created by backdating the Parkside Dundas kit for the BR version. Backdating included fitting the LNER style of brake mechanism and adding details to the body sides and sole-bars. Plus a set of screw couplings as all the PD kits just come with 3 links to kee the price down.

 

Thanks Gents.

 

Today's offering is a Rectangular tar tank built from a Slaters kit with additional details added. These comprised of making the discharge pipes from various bit's of brass tube and I also replaced the plastic and therefore quite vulnerable, filler cap locking mechanism with one made from brass.

A small bit of charm with this one are the etched works plates that I commissioned from Narrow Planet. Lancashire and Yorkshire Tar Distillers were based at Gunness on Trent. Unbeknown to me Narrow Planet had misspelt it as Guinness on the plates. It was only when I posted some photos on line that the gent from narrow Planet saw the photos and picked up his mistake and sent me some new plates with the correct spelling.

One thing worth noting about the Slaters kit is that the Lancashire and Yorkshire Tart Distillers transfers supplied don't actually fit the tank side they are too big to just lay them on the tank side and apply them. You have to squeeze the spacing to get them to fit. Of course it took ruining and repainting one side for me to work this out. Thankfully an appeal on the Guild website for spare LYTD transfers, elicited quite a few offers so I was able to complete it.

 

Hi Jim,

I am pretty sure that they were used to convey tar as the finished product. Some of them were fitted with wooden covers which contained some kind of 'heating element' which helped to keep the tar liquified. I have no idea how the 'heating elements' actually worked though.

 

I am not knowledgeable enough to disagree with Paul on things wagon related but this is the example that I based it on. There are bottom discharge pipes fitted at either side.

 

Thanks Gary,

I like weathering them almost as much I building them.

 

Some time later, I built a second rectangular tar tank. Or rather initially I just built the tank using my Silhouette cutter to see if I could replicate rivets. The tank turned out so well that I belatedly decided to scratch build an underframe for it.

Following on from the discussion on discharge pipes, note the different position on this one. Again following prototype photos. Another interesting point of note is that I used a Skinley drawing for the dimensions of this one and the tank must be marginally bigger because the Slaters transfers fit perfectly without any adjustment to squash them up. It did make me wonder if the Slaters kit had been modified from the original dimensions to suit one of their existing underframe kits.

All the sole bar details - crown plates, label clips etc. were all cut using the Silhouette. The axleboxes and springs were from the spares box either Slaters or Parkside.

 

Sticking with the Tar Tank theme, I had previously built and painted a Slaters 14 ton Tank wagon in preparation for adding one of the petroleum company liveries. A chance discovery of a photo of a 14 ton Tank wagon in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Tar Distillers livery changed my plan and I ended up repainting it and creating my own transfers using white transfer sheet and my Silhouette cutter.





The etched Y&LTD plates are the aforementioned plates that were produced with the wrong spelling I figured judicious weathering would cover the error. Although not very visible the distinctive shaped Charles Roberts worksplates were custom etched for me by Narrow Planet based on dimensions taken from my full sized example.

This is a photo of a full sized plate fitted to a similar tank wagon which I took on a visit to Beamish Museum.

 

Well I have around 180 photos including those already posted, so enough to keep you going for a while.

 

Today's offering is a complete scratchbuild, a North Eastern Railway Shunters Truck.

In the book "Railway Snowploughs in the North East" by David and Claire Williamson, there is an outline drawing of a shunters truck.

The history of which, until looking for the details for this post, I had completely misinterpreted. I had 'read' that the shunters truck was built in 1907 from a Snowplough.

What it actually says is that the snow plough was re built from the shunters truck in 1907, which in turn had been re built from a C2 open wagon in 1902.

All of which says that it only existed as a shunters truck for five years. Those five years being at least eighteen years before the LNER came into being so it would have never existed in LNER Engineers Oxford Blue... Well thank heavens for Modellers license...

 

I confess that I have been thinking along those lines since this morning's revelation. I just need to work out what livery colour and lettering, a shunters truck would have had under the NER. I am guessing that the paintwork would be either grey or black but lettering who knows. Since there seems to have been only the one (mentioned briefly in NER Record vol 2 under the Diagram M Sundry Wagons section on page 93.) although it's odd that it was allocated a diagram number (M1).