Period Goods Trains

[LCDR]

I suspect the respose will be 'too difficult' but it would be nice to see some good models of period (pre-grouping) goods vehicles. Actually it is not as difficult as it sounds. It would need a guards van to match the locomotive, and the rest of the wagons

could be representative types of different railways, or private owner coal wagons. The private owner coal wagon would need to be the older 10 ton short wheelbase type. Hornby have already got some e.g. the Hull & Barnsley goods van, and the LBSC guards van.

Initially to match existing locomotive (or those that could re-appear) a Great Northern brakevan, and a North British brake van.

[The son of Triangman]

I agree some pre-gropuing stock and indeed some locos to run with it would be good. Hornby have made a tiny contribution with GC coke wagon but it has nothing else to run with it.

[rayarpino]

An excellent suggestion, inasmuch as the models would have to be the real thing and not just repaints. I'd also like to see older stock available, as individual items or in sets. German manufacturers have been "offering" (cor what a price) länderbahn (Prussian,

Bavarian, Württemberg railways etc) sets for years and they scored very well.
Ray

[the ferret]

The Cambrian Southern 25 ton Brake Van kit makes up very nicely and is quite easy to do. You cannot hope to get the private owner wagons you really, really want from the r-t-r suppliers like Hornby. I want p.o.w's. of the Southern as were found in goods

trains at Staines, Middlesex in the mid-1940s. The coal merchant there was Fear Bros. and I have two Powsides kits made up of these. I also have some Reading ones like Bakers, George West, C & G Ayres and Toomers; Porters of Marlow also from West Wales Wagon

Works.

I am planning to buy pow's Fear Bros of Datchet (my place of birth), Woking Co-op., Meakins of Dorking and several others so as to make up a typical coal train as found at Staines.

I have a Hornby Toad and also a Toad built from a kit.

The advantage that Hornby wagons have over kitbuilds is that they are more substantial especially with regard to weight. This translates to more realistic and better running, and less tendency to leap off the track for no apparent reason!!

I have also

discovered Chronos Engineering from whom you can buy brass plate to the correct width that then provides that all-important weight that keeps wagons on the track when propelling in a shunting situation. You can then build a dummy load on the brass plate as

usually empties are only drawn.

[Ozexpatriate]

The topic of pre-BR brake vans has come up a few times already in the 'new' forum wishlists.

I remember us talking about it in the "Big 4 Wagons" thread: https://www.hornby.com/forums/hornby-forums/wishlists/498/?page=1#post4799

I would agree

that this concept could well be extended to pre-grouping as well as the big four. Actually I think even starting with the big four is a good idea. I can't remember a recent time when there was a decently representative brake van for each of the four grouping

era companies in the catalogue at the same time.

Extending the idea to pre-grouping models, I'd suggest that when there are pre-grouping locomotives currently or scheduled to be soon available, these would be good places to start with matching brake

vans. This year I'd suggest LSWR and S&DJR as meeting this criterion.

[Ozexpatriate]

The idea shouldn't be limited to freight. It would be nice for there to be some basic coaching stock too.

[LCDR]

Well ideally we should have matching stock for every locomotive, but frankly it is understandably difficult to expect that. For a few years now we have been suggesting that some reasonably scale length four and six wheel carriages acurately modelled on

real vehicles would be useful. The $64,000 dollar question is WHICH?

[mortehoe]

For my money, if its six wheelers, it has to be Midland/SD&JR, then there is the problem Loco's, so my suggestion is a non starter. If it's Isle of Wight, at least there is the Terrier as a form of motive power, and of course the forth coming O2 from one

of the rivals.

[mortehoe]

Having been away from the hobby for a long time, there are a lot of period and RCH kits available, now I tried the plate glass method whilst the kit was under construction, but they moved liked beagles ( all over the place, except where they should go

). The only kits ( which aren't pre grouping ), that I have made and ran true were the Oxygenmend wagons and vans, of course now produced by Nightstick ( one has to keep the administrator happy.
Now I realize that time has moved on, but has the standard

of the kits.

[Maunsell Green]

Get really frustrated trying to make up a freight rake, with reasonably local (SR region) identities. People up north don't have that problem, loads of midland and northern identities abound.
Would love one of the manufacturers to repeat the "banana

wagon" that came in a limited run last year (for Kernow, I think). Completely missed even getting one, and Lingfield sidings were full of them, next to the ripening sheds.

[the ferret]

[reply]mortehoe said:

Hi Mortehoe, Have you tried using faced chipboard? you can screw other pieces of wood to the baseplate and create a jig. Using this method I have built up all sorts of plastic and even metal kits. For example I built up a Branchlines

of Westbury motor bogie (type MB35) for use in an Ian Kirk 2-BIL kit. You can get several different types of Southern Electric from SRG Phoenix but you do have to join the Southern Railways Group and as you are clearly interested in the Southern Railway I

would recommend it for you. I have been a member for years. Just put Southern Railways Group in your browser.

Parkside Dundas RCH wagon Kits are the basis for Powsides kits that give you no end of different private owners on the Southern and, indeed,

on the other three mainline pre-nationalisation railways. Try www.powsides.co.uk in your browser.

Once you have constructed your jig you can accurately make all sorts of vans and wagons. May I recommend the Ratio kits 12-ton S.R. goods van and also

the 28 ton Bogie 'B' passenger bogie van.

By careful measurement you can draw in soft pencil on the faced chipboard and make your "fences" fit the lines you have drawn. Clamp each fence into position and then drill screw holes. Finally firmly screw

them down before you remove the clamps.

You end up with patterns of screw holes and each pattern suits a different kit. Try it. You will be surprised just how easy it is and it produces a very good result. I use "Plastic Weld" to build the plastic kits

and with the metal stuff like the motor bogies 140C solder is probably best.

Remember to build open wagon bodies upside down unless it is one of the really old fashioned types with rounded top ends and a tarpaulin rail. They ARE really hard to do.

Best

of luck from a Ferret.

[the ferret]

You are so absolutely RIGHT!! So we have the T9 locomotive. It is my most precious possession and has so many memories for me. But they only hauled Maunsell corridor stock right at the end of their careers into the 1960s. In Southern days T9's were on

the Maunsell rebuilds of the old LSWR 4-LAV sets recognisable by their heavy sliding doors and pronounced duckets on the guard's compartments.. Before the Waterloo to Reading/Aldershot electrification in 1937 (when I was born) the standard train on those lines

was either a 4-4-0 Stirling F1, a Drummond T9 or an M7 tank loco on an eight coach train composed of two of these sets. After being rendered redundant by electrification when 2-BIL electrics took over, the 4-LAV sets were rebuilt into the "cross country trio

sets". Each train was now just three coaches composed of two non-corridor brake thirds either end with a non-corridor composite between. These coaches did have toilets in the middle of each coach. This was accessed by a short gangway from a compartment either

side, each of these compartments losing one seat as a result. There was always a BY or PMV 4-wheel van at the rear. I travelled on these trains (1945 - 1950) between Reading (GWR) and Portsmouth Town Station via Basingstoke Winchester and Eastleigh where the

LSWR works was situated.

You also found T9's together with that other splendid 4-4-0 the Wainwright D, on Reading (S.R.) to Redhill (Surrey) trains. The old Reading South Station was such a delightful four platform terminus station of typical LSWR architechture

and was originally jointly operated by LSWR and SECR trains. Thus the Redhill trains were SECR "Birdcage" sets with the characteristically raised roof section over the guard's compartment at each end. They were plushly upholstered, wooden framed and very quiet

running. Like the ex-LSWR sets they had a brake third either end with a composite with the same toilet arrangement in the middle. Again a four wheel BY or PMV van was also usually attached.

Models of these types of stock are available as etched brass

kits by Roxey Mouldings but at £50 a coach are out of reach for most of us. Then you have to build them yourself! The soldering process is quite tricky and it is an awful lot of money to lose if you get it wrong!!!

The panelled exterior of these coaches

makes for great difficulty if you build in plasticard!

So all we can do is dream.

From a sad nostalgic Ferret.





On the other line

[81F]

I would like to see a decent short GWR Toad - I have made one from the Hornby (ex Airfix) one but after making 10 saw cuts in the body (chopping it up into 6 pieces) then carefully sticking it back together and chopping a bit out of the middle of the chassis

I really do not want to have to make another!

A closer to scale LBSC?SR brak would be good to go with all those LBSC Terriers my wife has!

[Buz]

LC&DR said:

Well ideally we should have matching stock for every locomotive, but frankly it is understandably difficult to expect that. For a few years now we have been suggesting that some reasonably scale length four and six wheel carriages

acurately modelled on real vehicles would be useful. The $64,000 dollar question is WHICH?

Hi LC&DR
Thats easy an acurate four wheel coach and this time with the matching brake brake van
and if we are extra good the milk van as well would

be nice.
the reason I say 4wh coach is because you don't need the the funny set up needed with a six wheel.
I don't see which railway as a problem we know they will rightly or wrongly paint them up
for as many differnt railways as they can
So

even if its a Met coach it will at least be right for one railway.
regards John

[Buz]

Hi all
If they are going to do period freight stock
they could be real nice and next with an NB three plank fish.
Or perhaps a Jones six wheel fish truck while keeping the GC coke
and re introducing the H&B van that would be a nice start

I think
Oh! all right perhaps strictly speaking the fish trucks are not freight stock
But they are something a little different
That should not be that expencive to produce reasonable representations of.
regards John

[81F]

I agree that some other "Brown Vehicles" (or whatever non GWR equivalents are called) would add variety. Not too sure what I would do with them, other than stick them on the end of some of my local passenger services.

[81F]

The small GWR Iron mink would be nice adding some irregularity to roof heights - a characteristic of many steasm era goods trains. With different doors it could also be offered in a variety of alternative liveries as a Gunpowder van.

I know there

is an easily built kit it does seem a little fragile when marshalled amoung 14 rtr models.

Similarly some lower roofed vans would be nice -again to add irregular roof heights.

I do like the small dropside, 5 and 7 plank wagons that hornby make

- but they need upgrading to accept nem pockets for the wider market and look so much better when fitted with split spoke wheels.