Dad-1 - Workbench - West Bay Wagon Works

[Dad-1]

Hi skyblue,

Here we have both couplings attached.
I arrived home about 9.30 and by 10.00 had built up the second housing and
painted all the underside black except that part of the body that sits outside
the frames. I painted black to hide all that part of the underside that shouldn't
be seen anyway. Part still wet in the photo.
Tomorrow I must order some of those transfers.



Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

It's ALL their fault .........
I blame that railwayjim & skyblue !!

I was looking at the Parkside Dundas web pages last evening, then awake during the night,
decided that I really needed at least 5 of those wagon, oh & the decals to finish this long tube
wagon. So next job, order on-line.

Not fully painted yet, but time to test on TSP for layout running qualities. It couples up well enough,
to a heavy train, but as a single wagon it runs so freely that rather then couple it just rolls along.
It makes me think you can have wagons that run too easily & I may have to add a small sponge
brake.

I have done a short video, but the SD card ran out - full, if it's saveable I may add later.

Video code later, IF it works
.
Geoff T.

[sleeper]

That's a really inspired idea for that coupling, I'd never have thought of that in a thousand years! I guess it has the added bonus of some adjustment in the height of the coupling too.
I love that Vulcan, I've got the book of the raid on Stanley Airport during the Falklands Campaign using a Vulcan and 26 Victors to refill it! Probably its very last mission as they were decommissioned soon after. I remember years ago we went to the stock car racing at St Austell while on holiday in Cornwall, when we came out it was dark and one flew over really low, it seemed to fill the whole sky.

[railwayjim]

I hold my hands up!

Guilty as charged!

I had a feeling you'd get bitten by the Parkside bug, "I did".

The one I had the most trouble with was the hopper wagon, I bought two and still haven't built the second one, seriously testing kit.
I'm lucky in that I live close to Tower Models, Blackpool who stock the whole range.

I only have one tip to add when weighting the wagons, keep the weight as low as possible.

Regards
Jim.

[Dad-1]

Jim,

Were those the commercially available wagon sheets ?
They do add something to a freight load.

Now for me away from wagons onto buildings. I could spend most on my time making buildings.
Friday afternoon I decide to draw a shed for use on my current Thomas layout. There are pictures
posted there, but I have no doubt many will not look being a 'Thomas' heading.
From drawings to an almost completed building in just over 24 Hrs. Stages thus :-

All together after tea - roof painted as is the interior. All seams were so tight no interior paint leaked
through any seams, not even the roof ridge !! Accurate cutting or what ?



Heavy lintel added - wow in white it looks rather overscale.



A further splash of paint works wonders



May hang the doors tomorrow.

Geoff T.

[railwayjim]

You certainly don't hang about Geoff, that looks excellent.

The tarpaulines are from a firm called Munro Print, in Thornton Cleveleys. sales@munroprint.co.uk just drop them an email and they will give prices and product list.
This again is a local shop for me, another over the counter sale.
They are printed on an 80gsm paper black on the back, once screwed up and flattened out they give a good impression of a tarp.
They also hide the nuts and bolts I used for weighing then down.

Jim.

[Dad-1]

I'm too busy doing things to post, in fact even look at all the threads as I should (but don't).
I've pinched a few minutes this morning .....
My package of Parkside Dundas kits arrived on Wednesday - couldn't find time to open until
last evening before we went out. I decided to start the trestle wagon.

Parts need thorough cleaning & fettling before even thinking of adding glue !!



This morning I clipped the two long support beams across the two supporting frames.



At this point I have to go out again, and visitors arriving this afternoon. I thought being
retired would give me freedom & loads of time - What's gone wrong ?

Geoff T.

[Pete]

Hi Geoff

What would they use this sort of wagon for?


Pete

[Dad-1]

Hi pete,

They were a way of carying steel sheet in larger sizes than could fit within the loading gauge.
The sort of thing used in ship building and they were developed during the start of WWII. Larger
sheets meant less welding so I suppose faster & better construction. These would have been of
somewhat thicker than the rolls of sheet steel on currently available Bachmann bogie bolster wagons.
I think the conversions from steel plate or twin bolster wagons started in about 1940 and were used
up to the 1970's when we gave up making anything in the way of particularly large vessels.
Not only were there these 4 wheel wagons, but also a few trestle bogie bolster conversions for over
length plate.

All being built with Castell Mawr in mind where South Wales steel could be moved around the network.
These designs stemmed from LNER, a region that had more than it's share of shipbuilding.

p.s. I'm still trying to find out more details. One question is. Did they carry just one sheet at a time,
or were they sent as a package (for the want of a better word) of 3, 4, or 5 sheets ? I can't imagine
one 1/2" thick sheet overloading the wagon ...... but then I don't know the specific weight of sheet
steels.

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

After that quick reply to pete I've had my shower & breakfast, which gave me time to calm down.
Calm down why ? This has been a pig of a kit and at one time was near crashing into the wall &
waste bin.
So what's wrong - could it have been me ? First the brass bearings wouldn't fit, it suggests a drop
of liquid poly into the mounting holes, perhaps indicating a tight fit. Tight or what ? even after the
liquid softening the plastic axle boxes I couldnt press home without using pliars !! Did they go fully
home ? NO. So I have bearings set in at different depths and as I require perfect running this is not
a good omen.
The floor was distorted with a bend & twist the shallow sides not having enough strength to hold the
floor flat. I added one solebar & that didn't work either, more manual manipulation, enough to snap the
axlebox tie bar, but still not enough. I pulled off the already sticking pieces and twisted that floor through
nigh on 90 degrees & the plastic showing stress lines (near breaking) down the planking lines.
The ends complete with buffer beams & sides had excessive flash & when cleaned up didn't fit well. With
no pictures or decent instructions you're on you own. In the end wet with liquid poly to soften the basic sides
& ends it was left all night under a full jam jar on top of a flat metal plate.
A photo of it this morning :-



There is a very slight twist still, just enough to feel when trying to rock diagonally. I now have the job of fixing
the solebars & axle boxes in such a way as to have the wagon running square with axle boxes at 90 degrees.
Thank heavens I've made 100's of plastic kits and don't give up easily !!

I still wonder how well it'll run & to be any good to me it must work !!

Geoff T.

[railwayjim]

It's quite a tricky one this Geoff, I remember mine being a pain to straighten.
I would avoid buying the Hopper wagon, this really is a nightmare to build. (Hope it's not one you've bought!).
Looking nice and flat now though.
Good luck with the rest of the build.

Jim

[Dad-1]

Hi Jim,

I decided to start a double bolster wagon as it's more or less the same, to help see how it should fit.
The bolster wagon was easy, but made so by learning from the exercise of that trestle wagon.

First run a 2 mm drill into each axlebox as deep as you dare without coming through. Then check to
see if there is any moulding ring on any hole, if so trim away. That will allow the brass bearings to be
pressed in without a) spreading the axlebox & snapping the axlebox tie rod ( which I had done)
b) not sitting deep enough & making the axle set run out of true ( which I had done).

The other essential is a 0.8 mm drill to run down the existing holes down which the buffer shanks
should fit - even then they were tight and a gentle tap with my small hammer sank them home correctly.

To get the axle boxes sitting at 90 degrees to the wagon floors it may be necessary to attach with a small
gap between the solebar and locating ridge on the wagon base. It could be that my Dapol & Hornby axle
sets have a slightly longer axle, or a blunter needle point that won't fit as deeply. However substitution was
needed as the Alan Gibson wheels supplied are plastic.

Anyway ..... so far :-



Geoff T.

[skyblue]

For the axles I normally soften them with liquid cement (more than a drop!) and then use the end of a scalpel to make the holes larger. I normally manage to get them in straight but it is a challenge. The wagon is looking good though, despite the problems!

[Dad-1]

Has anybody any idea what these small pieces are ? On the bolster staunchon sprues, but no mention
in the instructions & I can't see the like in any of my books although there are several wagons with
bolsters.



Apart from that wagons 2 & 3 just await construction of mountings for NEM couplings, & of course painting.

Trestle :-



Double bolster



Right off to do more Thomas work.

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

Needing a smalll break from 'Thomas' I started fixing NEM pockets & couplings to both
Double Bolster & Trestle wagons.
I used the same principal as on the tube wagon and I was almost surprised to pull &
push as part of a 12 wagon train across slips & points. In fact checking diagonal rock
against a Bachmann 16 ton mineral my kits had less, even that troublesome Trestle !!

So last evening in a spare quarter of an hour I started the Plate wagon - A dream with
a flat floor, little flash, & the simplest of all. Now I wish I'd started with this first and
worked my way through the trio in a reverse order. All have exactly the same ends &
sides, different, but the same dimension floors, the same solebar & brake gear sprues.

I have to wait delivery of some wheel sets to finish this last one then I'll video all 3 in a
train moving across points on TSP.

Geoff T.