what to do with a triang wartol truck

[markh]

so finally got my hands on a old Triang wartol truck, froma recently open antique shop in my town and rember a artical in BRM years back of abromal loads transported by rail

so anyone got any ideas of loads for it, might try and extend it aswell by cutting and shutting also a middel axel in each bogie is missing so any ideas how to replace them

Mark

[stuartp]

The Tri-ang wagon is a Trestrol (if it's the one I'm thinking of with 6-wheel bogies) - a 'trestle trolley'. It's designed to carry wider than gauge plates (for shipbuilding etc) on a framework (trestle) with the plates on edge at an angle. There are pics of them loaded here - http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brtrestrolao - mostly of the smaller Trestrol AO and similar. The Tri-ang wagon is a Trestrol EC and although some dimensions are compromised it's a fair representation. If you scroll through to page 3 in that link there's one which finished up at Derby Research with a portacabin built on it (!).

If you want to carry a load like a boiler or transformer etc thn strictly speaking you need a Weltrol (well trolley) which looks very similar. Easiest way to replace the wheels would be to find an old wagon of similar vintage (plain axles, sliding half-wheelsets) and cannibalise it. The sideframes should spring apart far enough to pop them in. You could replace them with modern wheels in pinpoint bearings, no idea how feasible that is on this particular model though.

[GWR_fan]

................................Easiest way to replace the wheels would be to find an old wagon of similar vintage (plain axles, sliding half-wheelsets) and cannibalise it. The sideframes should spring apart far enough to pop them in. You could replace them with modern wheels in pinpoint bearings, no idea how feasible that is on this particular model though.

I finally 'found' one of these in BR grey. I had onhand six Wrenn metal wheelsets (non-pinpoint axle type) and these fitted perfectly, giving a very free rolling waggon. I presume that brass bearings could be inserted and needle point wheels fitted.

[Bufferstop]

.....or if they are the open ended axleboxes matchsticks pushed in from the end and hacked off Believe me it happened, the wheelsets used were "Peco Wonderful Wagon Wheels" - complete wheelsets moulded in a single shot of Nylon.
Now if you wanted a real show stopper you need two locos two weltrols and some hefty I section girders, one on each line of a double track, with the load sat on the girders in the middle, that's something else you'll gave to believe happened. Why? because when the various railway acts were passed rail was often the only viable means of moving such loads and if approached had to give a price and accept the load if no one else quoted. Basically they were lumbered with anything that was too much trouble for the fledgeling road transport industry to attempt. It usually involved a weekend possession followed by a layover until the next weekend for the next bridge or tunnel.

[stuartp]

The axleboxes are closed, the issue is that Tri-ang stretched the bogie dimensions to fit their 'standard' ride height so if you fit pinpoints like for like you don't necessarily finish up with the buffer height correct. John Isherwood did one on RMweb and finished up using Lowmac wheels (10mm) to make it all fit.