Wagons

With a steady flow of rock from the quarry to the mainline sidings, we were going to need a lot of wagons. We had two Peco 4 wheel open wagons - a Lynton & Barnstaple and a Glyn Valley Tramway, but it was decided that purchasing possibly 16 proprietary wagons would be too expensive. We decided to make our own wagons - not such a rash decision, as Geoff had not long purchased a laser cutter that needed a work-out. We reviewed all of the standard railway companies stock and started the design around the W&L wagon with full drop sides, then added the fixed top rail like the GVR wagons. 

A mock-up was produced on a Cambrian wooden solebar chassis kit that Geoff had in his 00 bits box. When we tried to purchase more Cambrian chassis kits, they had been discontinued, but they were able to supply just the solebar parts at a reduced price. However, developing the mock-up further, we decided it was too high. It was then noted that while the VoR wagon springs were fixed under the solebars, the L&B springs were fixed to the face of the solebars, which would reduce the height perfectly - but we'd already bought the underframes. After initial disappointment, we realised that the Cambrian kit W-irons and solebars were separate, to allow for a choice of solebar lengths and so we were able to modify the assembly accordingly. The next test model was perfect, so we developed a jig to assemble the underframe parts easily.

Wood was another key requirement and we tried several sources without finding anything suitable. Then, a US supplier of 1/16" x 6" x 24" basswood sheet was found on Amazon, at a very good price. A pack was ordered more in hope than expectation, but it arrived and it was perfect. The grain was regular and it laser cut nicely.

A drawing was produced with two layers - one for a light cut or etch and one for a full depth cut. The body parts were first 'etched' for the planking and marking where the iron work went. The bodies were then cut out completely. With careful setting up, the inside details were also etched.

Bodywork drawing

The iron work details were also turned into a second drawing to cut the components out of thin sheets of self-adhesive card. On another small sheet were patches of 10 x 10 bolt heads.

Ironwork and bolt head drawings

 Applying ironwork and bolts was a tedious business, but once you got into the mood, it was quite therapeutic.

Variations on the basic wagon included 3 plank and curved ends. The drawing produced all parts for the wooden chassis and included cut-outs for Kadee couplings. A mixture of plastic Peco wheels (left over from old kits) and steel Hornby wheels with replacement brass axles were used as the wagons run very freely and steel axles are prone to being pulled by the under-board magnets. [Geoff has developed a hinged magnet bracket for his 00 layout, which is servo assisted and controlled by the Merg point actuator system. Something for us to consider in the future, but will be used on the two new boards under construction as it uses the Merg system already].

Door protectors

Transfers gave us a lot of problems and we finally produced them by laser cutting white transfer sheets. Using the decal applicating fluid certainly helped.

After spray painting, the decals were applied. 

Note below that there is iron work inside the wagons, but no bolt heads. A standard gauge wagon at the London Transport Museum was found to have countersunk bolts. Our etching layer produces circles to locate bolts elsewhere and represent the flat heads perfectly!

The wagons were weathered and half given crushed stone loads (workshop oil spillage soaking-up material). 

The combined range makes an impressive display. The stock list also includes two tar wagons for the production of tarmacadam, for road surfacing.

Some 2 plank wagons are also on the drawing board for the transhipment of stone blocks to the masons yard on the new boards (see regular blog posts).

The Worton Court wagons fit between the two Peco wagons available.