GWR Three Slaters plank wagon

[john lewsey]

Inspires by Magmouse on RM Web I have Three GWR wagons to make. They will be in there'd livery as the period that I am modeling is 1895 - 1900.
John

 

[magmouse]

Looking forward to seeing how you get on with these, John. A couple of things to be aware of with this kit, depending on how fussy you are -

• the kit is too long for a GWR three-plank, as it uses the standard 16ft Coopercraft underframe. The GWR 3-plank wagons were 15'6", so 3.5mm shorter in 7mm scale.
• The kit comes with DC1 brakes. The prototype was build before these brakes were introduced, so they should have single-sided, conventional lever brakes. You can use the shoe and pushrod moulding from the kist, as well as the centre vee-hanger, but you need to fit a new brake lever and remove the end vee-hangers.

There are a few other changes one could make to get closer to the prototype, but these two are the most important ones, I would say. The Coopercraft mouldings are nice and crisp, and the Slaters buffers, couplings and wheels are good, so with a couple of upgrades you get a very nice model.

You could also make one of your kits as the version with round ends - see the extensive discussion about these wagons on RMweb:

GWR 3 plank wagons appreciation thread

Does anyone know which lots, in addition to osL231 were fitted with fitched underframes (ie wooden underframes with iron cover plates)? Interestingly - and not very helpfully - the Wagon Stock Books I have seen covering the low numbers of osL231 do not say wood and iron underframes, just wood! Ar...

www.rmweb.co.uk

Nick.

PS - I see that the box label describes these as 'rebuilt' - I'm not sure quite what is meant by that, but it sounds like an excuse to justify the later style underframe, brakes, etc. - I am not aware of the GWR building 3-plank wagons after the introduction of the 4-plank type in 1887, with the exception of a couple of 10ft wheelbase, vac fitted examples in 1939, intended for container traffic. I am happy to be proved wrong, though!

 

[john lewsey]

Hi Nick ,did you shorten yours if so how.
I'm a bit gutted as I have put the body together
John

 

[magmouse]

Hi John,

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news...

I haven't built the three-plank kit - shortening it would be possible, though perhaps a bit fiddly. 1.75mm of each end of the solebars, the floor, and razor saw cuts next to the corner plates. At least there isn't any diagonal strapping to worry about. Or you decide it doesn't worry you...

Nick.

 

[john lewsey]

Hmmmm. I have put it back in the box for the moment.

 

[Overseer]

John, they are nice kits to build. I have one of the Coopercraft version which has been in various states of disrepair for a long time, maybe now is the time to shorten it as it wouldn't take much work. It currently has the first version of Exactoscale sprung W irons fitted (not sure if they were ever released commercially) and I have ABS grease axleboxes for it. What is the correct door width for the 3 plank wagons?

I bought one of the 4 plank wagons from Slaters last year and was just going to build it out of the box as a post WW2 survivor but then decided it needed the door widened so the body ironwork matched the underframe. A bit added in the centre and two small slivers removed from the ends of the planks give the correct door width and length, and the kit is the correct width for this one. I have also fitted Peco self contained buffers to match a particular prototype - has any one else noticed that the accuracy of the recent Peco turned parts is not good? They need a fair bit of work to fit together, unlike earlier production.

 

[magmouse]

For the three-plank wagons, looking at three drawings (in Atkins et al, in Tavender's Railway Equipment Drawings, and dwg. 4610 at the NRM), the door opening is consistently shown as 5'1" externally. It's 5'0" on the inside, as the edges of the door and the opening are chamfered.

I don't know how that compares to the kit, as I don't have it.

HTH

Nick.

 

[Overseer]

For the three-plank wagons, looking at three drawings (in Atkins et al, in Tavender's Railway Equipment Drawings, and dwg. 4610 at the NRM), the door opening is consistently shown as 5'1" externally. It's 5'0" on the inside, as the edges of the door and the opening are chamfered.

I don't know how that compares to the kit, as I don't have it.

HTH

Nick.

The door is a few millimetres narrow then, the same as the 4 plank wagon. I had forgotten that Railway Equipment Drawings has the drawing in it, I used the same number on the wagon.

 

[AJC]

The door is a few millimetres narrow then, the same as the 4 plank wagon. I had forgotten that Railway Equipment Drawings has the drawing in it, I used the same number on the wagon.

The 4mm versions suffer the same issue (unsurprisingly). I have one that may or may not get resolved - probably not as the kit has been built and not by me, so scrapping is probable - but should I want to do another, then I'll look to tackle it properly.

Adam

 

[76043]

I was fortunately given one of these O gauge kits, but unfortunately as my time period was early fifties, seems all had gone by then, according to the BR Acquired Wagon series books.

Any ideas on what it could be converted to as it has the 16' underframe? I read in the four author GWR wagon book that some wagons were converted to shunter's trucks, but not much detail on what chassis.
Cheers
Tony

 

[Pencarrow]

I was fortunately given one of these O gauge kits, but unfortunately as my time period was early fifties, seems all had gone by then, according to the BR Acquired Wagon series books.

Any ideas on what it could be converted to as it has the 16' underframe? I read in the four author GWR wagon book that some wagons were converted to shunter's trucks, but not much detail on what chassis.
Cheers
Tony

I'd be interested in potential ideas for 1960s conversion too. If built as per the kit, I suspect none were still around in general traffic. Anything in Engineers fleet?

 

[john lewsey]

Maybe I should explain why I got these kits. My lovely wife passed away six weeks ago and mentally I am in a terrible place, the whole in my life is enormous and empty. I found Nicks (magmouse)thread on RM Web and thought that the idea of making a few wagon kits would be an easier path to occupy I myself without getting strung out. So I may just make them out of the box and see what happens. If later on I get some more I will probably do the work.
Regards
John

Ps I don't know if I should have said all of this or not but I have.

 

[djparkins]

Maybe I should explain why I got these kits. My lovely wife passed away six weeks ago and mentally I am in a terrible place, the whole in my life is enormous and empty. I found Nicks (magmouse)thread on RM Web and thought that the idea of making a few wagon kits would be an easier path to occupy I myself without getting strung out. So I may just make them out of the box and see what happens. If later on I get some more I will probably do the work.
Regards
John

Ps I don't know if I should have said all of this or not but I have.

Of course you should John,

I lost my first wife to a rare cancer. My wonderful new wife is not too well right now, but not with anything serious, we hope. But even so, it immediately puts things in perspective. I told her she can't be ill - she was a nurse for over thirty years!

My advice would be to enjoy the wagons you have purchased if you can - 3.5mm seems a whole lot smaller and less significant at times like these.

And to inject a little humour - only a few of us old gits know about such discrepancies anyway!!!

Best wishes to you,

David Parkins

 

[Pencarrow]

Really sorry to hear that John and please accept my deepest condolences. I tend to lean on railways and DIY when having a tough time, so appreciate your angle. I think just building the kits as intended straight out of the box is the way forward for you at this time. May not be 100% accurate but at least you've built something and, hopefully, got a little respite from the experience.

 

[Pencarrow]

Of course you should John,

I lost my first wife to a rare cancer. My wonderful new wife is not too well right now, but not with anything serious, we hope. But even so, it immediately puts things in perspective. I told her she can't be ill - she was a nurse for over thirty years!

My advice would be to enjoy the wagons you have purchased if you can - 3.5mm seems a whole lot smaller and less significant at times like these.

And to inject a little humour - only a few of us old gits know about such discrepancies anyway!!!

Best wishes to you,

David Parkins

All GWR wagons look the same to me anyway....

 

[oldravendale]

Sad news John but something I feel you should share. A constructive hobby like ours can be a wonderful crutch while we try to make sense of things. I wish you well.

Brian

 

[Heather Kay]

John, I’m so sorry to hear that news. You know where we are.

 

[magmouse]

John,

My condolences. As others have said, build the wagons, and enjoy that process to the extent you can under the circumstances. No model is perfect, but every model made is better than a kit in a box, because you will have invested it with your care and attention.

Regarding the question of what else to do with this kit if you model a later period - the 16ft underframe was used until the mid 1920s, with changes to brakes and buffers. You could scratch-build a new 4 or 5 plank body for one of the diagrams built up until that period.

Nick.

 

[Lancastrian]

John,

My sincere condolences to you and your family at this sad time. As others have said, of course you were right to share.

 

[Geoff]

I'm a little lost for words John and can only echo what your other friends here have said. Having lost my first wife I have a pretty good idea of what you are going through, and wish you well. As Heather has pointed out, you know where we are.

Geoff