Tredethy Wharf progress

After a couple of weekends getting stuck into clearing some of the the crap out of the garage, then after some major tidying up, I have finally acquired enough space to erect all four boards of Tredethy Wharf.

Well, I've only just started constructing the final board this evening but once finished I'll be able to get some serious running sessions in to test the track and operation.

Clay Wagons GWR dia 013 (part 4)

Well it's been a while since my last posting, this was kindly pointed out to me at the last Scalefour Area Group meeting, but then I feel I've not much to report on the Railway front.

I've done some more running tests on the track and ironed out a couple more gremlins but also made a little more progress with the clay wagons. One evening, while browsing through some magazines, I came across issue 62 of British Railway Journal again. I suddenly realised that on page 196 there is a photo of a china clay wagon W92034 that has 4 shoe Morton brake gear. The caption beneath states '...Many of these ex-GWR vehicles were reconditioned in 1950 but replacement wagons, of similar design, were built by British Railways in 1955..." Seeing this one photograph does prove that some wagons had the 4 shoe independent brake gear replace possibly during the 1950 reconditioning program... So my first wagon was not so much of a mistake after all!

Above is the current state of my first clay wagon.

I'm starting to feel reasonably pleased with this first wagon though I have now noticed that the doorstops are too close together. I've positioned them in line with the doorstop straps/protectors moulded on the door of these Ian Kirk wagons...Doh.... does that mean I'll have to scrape them off and replace them? ... or is there an example/photograph/drawing with the protectors in this position? According to all the photographs I currently have in my collection,the new China Clay wagon produced by Parkside has these doorstop straps/protectors in the correct position, .

Last night, after contemplating what to do with the rest of my part rebuilt Ian Kirk clay wagons, I threw caution to the wind and scrapped off the doorstop straps on one wagon. Then out came John Hayes book on Coal Wagons to see if the maestro can help with ideas in how to replace them...I'll keep you posted if I succeed...

Scenic start

Since the last post on Tredethy I've progressed the layout a little further. A recent visit by Gordon, when he brought along a couple of his locos and a few wagons, did show up a few little issues with running. One point's switch blades were still not closing with the stock rail in one direction. This was soon solved by replacing the spring wire that was supplied with the Tortoise motor with 0.9mmm spring wire from Gordon's own stock. Another point was being temperamental and though most wagons ran through it there were still the occasional derailment...The thought was that upgrading the spring wire might help on this point. The main issue that presented itself was a loose wire in the plug between the layout and the control panel, even though the last time I applied power to the layout it all worked fine. At the start of the evening this loose wire caused a short that was affecting point operation and the fault took a good hour to track down and solve. This has shown me the problems that can happen with a sectional layout that is constantly being moved and knocked. Since Gordon's visit I've purchase some 0.9mm wire and upgraded the two remaining points and they both now seem to work more consistently with, so far, no derailments

With the track fully commissioned I've tidied the wiring on both boards and retested the layout. Though this is a very simple layout with minimal wiring this was still a task that took a couple of evenings.

Then, after spending a couple of weeks on my wargaming projects, and a couple of days away at Stratford upon Avon trying to educate myself  with a bit of Shakespeare (probably too late in the day...), I've started to have another look at Tredethy. What is the next stage, ballasting the track, painting rails and chairs, or putting in the scenic sub base? I'm itching to get on with the scenic side of this test plank, so spent a few hours over this bank holiday building up the sub base on one of the baseboards with blocks of polystyrene .

There is still a bit to do on this first board before starting on the second. My intention is to sculpt the the polystyrene into the approximate desired contours before covering with a couple of layers of ModRoc. Once the ModRoc is applied I'll paint the rail and chairs then ballasting the track before making a start on the ground cover on the two boards. Not sure if this is the recommend order of things but it seems right to me.

Clay Wagons GWR dia 013 (part 3)

On my first wagon nearing the completion of its rebuild, I've installed 4 shoe brake gear with connecting rod and the clutch handle towards the end door. This would seem to be how the vacuum brake gear was fitted to BR's diagram 1/051 wagons.

I'm just starting to realise that this might not have been the case with these older refitted non-vacuum braked GWR wagons. My understanding is that they were initially built with DCII non-vacuum brake gear with both the brake handles at the opposite end to the end door. After 1939, conversion to Morton brakes was initiated to conform to the 'right-handed' ministry rules (though possibly not to all as I've seen a photograph of one preserved at Brewdley with DCII brake gear). 

My problem is, was the DCII brake gear replaced with 2 shoe, 4 shoe, or 4 shoe independent Morton brake gear? If either of the first two which side was the clutch, handle towards the end door, or towards the fixed end? Looking again at the few references I have, and photographs I have since found on the web, it would seem that they had 4 shoe independent brake gear. Some photographs however are not clear and are confusing me slightly. So I'm wondering if there could have been a variation of brake gear fitted to these wagons.

I’m starting to think (partly as an excuse to my possible mistake) that, as St. Blazey wagon works repaired these older GWR wagons, there could well have been a variation in brake gear fitted. That said I would like to have the majority of these wagons fitted with the most common type of brake gear that they were equipped with. Though I will probably also include at least one with DCII just to 'tip my hat' to the heritage of these wagons.

I’ve posted requests for further information on a couple of forums. In the meantime, while I wait for confirmation/criticism of my thoughts, these wagons will be put to one side.

One Gremlin banished

One of the little Gremlins that surfaced when testing Tredethy Wharf was the in continuous check rail area where a road will cross the track. For some reason I purchased S4 plastic check rail chairs instead of P4 which caused some slight wheel binding on a converted Pannier Tank in this section of track.

As all of this section will be fully covered I decided to try and solve the problem by relaying this section using copperclad sleepers. A sharp knife blade was slid between the plastic chairs and the wooden sleeper and the rail removed. Copperclad sleepers were then laid between the wooden sleepers. The rail was cleaned and then relayed with some very crude soldering. Some advice I'd been given was, as this section is to be covered, to double gap the copperclad sleepers as a 'belt and braces' against electrical shorts.

After a brief test I think I've sorted it... Should have laid this section in copperclad from the start.

Buffer Stops (part 3)

I think I've solved the mystery of how the buffer stop at Dunmere Wharf might have been constructed. Below are a few photos of the current buffer stop at Boscarne on the Bodmin & Wenford Railway. Apart from Dunmere buffer stop having a wooden buffer beam this one seems to be very similar to the photos in my previous posting on buffer stops here.




These photos help to resurrect the idea that this style of buffer stop could be installed on my Tredethy Wharf...

Clay Wagons GWR dia 013 (part 2)

Just a quick posting to show where I am with the rebuilding of the Ian Kirk clay wagons.

I'd taken the above photo to show progress about a month ago but never did post a blog. The evening had been spent reducing the thickness of two sets of solebars, which can be seen on the relevant wagons. I'd also finished preparing five sets of MJT RCH compensation units. In the foreground can be seen a simple plasticard jig that I'd cut ready for marking the centre lines down the middle of the wagon floor and of each axle. I'm hoping this will help position the compensation units on these wagons and the other dozen or so Ian Kirk clay wagon kits I have waiting to be started.

This next photo shows the current state of play and was taken about two weeks ago. I've only progressed five of the six rebuilds as I'm short on wheel sets. Scalefour North is fast approaching where I hope to be able to replenish stocks of wheels and other items. Waiting in the wings are all the thinned down solebars for these five wagons ready to be installed. Once I've a few more wheel sets in stock, I'll bring the sixth rebuild to the same state the the five above. I'll then make a start on a couple of the many un-opened bags of Ian Kirk clay wagon kits to bring this rake up to eight. So I hope to make a little more progress on these during May.