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Gauge 1, 2 rail electric garden railway, by Pat Honey.
CHAPTER 6:- GOODS STOCK.
With regard to any goods stock on this railway it has to be pre 1935 in period and character and luckily such items are readily available from kit manufacturers.
My first choice to try building a brass etched kit was with the Mercian Models 'Hydra'' wagon, which is circa 1912 and was vacuum fitted for working with passenger trains.
Following the procedure I outline in Chapter 10. I found it to be a very easy starter kit to build, it gave me no real headaches and as a complete novice at this I did take the time and trouble to make notes and sent them to Mr Trevor Cousens for his reference.
As the photograph shows it finishes into a nice robust model and to make it look even better, I have given it a period tractor as a load, I have now passed this item on to a friend.
When at the 1999 Gauge '0' Guild show at Telford I was lucky enough to pick up 4 solid hand built wooden wagons from the bring and buy for �10 each, I have managed to salvage 3 of these and one is the correct size for a private owner colliery wagon I want to have because this colliery was local to my new home, using transfers supplied by Wagon and Carriage Works.
Two of the others are lower sided and I have kept them purely as run of the mill GWR open wagons, with one of them carrying timber loads from the sawmill, the last one will be an old grounded body in the coal yard.
My thoughts next turned to guards vans and I acquired 2 different period ones as brass etched kits. The GWR 13 ton version in kit form from Mercian Models which was an absolute joy to build and finishes into a superb model and for a period branch line is far better than the 20 ton version.
The other one is the circa 1917 ex WD guards van from The Wagon and Carriage Works range, which I have built and retained in WD livery, I did find with this kit that perhaps some tags on the corners of sides and ends would have helped when joining these large parts but it is only a minor criticism of an otherwise enjoyable kit to make.
I was then tempted with the circa 1915 GWR 10 ton LOCO coal wagon, again from the Mercian Models range which, again is a really good starter kit for anyone looking to try their hand at etched brass building - it comes with a cast resin load which I think is a nice touch - a lovely solid wagon and I will be getting one more of these.
For carrying large round timber loads to the sawmill and other long loads such as rail etc, I needed 2 GWR Macaw 'B' bogie bolsters, these I acquired as kits from Mercian Models and when finished they are very presentable.
From Tenmille I had 2 kits for the cattle wagon, when finished they look superb and from the same source I ordered a Mink van kit in etched brass.
Thinking of suitable period van's, at the 1999 National Model Railway Exhibition I talked to WEP Models who have a nice range of etched kits in 7 mm and learnt that they are to produce some of these in gauge 1 and from the indicated items I can put
together a shopping list of suitable period items which will come my way, i.e.:
circa 1913. iron tool van. Now built.
circa 1912. fish van. "
circa 1916. bloater, brown vehicle. "
circa 1911. fruit C, brown vehicle. "
circa 1913. engineers tool and loco dept packing van. "
1912 Grain van. "
circa 1926. pedigree cattle van, brown vehicle. Still to get.
Lastly another source of Gauge 1 etched goods kits is John Barrett who, in his range, does an iron mink van and the all white GWR mica insulated van. Having built all of these in the past, I can say they are lovely kits to work on and produce superb models (the vans do benefit from adding some extra weight - for this I put sheet lead inside during construction).
Of interest too, to prospective Gauge 1 modellers who are not requiring brass etched items and mentioned merely for information, is the plastic van kit from Slaters, although I have not seen it, I am told it is a good starter kit.
I must also mention the extensive range of over 20 plastic and wood kits and assorted parts for wagons available from Tenmille Products, I have built many of these in the past for other people and found they are easy to build with basic tools and skills, finish into nice models but invariably need to be weighted down for successful running and this is best done in the building stage by putting in a lead floor.
As I have mastered the technique of building brass etched kits and as I like the far superior look and feel of the completed item, then wherever possible 1 will stick to them and it is most unlikely that 1 will be tempted back to plastic and wood.
I may in time add some more private owner wagons especially some more colliery ones as some nice pressfix type transfers are available from The Wagon and Carriage Works and also P O W Sides.
Keeping in mind space limitations I will end up with a good cross section of suitable stock, which will allow me to work in a proper sequence of train movements, shunting etc in operation, which I hope will give me many happy hours of fun.
Pat Honey.
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