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Comment by Si Donal on May 25, 2011 at 21:27

Ha Ha!  There's nothing like an adverse comment about S Scale to provoke a reaction.  S Scale is a very sensible scale for a line whose stock is going to require scratchbuilding.  The extra color  that you added to these wagons is great.    I look forward to seeing your models.    

Comment by Simon Dunkley on May 23, 2011 at 23:22

Nothing odd about S scale, entirely sensible, if you ask me...

The van is one built on the chassis of old "ballast" wagons (this word was often used for any mineral type traffic in the early days of railways, so it may not refer to track ballast at all!) and being fitted with a through pipe, could be used on passenger services )slightly naughtily as it didn't have automatic brakes itself) to supplement the guard's luggage compartment. I have two made up (in S scale!) from home-made castings I produced many years ago, using copies of the above drawings as a starting point. The use of old brake gear would dictate the somewhat archaic 8'6" wheelbase, but I suspect that very little of the earlier wagons survived, and that the "rebuilding" was an accountancy exercise to charge them out of the revenue rather than capital account.

The open is one of the batch of wagons produced for the EWJR in 1903/4 by the BRCW. The interesting feature is the inside diagonal ironwork, which was usually to be found on the outside. Anyone modelling one of these (I have 3, simple scratchbuilds in plastic card, currently being repainted) needs to remember to put some bolt heads on the outside planks, in line with the internal ironwork.

Being new wagons, they would have been charged to the capital account, but more importantly until they arrived, along with a collection of other vehicles, EWJR goods stock was so decrepit that the wagons were admitted into the Railway Clearing House scheme, and could only be used for internal journeys on the 3 lines under EWJR control - they could not even venture as far as Wappenham or Helmdon on the Banbury line! The new wagons, with steel underframes and Ellis pattern axleboxes (very similar to those used by the Midland Railway) were of sufficient quality and quantity to be allowed off the system with outbound goods traffic, which would have saved the EWJR quite a bit in fees for hiring wagons.

At the moment the railway room (aka garage) is in the final throes of reorganisation, but once it is better organised, I will get some stock out and take photos for posting here.

Comment by Andy Thompson on May 23, 2011 at 8:37

My thoughts too Gary! Andy

Comment by Gary on May 23, 2011 at 8:30

Interesting find that Si.