Over the past year I have been steadily acquiring more rolling stock. Ultimately each item will be 'anglicised' or 'bashed' into something more appropriate, but for now I am beginning to accumulate enough stock to enable me to start running the railway in a realistic way.
Open wagons
At present the line only possesses four open wagons, all partially scratch-built using Hartland chassis (see how I built the second batch of wagons).
As time permits, I will construct at least another eight of these, mostly carrying coal or coke.
Closed vans
So far, I have accumulated five closed vans of various types.
Two are Accucraft:
One appears to have been made from be a Brandbright kit:
Unfortunately, owing to an error in the eBay advert, it is presently 32mm gauge - however, it looks a relatively simple process to regauge to 45mm (famous last words?).
Two vans are bog standard LGB box cars. These will eventually be modified to remove the platforms - either by extending the van body or by shortening the chassis.
The final van is a GRS conversion which will need very little modification, though I do think it looks somewhat large for my type of railway.
Tank wagon
Up to now, I have just one tank wagon, to transport fuel for to the copper mine machinery. This will eventually be super-detailed and repainted.
Tipper trucks
I have managed to accumulate two trains-worth of tipper wagons, which will be used to transport crushed copper ore from the mine to the mainline railway. The rationale is that the copper mine company has an ore processing plant elsewhere.
Most of the tippers are LGB. Eventually, there will be one train of empties and one train of filled wagons. These will be interchanged to give the impression that the full wagons are emptied and vice versa.
Six tippers are from Hartland. These are a stopgap until I can accumulate more LGB tippers. Their chassis will then be used for the construction of more open wagons.
Timber wagons
To serve the needs of the timber yard at Peckforton, I have been collecting stake wagons. So far I have six, plus a pair of timber bolsters.
However, I will probably retain only two or three stake wagons, the chassis for the rest will form the basis for scratch-built cattle / sheep wagons.
Flat trucks
I've also gathered a collection of four one-plank wagons and a flat truck
My thinking was that I would keep a couple and use the rest as chassis for other stock.
However, I hadn't realised how long these wagons were so I may pass these on and use the accumulated income to buy some Accucraft flatties.
Brake vans
The line now possesses four brake vans in various states of completion.
The first and original (in all senses) was constructed from lolly sticks on a Hartland wagon chassis. It is (still) awaiting detailing in the form of handrails, brake gear, chopper couplings, lamp brackets, etc. It was constructed whilst on a self-catering holiday in Pembrokeshire. After two days I had to find something useful to do having taken nothing with me. A set of craft knives and a hacksaw from the local pound shop, together with a pack of lolly sticks and PVA from a craft shop and I was happy for the remainder of the holiday. It was more by chance than planning that the body just happened to fit a Hartland chassis with the minimum of tweaking.
The remaining three came as part of a job lot of wagons picked up on eBay.
Two seem to be scratch-built from thin ply. One is more or less complete, though needs a paint job and the addition of running boards and brake gear.
The other is only partially completed and, unfortunately came without the missing pieces. However, it will not be a major task to complete it.
The fourth brake van is a partially completed GRS conversion of an LGB box van. Again, there are several parts missing and it will need a repaint, but it shouldn't take an enormous amount of effort to finish it off.
The future
As indicated above, the line needs several more open wagons and some cattle trucks. The open wagons will be constructed from plasticard as previously while the cattle trucks will probably be made in the same way as the brake van, from lolly sticks. The opens, as before, will be based loosely on W&L / Southwold prototypes while the cattle trucks will be inspired by those on the W&L. I have plans to construct an explosives van for the copper mine and am considering some sort of wagon to transport silver ore - it seems that copper and silver were often found deposited together which might give a further reason for the railway's continued existence.
All the remaining stock will we modified, repainted in grey livery and then weathered. I'm aiming for a 'tired' slightly distressed look into which minor lines like this deteriorated between the wars.
Open wagons
At present the line only possesses four open wagons, all partially scratch-built using Hartland chassis (see how I built the second batch of wagons).
As time permits, I will construct at least another eight of these, mostly carrying coal or coke.Closed vans
So far, I have accumulated five closed vans of various types.
Two are Accucraft:
One appears to have been made from be a Brandbright kit:
Unfortunately, owing to an error in the eBay advert, it is presently 32mm gauge - however, it looks a relatively simple process to regauge to 45mm (famous last words?).Two vans are bog standard LGB box cars. These will eventually be modified to remove the platforms - either by extending the van body or by shortening the chassis.
The final van is a GRS conversion which will need very little modification, though I do think it looks somewhat large for my type of railway.
Tank wagon
Up to now, I have just one tank wagon, to transport fuel for to the copper mine machinery. This will eventually be super-detailed and repainted.
Tipper trucksI have managed to accumulate two trains-worth of tipper wagons, which will be used to transport crushed copper ore from the mine to the mainline railway. The rationale is that the copper mine company has an ore processing plant elsewhere.
Most of the tippers are LGB. Eventually, there will be one train of empties and one train of filled wagons. These will be interchanged to give the impression that the full wagons are emptied and vice versa.
Six tippers are from Hartland. These are a stopgap until I can accumulate more LGB tippers. Their chassis will then be used for the construction of more open wagons.
Timber wagons
To serve the needs of the timber yard at Peckforton, I have been collecting stake wagons. So far I have six, plus a pair of timber bolsters.
However, I will probably retain only two or three stake wagons, the chassis for the rest will form the basis for scratch-built cattle / sheep wagons.
Flat trucksI've also gathered a collection of four one-plank wagons and a flat truck
My thinking was that I would keep a couple and use the rest as chassis for other stock.
However, I hadn't realised how long these wagons were so I may pass these on and use the accumulated income to buy some Accucraft flatties.
Brake vansThe line now possesses four brake vans in various states of completion.
The first and original (in all senses) was constructed from lolly sticks on a Hartland wagon chassis. It is (still) awaiting detailing in the form of handrails, brake gear, chopper couplings, lamp brackets, etc. It was constructed whilst on a self-catering holiday in Pembrokeshire. After two days I had to find something useful to do having taken nothing with me. A set of craft knives and a hacksaw from the local pound shop, together with a pack of lolly sticks and PVA from a craft shop and I was happy for the remainder of the holiday. It was more by chance than planning that the body just happened to fit a Hartland chassis with the minimum of tweaking.The remaining three came as part of a job lot of wagons picked up on eBay.
Two seem to be scratch-built from thin ply. One is more or less complete, though needs a paint job and the addition of running boards and brake gear.
The other is only partially completed and, unfortunately came without the missing pieces. However, it will not be a major task to complete it.
The fourth brake van is a partially completed GRS conversion of an LGB box van. Again, there are several parts missing and it will need a repaint, but it shouldn't take an enormous amount of effort to finish it off.The future
As indicated above, the line needs several more open wagons and some cattle trucks. The open wagons will be constructed from plasticard as previously while the cattle trucks will probably be made in the same way as the brake van, from lolly sticks. The opens, as before, will be based loosely on W&L / Southwold prototypes while the cattle trucks will be inspired by those on the W&L. I have plans to construct an explosives van for the copper mine and am considering some sort of wagon to transport silver ore - it seems that copper and silver were often found deposited together which might give a further reason for the railway's continued existence.
All the remaining stock will we modified, repainted in grey livery and then weathered. I'm aiming for a 'tired' slightly distressed look into which minor lines like this deteriorated between the wars.
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