Rolling stock plans

Hi

Any one know of any websites that have rolling stock plans to download,preferably free. 2.5 in gauge or gauge 3 but any gauge if not. I fancy building a wooden bodied private owner wagon

Matt

Hi

Doug hewson has done a lot of wagon plans these a in 5" gauge so just half the dimensions, they were mainly published in Engineering in Miniature. Doug has just written a book on the subject very good it is but not cheep at £50 Published by the Historical Model Railway Society, the society a lot of archive drawings but you need to be a member to gain access.

Happy building

Paul

Hi again

Just found the EiM index on the computer June,July,Aug & Sept 1987 are listed as 12 ton mineral earlier articles miscellaneous later 12 ton box. Dougs web site lists 3 drawings for £36 these are now sold by the Steam Workshop.

Hope this helps.

Paul

Thanks Paul

I'll take a look

Matt

Matt,

First - there are some excellent G3 wagon kits available from a number of suppliers these days - have a look at Williams Models, Garden Railway Specialists & Walsall Industries for a start but there are others. In terms of low-cost Williams Models have a system called Flexi-Kits. Mike (Williams) also sells individual wagon components - so things like axle guards, brake hangers (laser cut steel) and axle boxes (lost wax cast brass) can save G3 builders a lot of fiddly work.

Second - how much information you need to build wagons in G3 very much depends on the level of detail you want to achieve. Some G3 modellers work to the "six-foot" rule and build fairly simple wagons that are quick to build and inexpensive. Bachmann 'G' (Thomas) wagons can also be simply gauge converted. The kind of detail shown in most railway modelling magazines will probably be sufficient to get the key dimensions right.

Third - The Doug Hewson EIM articles provide a very detailed set of instructions and drawings for a range of 5" wagons. These would be a very inexpensive resource if you can find them or (hint) ask someone to scan them for you!! We do have G3S members who enjoy building wagons in great detail, including all the underframing and fittings. This is very satisfying but perhaps not a first model.

BTW - Paul has mentioned the DH book - Constructing 5" Gauge Wagons - which I have a copy of. It is a boxed set consisting of the 360 page hardcover book itself and sixteen double sided A2 drawings, covering 23 different wagon types - including a 1923 RCH Mineral. The drawings were drawn "half size" (at 17/32" ) - so are bang on G3 scale in theory. However - some simple measurements have shown the printing seems to have caused a few distortions, so a G3 builder would need to be careful and not just take measurements directly from the prints. The 'designs' would also need to be simplified slightly (but not very much) for G3. The book does cost £50 now but for "serious" builders, I still think it would be a good deal - given the total package of plans and book. As an aside, the G3S Editor has asked me to review this book for the Society's Autumn Newsletter.

My advice - for a first effort - either buy a complete kit (or if cost is the over-riding factor) - purchase the key components from Mike Williams (the cast and laser cut running gear parts will save you a great deal of work) and just build a simple underframe and body in 3mm (modellers) ply and/or plasticard. Mike has all the bits required to build a scale RCH wagon - so life is much easier for G3 wagon builders these days... (I'm delighted to say!!)

Hope this helps.

Regards,

IanT

Edited By IanT on 11/07/2017 17:29:48

Hi Ian

Thanks for the info/advice. I actually would like to build from scratch, hard wood frames and body with steel reinforcing plates. Also I would make the W irons and brake rigging This is what I enjoy doing. Having read the various posts I think I would be better finding full size drawings and scaling from them. I'm a long time member of the embsay and Bolton abbey heritage railway and embsay has a excellent book shop that probably has a book dealing with wagon construction. As a last resort I could have a wander round the sidings at embsay with a tape measure and a pencil and paper.

Matt

Well there you go Matt - nothing like researching the real thing!

I had a look at the Embsay railway website and I'll add it to my "to visit" list next time we are spending time up your way. I like Steam Trains and the wife likes Cream Teas - so it ticks both boxes.

Regards,

IanT

Morning Ian

I've kind of answerd my own post after Being nudged I the right direction by this forum. If anyone's looking for drawings/inspiration as I was, try The Lancashire and Yorkshire trust scanned PDF drawings of wagons ect. Just what I was looking for.

Matt

Well, I eventually found them Matt - I think you meant L&Y Society (not L & Y Trust)..

But what a great set of wagon drawings they've made available! I wish some of the other Railway Societies had downloads as good as these!. Anyway - as you say - plenty of information there for you to research & work on. Some good photos will also help of course.

For others who might be interested - the L & Y Wagon drawings are here:

http://www.lyrs.org.uk/PDFs-of-Scanned-Drawings

Regards,

IanT

No need to apologise at all Matt - I've been to their site before but didn't notice the wagon plans - so I was very pleased to find them!

All downloaded now and added to my 'archive'. I used to have so many old Railway Mags lying around but now (thanks to a scanner and almost limitless storage space) - the material I wanted to keep has been scanned & stored on CD and (I'm afraid) much of the original paper copy either given away or recycled. Hard work letting go of all your "precious" stuff...and that's not even my real treasures down the Shed !

Regards,

IanT