B4s ‘Caen’ and ‘Trouville’ shunt on Canute Road Quay
It is good to be at exhibitions again, especially as many Model Railway Clubs/Societies have lost such valuable income from the lack of exhibitions during the pandemic, so if you are able to visit the show, and support the Silverfox DCC MRC, please drop by Canute Road Quay and say hello.
p.s. the title is a nod to a favourite Aylesbury based band of mine…
With apologies to David Bowie… regular readers may have spotted a slight change to the layout of my little corner of the world wide web. The previous WordPress theme (page style) I was using had become obsolete and was causing a few back office and functionality issues, so I therefore have adopted a new WordPress theme that hopefully solves some of the issues and gives a similar but slightly fresher look.
The downside, and there is always a downside of course, is that the positioning of images, annoyingly, align differently and so has affected the visual appearance of previous posts. Please bear with me and accept my apologies as I either find a work around and / or slowly manually correct past posts.
It is good to be at exhibitions again, especially as many Model Railway Clubs/Societies have lost such valuable income from the lack of exhibitions during the pandemic, so if you are able to visit the show, and support the Silverfox DCC MRC, please drop by Canute Road Quay and say hello.
It is not often I post about a new Great Eastern ready to run model but this post is about the latest Oxford Rail Great Eastern Railway 10 ton banana van, confused? Read on…
In fact, along with some information courtesy of friend and SR coach and wagon guru Mike King, 100 of these banana vans were transferred to the Southern between 1933 and 1937, along with 225 of LNER origin.
The GER Banana van edges into the shot of an LSWR insulated van. Picture courtesy and copyright M King
The reason was the transfer of banana traffic from Hull to Southampton in 1933 and a return to the Royal Albert Docks in 1937.
The numbers of the ex-GER vans, (I believe to their Diagram 72) were 632822-632921 and they kept their LNER wagon oxide livery but had “SR” applied in the usual position, over a painted patch but with “NE” in small letters in lower Right Hand corner of each side. The return of these wagons was requested by the LNER on 24/11/37. We have not seen any evidence of SR diagram numbers, but no doubt there was one allocated. Mike has kindly provided the prototype images seen left.
A GER banana van is shunted by ‘Normandy’ at Southampton
The first shows the right hand end of GER van 632849 at Southampton Docks in 1936 with the painted patch under the ‘R’ and the small ‘NE’ lettering. The second image shows van being shunted by “Normandy” at Southampton Docks in September 1936 so the justification for having at least one on Canute Road Quay is all too obvious.
Oxford rail have released their OR76BAN001 Oxford Rail GER 10t Banana Van number 632882 in LNER wagon oxide livery, so I thought it would make a quick and easy livery adaptation. With a cost of only £16.95 at retailers such as Kernow Model Rail Centre this van with its level of detail, especially the underframe, is very good value for money.
The Oxford Rail GER 10T Banana Van out of the boxThe nicely detailed underframe noting the two plain brake levers
The only error on this particular model is that it has a plain brake level on both sides, instead of having a Morton Clutch type lever on the [edit] side adjacent to the vacuum brake cylinder, the incorrect plain lever would in fact be taking the brakes off when the lever was pulled down!
Ironically I understand that the OR76GEGV001 Oxford Rail GER 10t Covered Van version has two Morton Clutch style levers!
I have therefore replaced the incorrect brake lever, on the side adjacent to the vacuum cylinder, with an etched version obtained from Wizard Models.
The van is pretty light and only weighs 30g which is under my preferred approx. 45g for a van of this size. Easing a small screwdriver between the bodyside and the chassis side allows the body to be removed to add some additional weight inside it.
Masked up ready for patchingSR Decals added, brake lever removed
To amend the livery I simply masked around the original NE letters and painted with Precisions Paints P952 ‘Light Brick red’ as when tested I found this to be a better match to the Oxford Rail representation of LNER wagon oxide than the Precision Paints P67 LNER Freight wagon oxide which was much darker.
Normandy in her slightly later guise shunts the finished GER Banana van with an SR Diagram 1478 version at Canute Road Quay
I then applied standard ‘S’ and ‘R’, and the non common user ‘N’ on the bottom plank from HMRS Pressfix SR Wagons transfer sheet 13 and the small ‘NE’ from HMRS Pressfix LNER wagon transfer sheet 12 to complete the relettering.
All in all, despite having to replace the brake lever this has been a quick win addition to the wagon fleet, although it awaits some weathering, for Canute Road Quay and will be something Southern Railways wise slightly different…
One of those occasions when looking for an item you come across something else purchased a while back and think I should really finish it… The other weekend I found my 3D print, purchased from Simon Dawson’s store on Shapeways (in those days when it was much cheaper than it is now…), of the 6 wheel ex SECR Diagram 1558 20 ton brake van, so I decide it would make a nice quick win project and be one less thing on the things to do one day list/pile…
The D1558 brake van is shunted at Canute Road Quay by an ex LCDR T class 0-6-0t
Forty 6 wheel 20t brake vans were built in 1898 by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway to Diagram 1558, these had an open veranda platform (i.e. with no roof, sides or end rail) at one end and a closed one at the other. In 1910, 50 more were built with close verandas at each end, between 1914 and 1920 the original vans were modified with two closed verandas. These modified vans were identifiable as had double top rails at the rebuilt end only. All 90 vans entered Southern Railway stock and most passed into British Railways ownership. There were also variations in some of the framing, planking and handrails between the two built versions.
Buffers heads, handrails and lamp irons addedBrass bearings fitted and the ‘T’ section to support the weighted floor is added to the inside of both sides.A dusting of Halfords plastic primer. The double top rail at the modified closed veranda end can be seen.Painting and lettering complete, some etched brake gear will be added in due to finish
The one piece 3D print represents one of the first batch as modified with both verandas enclosed and correctly has the double end top rails at one end only. The print is pretty basic but was quite a clean print, has no floor, and is missing some of the fine top corner strapping detail. Handrails and lamp irons are thankfully not part of the print as I would have replaced these if they were. I replaced the printed bufferheads with finer turned metal 13″ versions, drilling the buffer stocks to take the shank.
There is no representation of any brake gear, although its omission is mainly hidden behind the full length stepboards, I will at some stage add some brake gear, once I purchase some suitable etches.
I drilled the axle boxes to take standard brass top hat bearings for Alan Gibson 12mm spoked wheels, wire handrails and lamp irons fashioned from Bambi staples were added. I made a floor from plasticard onto which I added some lead strip to bring the van weight up to approx. 45g to ensure good running. To affix the floor I first glued some plastic ‘T’ section to the inside of the van sides to provide a mounting location.
Following a dust of Halfords plastic primer the van was brush painted with Precision Paints P91 SR Freight Brown and P90 SR Venetian Red for the ends. Lettering and numbers were added using HMRS Pressfix SR Wagons transfer sheet 13 and then give a spray coat of Railmatch satin varnish to seal. Glazing for the end windows was glued into place before the floor was affixed.
For the time being standard slim tension lock couplings have been fitted using Peco Parkside P34 mounting blocks. It is now added the queue of items to be weathered.
I am sure there is potential for these vans to become a ready to run model one day, as interest in pre-grouping rolling stock is on the increase, hence this project being done as a bit of quick win.
My presentation is titled “Where the sunshine comes soonest! Modelling the Southern” Illustrated with my own models I will explore my reasons for modelling the Southern, my own time period of 1946 to 1949, provide a virtual tour of both Fisherton Sarum and Canute Road Quay and provide thoughts and ideas how the complexity and variety of the Southern can be modelled.
The lecture starts at 7.30pm, but doors open at 6.30. The Model Railway Club licenced bar has a range of beers, wine, spirts and soft drinks plus snacks.
Guests are welcome, there is no need to book, but please note that there are stairs to the lecture room, and anyone with concerns about accessibility should contact The Model Railway Club in advance. There is a voluntary collection, with a suggestion of £3 for non members.
I am pleased to advise that the Astolat Model Railway Circle exhibition on Sunday 16th January is GOING AHEAD which makes a welcome change at a time that has seen many shows cancelled. I look forward to attending this pleasant show with Canute Road Quay. Please come along, say hello and support the Astolat MRC.
See Canute Road Quay at the Astolat Guildford show on Sunday 16th January
Doors open at 10:00 am and close at 5:00pm. Entry prices are £6.00 for Adult, £3.00 for Child (under 14) and £12.00 for family (2 + 2).
Important Covid Advisory Information. In light of the latest government guidelines all adult visitors to the January exhibition will sensibly be required to wear masks and will require evidence of at least double vaccination or proof of a recent negative Lateral Flow Test to gain entry to the Surrey Sports Park buildings.
I have been advised that the Stafford Railway Circle Exhibition that Canute Road Quay was due to attend on 5th & 6th February 2022 has been unfortunately cancelled.
The show organisers have advised: “In view of the rapidly worsening Covid situation caused by the Omicron variant, Stafford Railway Circle has decided that it is not possible to proceed with this exhibition. We deeply regret that we have to cancel it and hope that our exhibitors, traders and would-be customers will understand why this decision has been taken. Our sincere apologies but hopefully you understand.”
Unfortunate but understandable, I hope to be there in 2023.
Canute Road Quay is also scheduled to be at the Astolat Model Railway Circle exhibition in Guildford on Sunday 16th January 2022, I am aware that the organisers are monitoring the current situation and will advise further in due course.
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The model railway world and mainly Southern Railway meanderings of Graham 'Muz' Muspratt
