Caledonian Railway Association Forum

I had ideas of adding brake detail to a model of a Dia 62 15T BV which also had a brake standard at both ends but had no idea of the rodding arrangements. To assist, Mike was good enough to send me a copy of the brake arrangement drawing for the 6 wheel BV. This definitely does show standards at bot...

Attached is the same file as seen previously but also including a diamond crossing. Unlike drawings of NBR trackwork, the CR seemed to use normal sleepers throughout their trackwork - no longer timbers, no wider timbers.However, when I built a 3 way point and a scissors crossover I couldn't see how ...

I was informed by the chairman of the Highland Railway Society (now how can you question someone in such a position?) that pig iron wagons were pressed into service carrying non-pigs. Might that be another option? I built one from a kit purely because I had the kit. Why I had the kit is beyond me. I...

Thanks for the reply, Mike. Perhaps I wasn't too clear with what I was asking in the second para. Rather than coach chassis being recycled on Departmental stock, I was asking if there was any evidence of the Caley re-purposing whole coaches? The attached image shows 2 or 3 old GSWR coaches reused wi...

Unless I've missed mention, I don't think there is any specific reference to the livery of Engineers/Departmental vehicles in either the Wagon or Livery books. Would I be correct in taking from that that all vehicles were painted in the red oxide livery? Or is it down to lack of evidence to the cont...

Many thanks to the responders for providing this information. Even better, getting plans and dimensions of the whole boards.

Lindsay

Ah, long before my membership and I've still to buy the CD's. Will add them to my Xmas list.

Lindsay

I'm sure I should be able to lay my hands on this info, but I'm damned if I can. What was the normal height of the station name on running in boards? I suppose there may have been variations but the most common will do.

Lindsay

Cheers Mike, I came across that image after my initial posting. It's very light inside suggesting that it has been doused in lime. Just a pity that it appears to be a cut down cattle wagon rather than the subject of the the 1874 drawing. The cattle wagon on the same page has metal rods strengthening...

I've been having a few passing thoughts about the transport of sheep and, looking beyond the converted 8 ton wagons used (both pre diagram and diagram 24's), I've been mulling over the 1874 drawing of a Sheep and Coke wagon. Looking at it closely it very much resembles a cut-down cattle wagon being ...

Thanks for that info, David. The term Brakesman is new to me (or my memory might just be letting me down again). Unless I missed some entries (having scanned thru' looking for staff working from Edinburgh) I didn't come across any recorded Brakesmen located in Edinburgh - but having just done a brie...

Is there any way of ascertaining whether anyone designated as a Guard was a passenger or goods guard? Some entries mention the word passenger, others are from way bills (but can these be goods carried by either?), some from Edinburgh mention west or north runs. I tried to look up 2 guards that appea...

Ian, If you feel you've bitten off more than you can chew then come to the Forum for help and guidance. I've no idea what your experience is, but we all started at the very bottom rung of that ladder, and I can say that when I joined a local P4 group I was an absolute sponge soaking up from the expe...

I'm afraid that I don't think there are any straight legged outside W irons available commercially. However, there is talk of the previous Society etch being redone, but that's no good if your need is in the short term. Cranked versions are available from Eileens (Bill Bedford etch) but they're some...

The length over the headstocks doesn't seem to dictate the wheelbase as far as all Caley stock goes. The post-bogie minerals were 8' 6" wheelbase and 15' over the body and carried 8T. As things progressed the wheelbase remained popular at 8' 6" but the length extended to 16' and then 16' 6...

Agreed, looks very nice indeed.

Lindsay

As the old saying goes, you wait ages for a bus and then two come along at once. 4mm etches or kits for the Diagram 6 Brake Van certainly bring this adage to mind. Many years ago one was available within the late John Boyle’s Decent Models range of kits. Sadly, it doesn’t appear that many of these k...

By coincidence just yesterday I decided to go searching for aerial photographs of Barnton and D’mains available on line but without subscribing I couldn’t zoom in. However the images seemed to date from around 1940 so no telling whether things changed after grouping.

Lindsay

Mmmm, your model looks closer to the image than the drawing (and was intended as complimentary). So far I'm doubting the drawing.

Lindsay

(P.S. Jim, there may be a name check in a forthcoming mag. ?!?)

Might anyone have any images that clearly show the shape and better still location of the Diagram 6 stove chimney? (I realise that this may have been altered whilst in service) The image in the Wagons book suggests a squat but fairly wide chimney - modelled by Jim Watt and pictured in a 2013 thread....

If you Google, you'll find it somewhere as I did some time ago.

Best of luck with turning that pig's ear into a silk purse. Sell it on eBay and get another etch from Jim! Mmm, maybe that's why you want the instructions.

Lindsay

Something has intrigued me for a good while, it's about time I got an answer. Barnton had a coal area as can be seen top right in this image (traced from a drawing in the NRS - supposedly dated 1923 but nothing on the drawing to substantiate that. And please ignore my suppositions and questions adde...

I've been studying pictures of wagons recently (mainly to establish how some items might have been loaded) and was surprised just how many open goods wagons were covered with tarpaulins, a far greater percentage (in the images accessed at least) than I had assumed. However, perhaps against CR rules,...

A rather short question : Why was it that the CR standardised on a 9' wheelbase for a good number of goods vehicles, but an 8' 6" wheelbase for minerals?

There's probably going to be a rather blatant answer that will make me look silly!

Lindsay

Agree with the observations above, but what I'm really trying to establish is if there might be any sort of records that would indicate that vans were designated to Edinburgh Mineral. Looking back now, I'm surprised that the Gartness van didn't make me rethink yet the Carstairs one did. If I draw a ...