Wagonload Wednesday

Whilst the England loco and Corris carriages are making their way through the paint shop, I’ve ticked another small job off the list. 

I built two Port Wynnstay one plank open goods wagons for the brick traffic on Wheal Ponder. In reality, when operating the layout I’ve found one to be sufficient. Meanwhile, with three hopper wagons for the granite traffic, there’s been an inordinate quantity of gunpowder heading up to the quarry for the amount of granite coming out. 

In order to provide an extra operating option for the layout, I’ve made a granite setts load to fit the one plank wagons. 

The base of the load is a piece of book binding board (used as packaging by the Titfield Thunderbolt Bookshop when dispatching paperback books). For the setts, I measured the setts we have on our driveway and chopped up a couple of lengths of suitable styrene strip to length. The base had insulation tape wrapped round it to form a watertight seal before the styrene setts and PVA glue were fixed on top. When all was set, the tape was removed, the load painted (grey rattle can primer, followed by acrylic grey and white dry brushed on) and is now ready for use. 

The wagon is seen here enjoying a run behind Kerr Stuart Skylark ‘Princess’.

The layout is attending Narrow Gauge Now exhibition in Mansfield on Saturday 26th October. Do say hello if you come along. More details can be found here:

https://www.narrowgaugenow.uk/narrow-gauge-now-2024