Julia's Workbench.

-missy-

Western Thunderer
Hello All.

So, after a bit of searching on WT, I realised I didn't have a thread to myself so I can post about things I have been doing. Now I know the speed of my modelling is glacial to say the least but it all needs a home. So here it is. Hopefully, there will be things that will interest some. The majority will be 2mm Finescale but I seem to find myself getting upto allsorts these days.

Anyway. These are nearly finished now. A trio of GWR N6 Loco Coal wagons courtesy of @simond who was very kind and let me try out a 2mm finescale version of his excellent wagon. Simon's design was fantastic but it did need a few little tweaks to make it suitable for 2mm Scale then printed it out. The chassis is a 2mm Scale Association etched one.

20260405_105235.jpg

1775391588661.jpeg

Recently, I made the decision to exclusively use Acrylic paints only so I have been building up a range of suitable paints to suit. So far, I have been very happy with the results. One notable jump in abilities with these wagons was the recnt purchase of a laser printer and a white toner cartridge. I just needed to test it out and the results are on these wagons. The quality of the text considering its size is impressive.
Weathering on these will have to wait for a bit until I can figure out how to do it. Not that they really will need that much I guess.

Thanks again @simond :)

Julia :)
 

John57sharp

Western Thunderer
These are most impressive Julia (and Simon) - that lettering is really good too.

As a very easily (currently very) distracted 2mm modeller, I welcome another page to inspire me!

Cheers
John
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Julia,

thanks for the kind comments, it’s a delight to see these, and I’m pleased you were able to use the CAD.

The project started a very long time ago, (in August 2023!) when Nick @magmouse asked if I would like to cooperate on some 7mm wagons. It would be fair to say that there have been some distractions and disappointments along the road (including a whole batch of wagon bodies being utterly mashed by the courier company, my printer having electrical issues, and some bizarre distortion problems) but I hope the end is in sight.

best
Simon
 

-missy-

Western Thunderer
Hello. Can I ask a question?

Along with the wagons, I printed off a Lancashire boiler too.

1775502931989.jpeg

1775502952843.png

My thinking at the time was it would make for an interesting load on a wagon or similar.

The question is, does anyone have any ideas what sort of wagon something like this would be transported on? Searching the web, there are some pictures showing them on a couple of trolleys being pulled along by a traction engine, but not that many of them on a railway wagon. Maybe I should recreate the trolleys?

Thank you.

Julia :)
 

40057

Western Thunderer
Hello. Can I ask a question?

Along with the wagons, I printed off a Lancashire boiler too.

View attachment 261207

View attachment 261208

My thinking at the time was it would make for an interesting load on a wagon or similar.

The question is, does anyone have any ideas what sort of wagon something like this would be transported on? Searching the web, there are some pictures showing them on a couple of trolleys being pulled along by a traction engine, but not that many of them on a railway wagon. Maybe I should recreate the trolleys?

Thank you.

Julia :)
The Bassett-Lowke model made pre-WW1 in gauges 0,1 and 2. Lithographed tinplate NER trolley with a boiler purporting to be from the Lowke family business.

7D27D401-226A-463C-8F3B-A1BCFB245C54.jpeg

The wagon model, including the inside bearings on the bogies, is a good representation of the real wagon.

Martin
 

65179

Active Member
Didn't specially constructed wagons tend to come from the railway at the point of dispatch rather than the destination?

A Hyde based boiler maker would be likely to be using ex-GC or LNER wagons - an implement wagon twin, a boiler wagon or later a weltrol (?) of some sort.

Here are twin Imps B (still 2 twins in existence in 1948) being loaded:


There's a photo of a 40 ton GC Boiler J (still extant in 1937, extinct by 1948) loaded with a lancashire boiler and a drawing of the wagon in LNER Wagons Vol 1 by Peter Tatlow.

Picture of the 15T Imp B and drawing of the similar 20T Imp C too.

Let me know if you are interested.

Simon
 
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-missy-

Western Thunderer
Thats a great call Simon, thank you.

Looks like I will be doing a LNER wagon of some sort then. It makes sense. I feel a bit weird going outside of GW / SR stuff though, and have no idea about LNER wagons. Any drawings would be most welcome.

Thanks

Julia ::)
 

Mike W

Western Thunderer
Knowing only little about the subject, unless thay had a private siding they might have chosen to send it via one of the other stations in the area, LNWR for instance, if they received a favourable rate or access within the station yard was better. That might increase the choice of designs. What is the overall scale length of the model boiler?
Mike
 

Mike W

Western Thunderer
Thinking again, London Road Models do at least three very different kits for LNWR trolley wagons. They have reduced several of their kits to 2mm, so might be able to do it again?
Mike
 

-missy-

Western Thunderer
What is the overall scale length of the model boiler?
Mike

Thanks for the replies Mike.

The boiler is 68mm long so a scale 34ft. I will have to check out the London Road Models kits to see what they have. I dont mind giving one a go in 3D though. Im sort of on a 3D print roll right now and enjoying it.

Julia.
 

-missy-

Western Thunderer
A bit of a random one today.

Amongst other things, I manged to scratch an itch I had regarding printing my own transfers. I can now do white as per the wagons, but I was also wondering if I could apply the same technique for engine lining.

1775584108544.jpeg

First results look promising. Overall thickness of the lines are 0.4mm. Drawn in Corel Draw.

Julia.
 

65179

Active Member
Knowing only little about the subject, unless thay had a private siding they might have chosen to send it via one of the other stations in the area, LNWR for instance, if they received a favourable rate or access within the station yard was better. That might increase the choice of designs. What is the overall scale length of the model boiler?
Mike

Hyde was a bit of a centre for boilermaking, particularly prior to the Great Depression.

The Tinker, Shenton & Co. works ended up on Furnace St in the Flowery Field area.

To help those not familiar with the area, there's a boiler works shown here:


on Furnace Street with a siding linked to the line between Hyde Junction and Hyde (later Hyde Central) stations on the ex-GC (technically ex-GC and MR joint).

All a bit of overkill for a something that is just a wagon for an interesting wagon load!

I've sent you a message if you go for one of the GCR options Julia.

Regards,
Simon
 

-missy-

Western Thunderer
All a bit of overkill for a something that is just a wagon for an interesting wagon load!

I've sent you a message if you go for one of the GCR options Julia.

Regards,
Simon

Thanks Simon. Thank you for the message too.

I am going to have a think about the options. Its not like I need another project right now!

Julia )
 

J_F_S

Western Thunderer
The boiler is 68mm long so a scale 34ft

Whilst I could not be absolutely sure, I would be prepared to say that 'few if any', Lancashire boilers were longer than 30ft. They reached their zenith in the Lancashire cotton mills where a typical size would be 8' 6" x 30'. I know of a few which were 9' dia. but none longer than 30'.

I am also not convinced that one would weigh 32 tons (unless it were full of water!) 3-4 tons might be nearer I would have thought.
 

Osgood

Western Thunderer
Double that number and more.
Approx 1.3 m3 of iron (assuming shell is 3/8" thick plus end plates plus firebox), so maybe 9 -10 t?
We had one at the quarry and moved it around a times until it was eventually installed in the ground as a feed hopper - made two big loaders grunt even rolling it :))
 

-missy-

Western Thunderer
Whilst I could not be absolutely sure, I would be prepared to say that 'few if any', Lancashire boilers were longer than 30ft. They reached their zenith in the Lancashire cotton mills where a typical size would be 8' 6" x 30'. I know of a few which were 9' dia. but none longer than 30'.

I am also not convinced that one would weigh 32 tons (unless it were full of water!) 3-4 tons might be nearer I would have thought.

Hi JFS

You are probably right. This is the drawing I used to generate the model and scaled it appropriately.

Screenshot 2026-04-09 080133.jpg

As for the weight, this is where I got the text design from..

36 tons.jpg

Norm on vintage Iron also struggled a bit with the weight of his boiler...


Julia :)
 

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WM183

Western Thunderer
Wow!

The wagons look superb. The boiler is mindblowing! What 3d printer are you using?

Also, if I can ask, what brand of printer and decal paper? Modeling the prewars Midland, I need to print every transfer, it seems, and want to get a similar setup?

Always humbled by your skill!

Amanda
 

-missy-

Western Thunderer
Thank you Amanda.

The printer is a Canon LBP673cdw II
The white toner is from Ghost Toner
The transfer paper was from Scale Model Scenery.

I use Corel Draw to create the artwork for printing as I find it really powerful when it come to working with fonts.

Julia :)
 
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