This was another case of ‘what shall I do with my old wagons’ after an upgrade to a superior model. This time I had 6 Hornby VDA of various liveries.

About this time and only for a short period the Plasmor Block train ran through Ely instead of down the ECML. This gave me the opportunity to run another type of wagon on my layouts.

After much research I realised that the Hornby model was perhaps not the best starting point, but there was no way I was going to start taking the razor saw to Bachmann’s latest model, I continued with the Hornby. I duly razor sawed the wagons, removing the roof, the body sides and the tops of the ends. After giving them a clean up I added the new floor and the hand rails.  The hardest part of this project was to produce suitable fold down side flaps that help secure the load of blocks. I used brass wire and scenic mesh, which seemed to be about the right screen.

All were put together on the wagons. I put the side flaps on after painting the main wagon. I made these wagons about 10 years ago and they are still not quite finished. Each wagon should carry four ‘block pallet separators’ and straps for securing the load. There also seems to be a lot of residue left on the wagons after unloading, so its ripe for weathering powders. I will try to update them sometime.

A lot of work on this unfinished project and I certainly have a rare rake of wagons. I think I could have done better, especially with the Bachmann wagons as the base, I also think that loaded wagons would have been better. I have put this unfinished project on this site to show that ‘having a go’  is worth it, rather than just wondering  whether  you should attempt it.

 

 

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