PW Dept Train

The Project for 2008 was a PW Department train. It finally got finished in 2010.......... I'd already got the skips and the Hudson Tool Van arrived at the 2008 AGM ............

 

....... but this was the first stage of the new build. The only additions to the kit are the usual Roundhouse lamp irons.

It's quite interesting as this is the first vehicle where I've used wood stains instead of paint (apart from the underframe, which is in matt black acrylic). The floor's Dark Oak, the interior's Antique Pine and the outside has been finished with some Cuprinol Heritage Garden Shades. This is designed for garden furniture but for our purposes it's ideal, as it comes in sample tinlets costing £2.00. Most of the body was treated before assembly and it's been a useful practice for the riding van.

 

It makes a suitable brake for a short train of skips, hauled by ESME.................

 

.............. as it's in scale with the loco and skips.

In June 2010 (!) I finally got around to building the rail carrier, which is basically a pair of IP Engineering Hudson bogies, a pair of bolsters built from rail and added to the bogie pivots and a load of old rail. This latter was glued in place as I didn't want it going all over the shop in case of mishap, but it does mean that there's no stretcher between the bogies - they wouldn't have pivoted if there had been!

The whole train (less the skips, which are a bit of a liability until I add some weight to them) went into service at the Butterley Gala in July 2010.

The WD D Class wagon was also pressed into PW Dept service that day, too.

The train suffered in the Great Theft of September 2011 - the loco and guards van falling victim. The rest of the train had been out of use for some time, as the white metal bogies were not man enough for the job - they bent badly and were replaced in March 2013 with Binne bogies. The PW Dept also collared the Busted Bricks Van when it entered service in February 2013 and use it as a tool van. It's customarily hauled by the replacement MAGRAT.