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Departmental Miscellaneous
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A selection of miscellaneous items of departmental rolling stock
that do not fit into the other featured categories.
This is an ex-LMS brake van converted to a gauging van for the LMR and later transferred
to the WR. I already had an unused Bachmann brake van of the correct type in stock. Further
details of this conversion and detailing work can be found on the January 2022 update (omwb187).
A pair of 3D printed ex-Conflat L wagons converted to cable drum carriers. These wagons
include the railings and framework as part of the print.
An ex-Hornby Collett Restaurant Car GWR diagram H33 into the WR S&T inspection saloon DW150266
based in Reading. Always intended to be a cheap conversion utilising whatever I had to hand,
the windows were sourced from an old Kitmaster Mk.1 kit. Further details regarding this
conversion can be found on the November & December 2021 update pages (omwb185 & 186).
Parkside wooden Mink van. A lovely kit it must be said and, with the addition of ABS push
brakes, this one was destined to become one of two (of at least five) ‘Brimpex Loader’ vans.
What these loaders, manufactured by the Industrial Machine & Equipment Co (Brimpex) Ltd of
Camberley, were used for is a mystery but the vans lasted for many years.
This weird looking beastie is a double ended snowplough, two of which were built by the
Southern Railway in 1929, numbered S1 and S2. The winter of 1928/29 was particularly severe
being the 5th coldest of the 20th century in the UK. The design is double ended so could be
propelled in either direction as a plough. It was normally stored with both headstocks
raised (using the beam on the top), and then one headstock lowered into the body to become
a plough. Following the terrible winter of 1946/47 where the lowest temperature of -21 Celsius
was recorded in Kent, and the severe cold snap in February 1948 which mainly affected the
South East with snow drifts and temperatures down to -18C, two more were ordered. These
were built by British Railways as S3 and S4. Further information has come to light and
the plough was in fact a copy of a North Eastern Railway 1907 design. Hand wheels are
made from brass strip and fixed with dressmaking pins in the model.
A Bachmann Margam Junction shunter’s truck was modified as a reach wagon to shunt the
siding. A simple drop loop at both ends allows the pilot to collect it from the end of
the loading dock siding where it usually resides.
Matisa Neptune track recording trolley (3D printed). Making the outrigger wires was quite
involved, so a jig mas made for consistency. Buffers, glazing, and Neptune lettering still
to do on this non-powered model. The information came via Thingiverse
from Sweden, where the vehicles were also used.
This started off life as a Cambrian Bogie Bolster D, undergoing some floor modifications.
12 wagons were converted at St Rollox in 1971 from a group of ex-LNER Bogie Bolster Ds and
BR standard Boplates, with this example being a former LNER wagon with diamond frame bogies,
probably built to work on the West Coast electrification project as initially all were
allocated to Newton Heath concrete works on the LMR. A number soon ended up on the WR
working out of Taunton concrete works. This example, DB976005, was one of six that ended
up working out of Taunton and could be found anywhere on the WR where a bridge replacement
project was underway. Further details on this conversion can be found on the March 2023
update page (omwb201).
A slightly modified Bachmann RTR example. This wagon worked with the similarly lettered
sand tipplers between Stoneycombe Quarry and Taunton.
Taunton Concrete fleet. This ex-SR Ling was an early transfer and was used to carry lighter
concrete castings to site. It is a stock Chivers kits example, and as with all their models,
a well-moulded and straightforward kit to build. The second plank down on this type was a
steel channel, which is why it is painted rusty brown inside.
An ex-GWR sleeper wagon that ended up carrying concrete castings from Taunton Concrete Works.
A Cambrian kit built as per the instructions and makes up into a nice model of one of these unusual wagons.
