Back in June 2012 I described the uplift I gave this brake van to mark its 4th anniversary. Recently while I was detailing wagons 5 and 11 (see Old Wagons posts) I also decided to add some more detail to this brake van.

Some of the detail parts from an IP Engineering solebar detail set were first painted in grey primer and then applied to the solebars and headstocks with cyano glue. Although not strictly prototypical, the extra rivet detail enhances the look of the solebars. The builders plates and curved washers supplied in the set were not used as these do not feature on the full size van. I also fabricated some brake V hangers from plastikard sheet and used 10BA bolts for the rod. The brake rod does not go right across the width of the wagon as this would obstruct access to the battery box under the floor. The batteries supply power to the tail lamp.
Finally the van was given a few wafts of olive drab spray paint to add some light weathering.

I mentioned in part 1 of this blog that I decided to keep this wagon even though it is not a model of any particular prototype, but if it was to be retained it would need a bit of super detailing.

Before starting on the detailing, I removed the wheels, couplings and axleguards. I then sanded off most of the paintwork on the inside of the wagon body to give a distressed and used look. The main feature of the wagon that I was not happy with was the rather overscale looking end supports, so I removed these with the aid of a pair of fine nose pliers. These came off easier than I expected. New end supports were cut from lengths of plastic 'angle iron' supplied in Garden Railway Specialists open wagon detailing set. These were than fixed in place with cyano glue.
I then turned my attention to the wagon sides and drilled 3 holes in each of the 6 supports (in the centre of each of the 3 planks) and glued rivets in to these. I also fitted 4 rivets to the headstocks, 2 each where the solebar joins to the headstock.

The components in an IP Engineering solebar detailing set were then fixed to the solebars with cyano. the straight and curved axleguard fixing bolt washers need to line up with the W irons, so I temporarily re-fitted the axleguards to help line these up.

The dummy handbrake assembly was discarded and replaced with a working handbrake set from IP Engineering ref. W6. The kit includes a full set of instructions and all parts including rivets, pins and chain. The appropriate wheel set needs to be temporarily re-fitted to assist with lining the brake shoe up correctly. The brake gear was assembled using cyano adhesive and went together with no problems. I have several of the sets and will be fitting these to some wagons I will be building in the future. The working handbrake is very useful for ensuring a wagon stays put in a siding on  a windy day.

Before painting, I masked the newly scrubbed floor and insides of the wagon ends and the wagon sides were masked with the exception of the riveted uprights in order to preserve the lettering. The wagon was sprayed with my usual grey auto primer in a spray can. The brake gear and builder's plate were then picked out in acrylic matt black.

The wagon was then reassembled, new load data transfers were applied to the sides (the old ones were a bit flaky) and new number 11s applied to the ends. Finally the wagon was given a few light wafts of olive drab from a spray can to give a slightly weathered look. I am not very good at weathering techniques but this method works for me and I will be using the same process on all wagons as they come through the workshop for any maintenance.

When the line was opened in 2007, the original freight rolling stock comprised of three Brandbright open wagons and a Tenmille Corris brake van. These had all been purchased second hand as made up kits in 1993 and spent the intervening years in my attic. The brake van was soon replaced by a scratch built Schull and Skibbereen version but the three opens continued in service.
Modifications to all three were carried out in 2008 and these included fitting 30mm diameter wheels and Accucraft chopper couplings as well as applying TBLR lettering and numbers.

I have a policy of building and running models of actual Irish narrow gauge rolling stock in order to give the railway an authentic feel. I therefore felt I needed to review the future of these freelance wagons and decide whether they could be modified and continue in service or end up on the scrap heap. Here is a breakdown of the fate of each wagon.

• Brandbright ref. GS6 4 plank open wagon - TBLR number 8. This wagon was rebuilt to resemble a Schull and Skibbereen ballast wagon in 2009. The conversion was not a success and I have now withdrawn the wagon from service. The wheels, couplings, axleguards and brake shoe have been salvaged for re-use. The dummy handbrake lever assembly made from plastic strip was thrown away and the body has found use as a lineside ballast bin.
• Brandbright ref. GS15 5 plank open wagon - TBLR number 5. This wagon was rebuilt to resemble a Schull and Skibbereen 10ft. open wagon in 2009. The wagon floor was cut down both in length and width to the correct proportions of the S&S wagon and then re-assembled, extra curved top planks were added to the wagon ends and the side drop doors (non opening) were widened by relocating the hardware to the correct position. A cast metal handbrake assembly from Garden Railway Specialists was also added. The original is a 3 plank wagon and the model has 5 planks but the overall proportions are correct and I think this wagon conveys the impression of its full size counterpart. I have decided to keep this wagon in service. I recently purchased some solebar detailing sets from IP Engineering and after spraying with grey primer I have applied a full set to this wagon. The solebar details differ from the original but a) it's not a true scale model anyway, b) the extra detail looks good and c) it's my railway so I can do what I want!
• Brandbright GS14 3 plank open wagon with removable sides - TBLR number 11. Apart from the addition of a dummy handbrake assembly in 2009, this wagon has not changed since it's original upgrade in 2008. Although it is a freelance design it is a well proportioned wagon and the removable sides are an interesting feature. I have also decided to keep this wagon in service but with the addition of extra detailing and a working handbrake, see part 2 of this post.

So two of the three open wagons will be retained in service and although they are not totally authentic examples of Irish NG rolling stock I think they convey the right impression. These will be classed as being original TBLR stock.

Once the underframe detailing was completed on both wagons, I made up four small brass plates to enable me to mount the couplings below the height of the buffer beams. Although the Irish narrow gauge lines were nearly all standardised to a gauge of 3 feet, the coupling heights of the railways varied greatly, from 1ft.10 1/2 ins. on the Ballymena and Larne to 2ft. 10 1/2 ins. on the County Donegal. The majority of lines had coupling heights of 2ft. 2 ins. or 2ft. 3ins. The Tralee and Dingle coupling height was 2ft 3ins. (33.75mm in 15mm scale) whereas, more by accident than by design, the coupling height of the TBLR is 1ft. 10 1/2 ins (28mm) like the Ballymena and Larne. I should really have adopted an average coupling height of about 33mm for the railway to give a degree of compatibility between the stock originating from various lines. By the time I got around to giving this any thought, I had built too much stock and converting some of the locos to a higher coupling height would prove difficult. Hence my solution of making the coupling adapter plates. These were fixed to the buffer beams with 10BA bolts, the couplings will be attached using the lower pair of holes.

I then masked the interior in preparation for painting. Once the side openings were masked off I glued the roof support hoops in place and then made a masking tape 'roof' to cover the top of the wagon bodies.
Both wagons were sprayed using an aerosol can of grey auto primer from Halfords. Several coats were applied to both wagon bodies and the underframe details.

Once the paintwork was dry I brush painted the axleguards, brake detail and brake hoses using matt black acrylic paint.


The roof planking sheets were then glued to the roof supports using aliphatic resin. The roofs were held in place with elastic bands until the glue had set. A sheet of tissue (the type used for packing between clothes, not the nose blowing variety) was then applied to the roof using dilute PVA glue. This tends to crease, which is a desirable effect, as the idea is to represent canvas applied over the planking. When dry, both roofs were given two coats of sanding sealer. This makes the tissue very stiff and durable. Both roofs were then finished off with two coats of dark grey acrylic paint.

Before fitting the wheels, a fair bit of the paint on the W irons has to be scraped back to the bare metal in order to allow the axleboxes to move up and down with the springing. Once this is done and the wheels and axleboxes are in position, they are held in place with keeper plates which are secured by 2 rivets, these are fixed with cyano glue.

The next step was to apply the lettering. Some modellers hand paint the company letters and numerals but I am totally useless at signwriting, my handwriting is pretty awful too. The standard TBLR lettering until now has been Deca Dry 5mm white rub on transfers. I bought a fair stock of these some years ago but they are no longer available and I am running out. I have enough for another three or four vehicles, after that I will go over to Letraset transfers.

I ran out of numbers 6 and 8 while 68 still required numbers on the wagon ends, I had some 9s which were simply turned upside down but for the 8s I used a number 3 and then applied another 3 over this upside down to close the open side of the 3 and form a number 8. After very careful alignment it worked! The handle ends of the hand brakes were picked out in matt white paint (to make them more visible for train crews).

Finally the couplings were fitted using 10BA hex headed bolts and nuts and the axleguards and wheel bearings were given a spot of oil to ensure free running.