009 (Small) Break Van

I remember standing on the balcony of a standard gauge break van as a small boy of 6 or 7 and it seemed huge, high up, and the kind of place to survey the world from. That thought remained when I had an idea for a small brake van for a narrow gauge layout. I wanted to have one with an outside balcony which to me makes it look the part.

On the smaller railways these vans sometimes doubled up as goods van, stock wagon and even mobile post boxes.

So it was with a utilitarian feel I worked on some ideas for a break van with a rear balcony, enclosed by small gates, a door would allow access to the main body of the van for the guards, it would have sliding side doors as I though it may be interesting in some cases to show the inside of the van. I decided to make it possible to remove the side doors and refit them in an open position to show something going on inside.

To keep the guards happy with some warmth in winter or just for making the odd pot of tea a small oil stove was added to one corner.

Like most of my first prototypes I used a Peco 9’ wagon chassis and changed the couplings to the Greenwich type, this works well when Frosted Ultra-Detail is used to 3D print the body of the van.

On later prototypes I added a chassis directly to the van and printed it in Strong White & Flexible polished, allow not giving as much clarity in the detail, looks good enough when painted and aged to pass relatively close inspection. This works well with 6.2mm metal spoked wheels from Parkside Dundas. http://www.parksidedundas.co.uk/acatalog/N_G_WHEELS.html

A small amount of lead ballast was also added to the van between the wheels, this helps to balance the van making it less top heavy.

I made the rear lamp in bulk some time ago, using white 1 mm thick plasticard rectangles to form a 3 x 2 x 2mm block and then added a 2mm diameter disk on top, for the lenses I used a small 2mm red rhinestone. These are available from bead and jewellery suppliers on eBay.

If you would like to obtain a copy of the 3D print it is available at. https://www.shapeways.com/product/4Q3SJ8729/009-g-v-r-brake-van?li=shop-results&optionId=57962836

009 Sheep Wagon

I have seen many of these sheep wagons on layouts but could not find out who made them to suit 009. As it is one of those type of wagons you may have quite a few of on a typical layout, it seemed like a good idea to 3D print a version.

I initially intended to produce a six plank wagon, like the Welshpool & Llanfair sheep wagon, but with the restrictions on the section sizes I could print, this looked too high and heavy, so I settled for a four plank version. I followed the same layout as the W&L wagon, with the ramp on one side. My idea with the ramp was to make it so I could remove it and refit in the open position for static displays of loading wagons. This was achieved by printing the ramp on small spurs that you can cut through with ease. My first idea for this wagon was to mount it on a Peco 9’ wagon chassis (ref NR119) and change the couplings to the Greenwich type.

 Available from: http://www.parksidedundas.co.uk/acatalog/GREENWICH.html

I printed a flat based version in Frosted Ultra Detail plastic which had nice detail and worked well on the Peco chassis. After this first prototype I thought of printing with the chassis attached. The main thing with this idea is getting the wheel centres right, and getting enough flex in the material to get the wheels in place. Two prototypes later, and I had a working chassis in Strong White and Flexible plastic with free running wheels. It was then a simple job to add this to the wagon.

I found that if printed in Frosted Ultra Detail I had to make a small ‘V’ in the bottom of the axel box to get the wheels in without breaking the plastic; but if I used Strong White and Flexible Polished, the level of detail was still good when painted and weathered and it gave the flexibility needed to ease the wheels in place.

I found that the best wheels with good running characteristics were the Parkside Dundas 6.2mm Metal Wheels with 7 Curved Spoke. http://www.parksidedundas.co.uk/acatalog/N_G_WHEELS.html

If you would like to obtain a copy of the 3D print it is available at. https://www.shapeways.com/product/JZ3ZC7FG8/009-sheep-wagon-a?li=shop-results&optionId=57977869