Wagons and Vans

Locomotives are usually made out of metals and unless your a model engineer with a lathe and a well equiped workshop you usually need to buy them in, however the matter of vans and wagons is another thing completely! The basic material is wood....stuff that is everywhere! I usually make my rolling stock from pictures or ideas 'out of my head' with cheap brought wood that I can cut to size as my £40+ bandsaw (Machine Mart-Worcester) which has a rip-fence fitted! 7/8" scale modellers are fortunate in England as to having company's such as Talisman Castings and 'Back2Bay6' in our 'backyard' so to speak! Talisman for all the wagon ironmongery and 'Back2bay6' for selling SVE wheel sets. (See links page for information) I usually have a 7/8" scale figure handy and use that as a upright scale comparision. One can buy 7/8" scale rulers but I made my own by marking a length of wood in biro of/in 7/8" 'inches' and on the other side a 5' 8" figure in 7/8" scale just in case one does not have a scale figure handy! In picking the conserve industry as a reason for my outfits existance I find you then start thinking about all the different sorts of specilized wagons and vans needed which start coming to mind! Our 'fruit-tub wagon' is a fine example. (bottom of page) Note the middle wagon access (both sides) and the bar along the wagon length holding the fruit protection nets....lots of greedy Wood Pigeon's in the woodland through which the line runs! The floor area was designed so that the fruit tubs touch each other and support the ones next to it...the trackwork is a bit rough!

I have noticed quite often that people when starting up in this scale and building THE first wagon or van they spoil the effect by trying to using 16mm or 'G' scale wheels! This point was discussed quite a lot on the Yahoo 7/8" scale egroups a few years ago. The effect is very noticable when looking along at a wagon or van at track level....the chunky looking 7/8" scale model with spindly thin wheels. Even now in 2009 I see people quite often picturing wagons or vans using none scale wheel sets....looks most strange from the front! Then of course fortunately the scale is still blessed with many fine modellers who turn out lovely hand-work and using proper scale wheel sets so things are still being made in a proper manner. I must admit myself to using commercial skip wagons and tanks off G' scale tank wagons to convert into 7/8" scale skips and tank wagons. Whilst enjoying the 7/8" scale I am not obsessed by it. Making skip wagons and tanks from scratch is way too much 'palaver' as far as I am concerned!..... It takes me month's as it is to make a simple van or wagon!!