Chris offers advice about transfer lettering and weathering, while researching and constructing a set of wagons for the Forest of Dean

In this article some options for creating a rake of private owner wagons representative of collieries and traders in the Forest of Dean, around the 1930s, are considered. This includes a little by way of context, some thoughts on the prototypes, an indication of resources and techniques used and even a bit of wagon restoration.

The wagons, acquired as kits (with one exception), have been sourced on a periodic basis over some years. The plan is to have around a dozen and a half coal wagons (equating to around 200 tons of coal), mostly private owner, but with some company wagons, to run loaded or unloaded, either as a convincing looking set for ‘mainline’ trips, or split, part loaded and part empty for branch-line or siding movements.

The Forest, that distinctive part of West Gloucestershire, although now much changed, continues to provide many inspirational locations and ideas for railway modellers, as evidenced in other Gazette features and Guild Small Layouts publications. With an industrial heritage dating back to Roman times, the transport infrastructure evolved to meet changing needs over time.

Historically a big part of the traffic in the area were the extractive industries, majoring on coal, but also stone, iron ore and timber. From the late 18th century, movements of raw materials (coal and stone) were by a network of horse drawn tramways, some lasting into the 1930s. As the scale of operation increased, these tramways were supplemented or superseded by railways.

Outward movements of coal to the principal docks at Lydney or Sharpness (via the Severn Railway Bridge) for shipping further afield or for direct delivery to end customers, were by means of liveried mineral wagons. These wagons would have been a regular sight for seventy or more years. In bearing the owners’ names and business locations, these wagons provided a sense of place and personality, as well as being an early form of mass advertising. With the requisition and pooling of private owner wagons during World War II, the diversity of this spectacle largely disappeared, or rather faded into the nationalisation era.

The last big pit in the Forest (Northern United) closed as long ago as 1965 and deep mining for coal finally ceased in the UK fifty years later, with the closure of Kellingley Colliery in North Yorkshire. Within our own lifetimes, we have seen the end of home-produced deep mined coal for most industrial and domestic applications. Through modelling, selected elements of this important past can, however, be re-imagined and created in miniature.

With any project, good reference material is highly desirable, and we are fortunate that private owner wagons were recognised as a worthy subject by the likes of Bill Hudson – four volumes (OPC). The Lightmoor Press have produced over twenty volumes on private owner wagons, mostly as collections but also some focusing on particular areas. For this project, the Private Owner Wagons of the Forest of Dean by Ian Pope, Lightmoor Press, 2002, is essential reading.

This is supplemented by the various Wild Swan volumes on the Severn and Wye Railway, and the Forest of Dean Branch by Pope, Karau et al., for context. The late 1950s to the mid 1970s, are covered in British Railway History in Colour, Volume 2 - Forest of Dean Lines and the Severn Bridge, Neil Parkhouse, 2015, Lightmoor Press. Although this latter work is out of the preferred period for this article, many locations will be recognisable from the other volumes and the colour certainly adds an extra dimension.

Documentary records included in some of the above reference sources, such as the extracts from colliery company minute books, etc., shed some light on sales to end users, whether in company wagons, those of agents or even the customers’ own. This can be helpful in determining what might be appropriate in the sidings, even if the Forest itself is not your chosen area. Photographs are, of course, a particularly useful resource. Those from manufacturers indicating as-built condition, with construction and livery detail (often including batch reference boards with wagon and lettering colours), photographs from colliery screens, yards or goods trains in transit, will give an indication by date and location, of wagon condition, company names (be they: collieries, colliery agents, coal merchants, municipal or industrial users) and any mix thereof.

Some individual Forest colliery wagons were well travelled – evidence from photographs and postcards include a ‘Crump’ at Aberaeron and a ‘Parkend’ at Milford Haven – both in West Wales, a ‘Cannop’ found its way to Bugle in Cornwall, and was it really Taunton coal merchant ‘Hartnell and Sons’ No. 21 pictured at Tyseley in 1931? Colliery agents’ wagons could doubtless be found at customers around the areas of their trading offices. As the photographic coverage pre 1950s is in black and white, some degree of artistic licence will be required by the modeller to replicate an appropriate running condition. These days, unless in museum and heritage collections and under cover, wooden private owner wagons are quite a rarity.

Those rescued or donated from National Coal Board sites in the 1970s, will in all probability, have rotted beyond economic repair. However, a few railway preservation sites have undertaken extensive rebuilds using salvageable components and new materials. Where now stabled outside, these wagons will inevitably be exposed to the weathering process all over again, albeit without the wear and tear of commercial use. Examples that come to mind may be found at Minehead (West Somerset Railway), Parkend (Dean Forest Railway) and Kidderminster (Severn Valley Railway). These wagons, as they age, may give some indication of the effects of environmental exposure between repaints, particularly the subtleties of colour and surface patina of the woodwork. Some basic weathering effects for the models are considered below.

30 years or more ago, if you wanted something ready-to-run, the chances were that you either commissioned somebody to build it for you, or items had to be acquired second hand. These days, the process is somewhat easier, and several manufacturers and traders now offer a selection of RTR private owner wagons. Some clubs, too, have offered a limited edition of a particular wagon livery, often in conjunction with a show or special anniversary. Inevitably there are some compromises, particularly in terms of running numbers, some items of detail and the ‘weathered’ examples, where offered, often suggest a half-hearted single air brush application of a generic dirt shade, rather than any conscious effort to replicate time in serious use.

If the widely promoted RTR offer proves to be a little restrictive and the prospect of customising RTR rather self-defeating, then perhaps a foray into kit building might provide an additional level of variety and authenticity. With a bit of imagination, research, and a few readily acquired basic skills, pleasing results can be obtained that will add a more distinctive touch to your layout.

Two product ranges that were around all those years ago and that are thankfully still with us, are the private owner wagon kits produced by Slater’s Plastikard and the dry-rub wagon livery transfers produced by Powsides. A search of the Guild website under ‘Find a Trader’ will generate a list of other potential suppliers. The Slater’s and Powsides ranges, to my mind, complement each other and as they have proved reliable, I have stuck with them over the years. Their respective product ranges are not heavily advertised these days and consequently might get overlooked.

The Slater’s range of private owner 10-ton wagons, include 5, 6 and 7 plank versions with side door or side-and-end door variants based on the 1907 Railway Clearing House (RCH) specification. Their 12-ton wagons of a 1923 RCH specification include 7- and 8-plank versions, also with side door only or side-and-end door options. The designs are based on those of builders Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, and Charles Roberts of Wakefield. Side door wagons tended to be used by coal merchants and smaller industrial users, with the contents shovelled out. The side-and-end door wagons were designed for the bulk discharge required at docks and by some industrial and municipal users but could of course be manually unloaded at sites without tipping facilities.

The kits are good quality and supplied with wheels, bearings, sprung metal buffers and draw gear. There is a choice of axle box types and brake parts for either side, so an earlier or later period of use can be modelled.

Additionally, Slater’s offer two or three examples of each wagon type with pre-printed private owner liveries, on pre-painted body sides in the appropriate colour. A set of number transfers are provided to enable your preferred running number to be applied – handy if you have more than one to make for a particular operator. Three of the pre-lettered kits are pictured front and centre in the photo at the beginning of this article. All the standard kits are usually held in stock. In addition, a bespoke printing option for kits is also offered.

The Powsides range of wagon transfers now runs to over one thousand impressions (1070 the last time I looked). These are dry rub transfers of the Letraset type, to be applied to a pre painted wagon side, by rubbing down with an old ballpoint pen, soft leaded pencil etc. In the simplest of livery formats, a single application is required (e.g. white lettering on a black side), for more complex liveries (e.g. white lettering, shaded red), a second application of the shading is required, over the first. The Powsides website includes a search facility, enabling a potential company or location to be identified. This could be particularly useful in identifying suitable coal merchants or other traders for a specific area. Each viable entry identifies: the wagon type, by maker – where known, number of planks (i.e. wagon height) and the door configuration. Additionally, there is reference to a suitable kit (i.e. Slater’s or Parkside) with the kit maker’s reference number, where available. Other options offered by this manufacturer include kits (with pre-lettered sides), ready to run and commissions. With such an extensive range, it is likely that some items will be produced to order, but for the choice and individuality offered, well worth a little wait.

If you are new to O Gauge and there is something to suit your preferred area or interest, pre lettered kits might be a logical next step following a RTR purchase, or as a suitable entry point to O-gauge model making itself.

Examples of transfers, as received (Photo 2), in this instance one for Baldwin, a colliery agent and one for Cannop Colliery. The transfers are supplied with application instructions. Both wagons were painted black with white lettering.

Baldwin 1735 is shown in photo 16 on a 1923 RCH 7 plank side and end door wagon, finished with minimal weathering. In photos seen, the Baldwin wagons always seem to stick out – the capital lettering was after all 3ft tall and the wagons, when photographed, may have been new in traffic or fresh from a repaint The Cannop transfer includes options for three slightly different liveries, with separate running numbers, or the basis for any other numerical permutations, using the other digits supplied.

Photographic evidence (from Private Owner Wagons of the Forest of Dean) indicates the following options for the Cannop wagon:

1. By omitting the numbers 495 and 27, the spare tare numbers 7 and 0, and the ‘Empty to…’ script beneath the NN, the lettering for Wagon 101 from July 1912 can readily be achieved, in a single stage application. Either side brake configuration.
2. For Wagon 27, the number is located on the right-hand side and the ‘Empty to’ script moves to the left-hand side. The tare is 6-7-0. Wagon from the initial batch supplied in 1910 – single sided brake, with wooden door stop on the non-braked side.
3. For wagon 495, the number reverts to the left-hand location and the ‘Empty to’ script from under the NN is located to the right-hand side. Wagon supplied in 1923, with brakes on each side.

The process to create a No 54, (similar in style to the No. 27, but supplied in 1911, still with a single side brake and wooden door stop on the non-braked side) using the Powside transfer featured in Photo 2, is outlined below. The three together in Photo 3. These wagons have also been weathered to suggest different periods in traffic.

By following the steps in the Powsides instructions, perfectly satisfactory application results can be obtained. However, to support the side during the application process, a simple jig was conceived to securely hold the wagon body side and to enable the transfer film to be securely taped over it.

The raw materials comprise a piece of scrap MDF board for the base and a couple of large sticks (or more properly the sort a GP might use to flatten your tongue when examining your tonsils), to provide a fixed transverse axis and one fixed end, the other end (to suit your own right or left handedness) is moveable to allow for wagon sides of differing lengths. Both the fixed and moveable end are pinned to the MDF base by some 1mm brass rod. By good fortune, the sticks have the same thickness as the wagon side.

The sticks are painted white to enable centre lines to be marked in pencil on the transverse axis (there is usually a convenient rivet in the middle of the base of the side door) and for significant planks to be marked on the vertical axis – both act as an aid to aligning the transfer accurately ahead of taping down. (Photo 6) Additionally a piece of masking tape affixed to the board base above the wagon top enables the centre line to be marked at the top of the jig.

The signwriting on the wagons would often use the bottom or top edges of the planking as a positioning guide, so with the wagon side in the jig, some additional lines can be marked on the edges of the jig to indicate these key plank positions.

The kit as built will present a model with an ex-works finish. This might suit for display purposes, however if intended for running on a layout, then a weathered appearance would probably be more appropriate. The degree of external weathering to be represented would vary from wagon to wagon, depending on period in use and frequency of repainting and repair. One of the older wagons modelled was built in 1893, so would be over 40 years old by the 1930s – some element of modellers’ licence here possibly! If a routine repaint every four years was undertaken, then potentially there might be five levels of weathering to replicate. Hence the RTR weathering dilemma – where there is not usually a choice. Not having attempted weathering beyond adding a suggestion of rust and general grime to vehicle underframes in the past, the prospect of adding age and usage to a rake of wagons was quite daunting. So before committing extra paint to the models, some faux wagon sides were fabricated from scrap plastic sheet. These were scribed to represent planking, then primed and top coated in typical wagon colours, as a basis for some trial runs. Spare numbers were applied to assess the weathering effects over livery detail,(photo 10). Some planking was also picked out with an ‘H’ pencil.

The weathering techniques used were kept simple: acrylic colour washes and dry brushing. The washes used two brushes, the first for the main application and the second for brushing away the excess. The second brush followed the planking and was wiped of excessive paint between strokes, using kitchen paper. The ratios of pigment (using Vallejo and Humbrol acrylics) to water were 1:6 for a light application and 1:4 for a medium application. Better probably to start light and build up the colour with additional coats, than potentially overdo it with the first application. It is also worth noting the ratios of mixes used for future reference, as some may be better suited to the base wagon colour than others.

Some trial examples are shown below (using a 1:4 ratio): Photo 11 shows the darkening effect of a plain wash of Humbrol Dark Grey (32). This was chosen as an intermediate shade between the black and lead grey base of the wagon sides. Some contrast between photos 10 and 11 will be apparent.

A denser and dirtier wash was created for sides 315 and 101, using dark grey (Humbrol 32), black (Vallejo 950), and burnt umber (Vallejo 941) - photo 12. Once the wash was dry, a dry bush application of the same concoction was run horizontally from left to right and then right to left on alternate planks. (photo 13) The results of this little diversion give an indication of the expected results when the weathering coats are applied to the wagon bodies.

This was a purchase from the Executor and Trustee stall at Guildex, a while ago now. The wagon was recognisable as originally built from a pre-lettered Slater’s Plastikard kit. It was acquired for little more than the cost of a pair of new axles and wheels.

Admittedly it was not in the best of condition, Photo 14 illustrates the wagon as bought – missing an axle box, and a brake lever. The underframe was painted (black, rather than the body colour), but not the strapping on the wagon ends. The wagon lacked a running number.

Closer examination indicated the tipping end door had been attached to the fixed end sides and the brake ratchets fixed back to front. The assemblage appeared to have been sealed with something resembling yacht varnish. A strip down, clean up, reassembly, selective repaint and some weathering would be required before a return to traffic.

The strip down involved the careful removal of the two sides from the ends and floor, using a no. 11 Swann Morton blade, and easing out the wheels and axles from the W-irons. The bonding surfaces on the sides, ends and floor were cleaned up with a fine needle file and glued back in place with butanone. The axles, buffer heads and steel wheel rims were de-rusted using wet and dry abrasive paper, and thoroughly dried.

The missing parts were sourced from the spares box, being those extra or unused components from previous kit builds. The brake ratchets were secure, so left as found. Reassembly was straight forward. The superstructure was carefully cleaned, initially with a cotton bud and warm water, then once dry, with a cotton bud and a little methylated spirit.

The numbers came from the transfer sheet supplied from another Slater’s Norchard wagon kit. A running number from an earlier batch was chosen, in part to suggest a longer period in traffic and perhaps to explain its current appearance. The sides were then given a light coat of clear matt varnish.

Painting commenced with returning the sole bar to body colour, then re-blacking the strap-work on the sides, particularly around the rivet detail and the underframe, with sole bar iron work then picked out in black. The wheel rims were etch-primed and then painted black. A suggestion of rust was applied to brake blocks and levers, wheel rims, couplings, and buffers etc. A wash of a track dirt concoction was added to the running gear and a of wash of dark grey applied to the bodywork and the underframe. (Photo 15).

For the wagon empties, not all body parts are provided with interior detail. There are a couple of potential solutions if this level of detail is important to you. There are proprietary wooden or etched inserts for sides, ends and floor (Poppy’s Woodtech and David J Parkins respectively, come to mind). Alternatively, and prior to kit assembly, a representation of the planking can be scribed on. Odd leg callipers are ideal for the job. The oak planking on the inside, being unpainted, would weather naturally to a silvery grey and become progressively stained by the loads carried. This may be reflected by sympathetic painting – perhaps a base of Desert Yellow (Humbrol 93) or US Tan (Humbrol 118) to represent the oak (if the wooden inserts are not used), then washes of a light grey (Humbrol 64) brushed horizontally to follow the planking, to suggest weathering of the oak. Finally, washes of dark grey (Humbrol 32) to represent the soiling from loads carried.

Some of the former railway track beds in the Forest are now repurposed as shared footpaths and cycleways passing the sites of some of the former collieries, now landscaped or reclaimed by nature. It is still possible to find odd pieces of coal, particularly around the old tips – Lightmoor being a good one, so the loads in the wagons really are ‘Coal from the Forest.’