This week I’ve been modifying some of the Oxford Rail seven plank wagons. Whilst not perfect they are a good starting point for me to do British Rail era wagons towards the end of their lives.
As a quick list they’ll get new wheels, new buffers and detail variations around the doors and ends. The patch repair at the bottom of the corner plates are being removed on all examples, and rivets replaced or added to strapping with Archers decals. I’m going to do maybe four or five of them, and they’ll be a quick addition to the fleet, and relatively cheap too. Once complete with new wheelsets, buffers transfers and couplings these are probably going to be in the order of £15 outlay, so still a bit cheaper than a new Bachmann PO currently listing at around the same price.
After these I’m grafting Cambrian Models steel underframe chassis’ to some older Bachmann oil tanks, the early results of those look very promising too.
More soon :0)
Albion Yard 
Some promising material there, Paul. Those wagons appear to be a good bit of raw material. (Dons helmet and body armour…)
They are Max, it didn’t take long to work out they were good, having been speaking with Adrian he’s given me a good few pointers on them. A mag article ‘commissioned’ too :0)
I think I feel a few NCB internal users coming on on the strength of that. 🙂
By looking hard enough I’ve seen em at £7.50 a pop, last few this week I picked up at £8.00 each, I felt like a Dickensian pick pocket gor blimey me old china …
Hi All it’s that Adrian again !! Personally the extra expense on the Bachmann Blue Riband 7 and 8 plank minerals is always worth it. Not least because they offer accurate 8 planks and non end door versions of both which Oxford do not. Sadly the latest Bachmann end door versions have been downgraded for some reason with the wrong buffers at the door end, These may be replacement tools for worn out moulds and incorrectly tooled, who knows what goes on in the minds of RTR manufacturers.
…. Ebay prices for Bachmann wagons can be amazingly high and few are really cheap but still worth looking out for, if you want something that bit better, but beware the steel chassis versions, ex Mainline which are still around in large numbers.
… Internal detail is the real problem on all these RTR PO wagons as the interior has a mass of steel washer plates and body knees. There are up to 30 pieces of ironmongery, far more even than outside Oxford’s version with internal user repaired corner plates..If you want detailed empty wagons then kits are easier than trying to alter the RTR version especially in BR livery.
…..The latest GWR and SR versions by Oxford are simply fiction like many other liveries that are equally unauthentic. All LMS wagons had steel end stanchions and so did a large number of LNER ones. The LMS LOCO coal wagons had Morton 2 shoe brakegear and not 4 shoe Freighter as modelled, this is tricky to alter as it is very different,