Cambrian Railway 2 Planks Dropside wagon

Cambrian Railway 2 Planks Dropside wagon - OO unpainted plastic kit

Require glue, paint, transfers, couplings, wheels (Gibson 12mm & brass bearings) to complete.

Includes optional spacers for the buffer bodies, which fit on the headstock behind the back of the buffer body. It is not known how many wagons had these, or when they were fitted (see left-hand picture below). Possibly these were to reduce the slack in the couplings (by the buffer length being increased), to reduce damage when carrying slates.

The 2 plank wagon was a common sight in Cambrian Railways trains, and there were several hundred of these in service. They were used for a variety of purposes, such as timber, barrels and slate, the dropsides would have made loading/unloading the latter much easier (and reducing the chance of breakages).

Wagons carrying slates may well have travelled widely off the Cambrian Railways system. Loading points for slates included Minffordd on the Festiniog Railway, & the Talyllyn Railway at Tywyn Sheets (tarpaulins) were often used over goods that needed protection from rain (It's mid-Wales, remember). There were lashing points on the solebars, and on the ends between the buffers & the stanchions. In the GWR period, the wagons were used for Permanent Way materials, and some had their doors fixed shut by corner plates. Similar wagons were used by contractors whilst building railways.

Alan Gibson Wheels compatible : 12mm "Open" spoked