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Midland D336 and another wagon

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First the Other Wagon: this is in fact a Railway Clearing House 1923 coal wagon, and the main reasons for making this particular kit are firstly that it’s inexpensive, and also that these wagons can be colourful, and can be made in a design that is compatible with my favourite locomotive – an industrial Garratt 0-4-0+0-4-0, not that it is very likely that I will ever be able to make one in Gauge 3 [but see my previous entries about the one which I made in ScaleSeven (1:43.5 scale)].

The difficulty was that no-one makes suitable transfers for the Baddesley Colliery.  However in due course and with a lot of help from friends new and old I have been able to have suitable transfers made (!) – see http://www.westernthunder.co.uk/index.php?threads/baddesley-transfers.8434/

Here is the wagon as my model stands: it isn’t finished quite yet, but the colourful design on the black background is seen to advantage, I think.

 

 

My other wagon-building project at present is the D336 flat wagon.  This has progressed also.

I have had a little trouble with this, because I couldn’t see what the loops attached to the W-irons (the metal supports for the axle boxes) were for, and so {thinking they were for use on a different model sharing the same undergear} I cut them off !
This was partly because the pictures I have of D336 real wagons don’t show anything like the loops on the W-irons.

 

 

It turned out to be a mistake, as the whitemetal moulded representation of leaf springs were supposed to fit into the holes.  However this didn’t matter – the leaf springs could be glued onto the sole bars perfectly satisfactorily.

This shows the underneath of the wagon, with the W-irons, the leaf-springs, axle boxes and wheels in place,

 

Corona Virus

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I’m not sure that I have an new insights, but perhaps a little personal perspective.  Theoretically We will be on the front line – three doctors and a final year medical student (who may well be drafted in to help).  Of these, most at risk will be Nicholas and Andrew, but also those least likely to have a severe manifestation of COVID-19.

I hope this is not a doomed prophecy, but none of us are likely to be severely affected or die.  It is possible, but my reading of the literature and newspapers so far suggests that we would be extremely unlucky to die of this virus.  Most who die are over 80 years old, over 70 with other significant diseases, or over 60 and immunosuppressed or with cancers.

In my opinion, though, this may be the first of many pandemics: the virus is, I believe, and product of viral evolution, in the same way as antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a product of natural selection. The coronavirus has evolved to defeat modern medical practices.  For many years it has been known that the influenza virus mutates/evolves to produce new strains each year with different antigens exposed, which evade the immune response mounted by humans.  We are always a year behind in our vaccinations.  Now we have a series of viruses which behave a little like ‘flu: first came virus-based deadly diseases such as SARS and MERS – respiratory infections with systemic manifestations.  They were deadly right from the start, and people catching them became seriously ill.  We have defeated their threats with various public health measures and medical innovations.  So the viruses evolve:  the coronavirus has become a “sleeper” virus, with most cases going un-noticed (especially in children), but with some people severely affected, and some dying.  Much more difficult for modern society to deal with and eliminate the risk.

Australia is not doing well.  Between panic buying of toilet rolls (and COVID-19 doesn’t even produce diarrhoea), a government too slow to act, and one which spent much time deriding the financial measures used by the Labor Government in the GFC, but which are now universally agreed to be necessary, we are in a bad place.  Between the drought, bush fires, Corona virus, and electing a Coalition government, we are in a bad way

Talking about toilet roll panic buying, a commentator on the radio that working from the average number of toilet rolls bought, a family of four isolated for a fortnight, using an average of eight sheets per visit, would have to go to do a poo 184 times per day, collectively, to use up their panic-bought supply.  

Gauge 3 – good news and bad news

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The bad news is to do with my steam-powered locomotive. I took it to my friend’s house to have its boiler “hydraulic test”, which it failed spectacularly.  A hydraulic test is when you fill the boiler up with water, put it under pressure, and see if it leaks.  I had high hopes of this, after all it had run on compressed air.  My friend Warwick Allison clearly had high hopes also, but when we tried it, water leaked out all over the place – from the regulator fitting, from the front boiler plate, from the top of the backplate, possibly elsewhere.  “I think it’s a ‘boiler off’ job”, said Warwick’s son-in-law (Andrew, who is a boiler inspector).  When air leaks out, you cannot see it.  When water comes out, it is very obvious!

Clearly a fairly major setback, but I always knew this could be a major undertaking.

The good news is progress on a fourth G3 wagon.  This is a long flat truck, and model of the Midland Railway D336 single-plank wagon, the kit coming from Peter Korzilius.

As you can see, the basic construction is out of wood – “mahogany stripwood” (a little  ideologically unsound?) with a plywood floor.

 

Reproduction of the metal framework is in styrene, with little brass rivets to represent, well, rivets.

This is also a very satisfying wagon to make, and I like working in wood.

 

The other good news is that the man in Victoria who has offered to make the transfers for my coal wagon has finished them.  They were a bit difficult because of white lettering with green shading and a red cross design on a white shield, but the colourful nature of the wagon is its main attraction, so we will see if I can apply the transfers adequately once they have been posted to me.

Offsets for air travel

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I have been feeling guilty for some time about my “carbon footprint”.  I cycle to work when I can, and far more often than Sue would like).  I catch the train when I can, I drive a Diesel powered small car, eat largely vegetarian, etc.  However my travel to conferences and to visit friends abroad is not (by carbon emission standards) a good thing.

So I have been looking into what I could do to “compensate” for this.  Buying “offsets” is not straightforward, as this website shows.   https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/energy/short-guide-carbon-offsets

In fact the direct purchase of offsets is arguably a poor way to compensate for carbon emissions and it is better to send the funds to an environmental organisation such as The Red Cross, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, etc.    
 
This also appears to be a good source of information:  https://www.goldstandard.org
 
From <travelnav.com>, CO2 emissions are 3.6-9.7 tonnes (upper figure is with radiative forcing.  Whatever that is.  Return journey.  Probably economy.  
From <traveller.com.au>, though, the return figure is 16.8 tonnes!
The Choice* figure is 10.7 tonnes return, 20.1 Business class (why different?).
The <clevel.co.uk> return flight figures are 5.5, 16.1 tonnes (economy and business respectively)
So on average: 7.6 tonnes flying economy or 18.1 business.  
* Choice is an Australian consumer organisation.
 
Buying offsets is not straightforward either.  According to <choice.com.au>, depending on the type of project, offsetting a tonne of carbon can cost less than $10, while other projects can cost more than $50. 
This may be a good place to start: https://www.tasmanenvironmental.com.au
 
One way or another, buying offsets as such is open to fraud, uncertainties and changing circumstances in future years ruining the investment (eg planting trees which later are cut down or are burnt).   The Choice site recommends donating to a charity known for environmentally good projects (eg the Red Cross and their cooking stove replacement project inAfrica) or to environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth, or Greenpeace [largely on the grounds that these organisations are most likely to effect political change for the benefit of the environment].  
 
The easiest way, though possibly less effective than more specifically targeted donations, is to give to “Gold Standard” <http:\\www.goldstandard.org>, which is a subdivision of the World Wildlife Fund.
 
Qantas seems to have the best airline-run offset scheme, but it isn’t well-supported.
(<https://www.choice.com.au/travel/on-holidays/airlines/articles/should-you-buy-carbon-offsets-for-flights#Why don’t people buy them?>)
 
Comparing CO2 emissions from different flight routes
Return flight and seat class Emissions per seat (CO2 equivalent)
Figures from ATMOSFAIR http://atmosfair.de/en/
 
Sydney to Brisbane, Economy 381kg
Perth to Melbourne, Economy 1346kg
Sydney to London via Abu Dhabi, Economy 10,700kg
Sydney to London via Abu Dhabi, Business 20,062kg
Driving a mid-range car for 12,000km 2000kg
 
From the Choice reference above:
You can calculate the amount of emissions attributable to your seat on a flight (in kg of CO2 equivalent) at Atmosfair, which will also sell you offsets. Compared to Qantas, Atmosfair attributes a much higher offset cost to a Sydney to London flight via Abu Dhabi of $177.67, indicating the discrepancy between calculations and offset programs.
It is also clear that travelling Business Class is 2-3 times as carbon-unfriendly as travelling economy, although I don’t know why.  Yes, you have a larger luggage allowance and can eat off crockery rather than paper plates, but that doesn’t seen enough to account for the difference.  If weight were the difference, surely the offset amount should also depend on just how much you weigh!
 
It is never straightforward or easy.  Personally I am thinking of donating 10 tonnes x $30 if I fly economy or 20 tonnes x $30 if I fly business to the environmental charity of my choice at the time.

Gauge 3 Woodbury Midland Railway D302 wagon finished

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It’s finished!

Finally my model of a Midland Railway D302 5-plank open wagon is complete

Painted to look realistically dirty.

 

I’m pleased with the weathered look.  I have painted it to look like a wagon in the early LMS days (London Midland and Scottish Railway), with the old Midland lettering visible through the paint as it “wears away”.  So the LMS letters look just a little dirty, the M and the R are only just visible.

 

 

Back to the Gauge 3 Woodbury wagon

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Back to the Gauge 3 Woodbury wagon, a model of the Midland Railway diagram D302 5-plank “open wagon”.

I have now put the (initial) topcoat on – a representation of Midland Railway wagon grey, with black underframe gear.  Although it is gong to be a later era wagon (London Midland and Scottish Railway years), I am putting some Midland Railway lettering on it.  My intention is then to paint over it, “weather” it, and finish it in LMS colours and script.

So here it is with MR insignia, some weathering, and with the inside painted to resemble wood.  This being Gauge 3, the transfers (“decals”)a re difficult to apply over the lumpy details on the sides without either of both of cracks in the transfers and “tenting” of the transfers over the raised detail molding.

It might be better if I could paint the lettering on, but I am simply not capable of that!  On the second view it is possible to see where I am preparing to paint a replaced plank – in unpainted wood finish.

 

More of “Another Wagon”

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-This other wagon is a model of a Railway Clearing House (“RCH”) design from 1923, the model produced as I’ve previously said, by Mike Williams.

 

I have now put most of the underframe together, as this shows: the brake gear is on, and the springs, etc.

 

 

The details go together quite well, and although I have had a little more trouble than with more expensive kits, by the time this is done I think it will look fine, and it is only about 60% of the price!

For instance the brake gear,  instead of being made of individual components (as in more elaborate (and expensive) kits, is a single resin moulding.  The brakes on this moulding did not line up properly with the wheels so I had to saw the moulding in two, then fit it to the underframe.  It will look fine once painted, so this really isn’t a major problem.

 

I’ve now had a chance to put on the “primer”, and as this is black, it will do well as the final colour also, I’m hoping ….

This actually shows one of the ways in which this kit has been “a little more trouble”: given that there is no floor, there was nowhere to fix the brake safety straps to, so I had to add the strips of balsa wood which you can see.  Not a major problem either, of course.