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Windcutter Wagons

Discussion in 'Heritage Rolling Stock' started by Flying Phil, Dec 11, 2018.

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  1. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    Thanks pmh-74 for that research. On another forum somebody posted this

    "A guy I work with now used to look after a maintenance depot up in Cumbria and also a fair chunk of the West Coast Main Line.

    He was telling me they had a dedicated fleet of wagons to shift something corrosive - can't remember. Someone in the commercial department decided (even after being warned by my pal) that they could make more money with extra wagons. Any old wagons.

    Come the rainy day and with open trucks, the train took out nearly 100 miles of track circuits rendering the signalling useless, before someone realised what was happening."

    I would think that could have referred to our wagon as being part of the "Dedicated fleet" in the 70/80's.
     
    Flying Phil, Oct 23, 2020
    #121
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  2. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    I was able to cut a bit more rusty steel plate from the fixed end of our wagon prior to the next "lockdown". Those three black holes in the "uncut" section are where the steel is so thin it rusted through completely.... DSC00342.JPG
     
    Flying Phil, Nov 3, 2020
    #122
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  3. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    That third panel has now been cut out and attention has turned to the end door, where the bottom 6" of plate has totally rusted away and the 30" above it is patched and in a poor state....
     
    Flying Phil, Nov 11, 2020
    #123
  4. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    The chassis has been repaired around the headstock...and you can see how bad the corrosion has been around the bottom inside of the end door! DSC00351.JPG
     
    Flying Phil, Dec 2, 2020
    #124
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  5. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    Another poor area was underneath the side door where the hinge bracket had rusted through where it attached to the support bracket, so both are being replaced. DSC00362.JPG DSC00366.JPG
    Also, in the last picture, is the repaired top flap door. This had been taken off the wagon by cutting and drilling the rivets, straightened and weld repaired, then returned to the wagon. In a previous post (#122) the badly bent door can be seen.
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2020
    Flying Phil, Dec 21, 2020
    #125
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  6. class8mikado

    class8mikado Part of the furniture

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    Looking from a modelling perspective, the natural colour of the inside of a steel mineral wagon should be... rust, then. Are they usually painted on the inside at all ?
     
    class8mikado, Dec 21, 2020
    #126
  7. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    Hi Mikado
    Yes a mineral wagon inside would normally be rusty steel. We now put a coat of bitumastic on the insides and we have tried an oil spray, but, after a few years, it goes rusty again. Obviously, when loaded in BR days, the coal/stone/scrap etc would very quickly remove any sort of protective coating. Keeping them outside in all weathers doesn't help. As many of our wagons were re-bodied in the 70's I think BR expected a 25 year "life".....Ours have been on the GCR for 26 years and were old when we got them!
     
    Flying Phil, Dec 21, 2020
    #127
  8. class8mikado

    class8mikado Part of the furniture

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    One imagines that coal might leave an oily residue which might ' help' whereas ballast/ stone would leave a muddy residue which would not...
     
    class8mikado, Dec 21, 2020
    #128
  9. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    Coal might leave an oily residue but being dropped in and slid out abrades the surface, and I suspect there is an acidic residue with sulphurous coal when it gets wet...as for those carrying Soda Ash! Unloading with toothed grab buckets etc didn't help either.
     
    Flying Phil, Dec 21, 2020
    #129
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  10. pmh_74

    pmh_74 Well-Known Member

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    I believe coal + rain leads to an acidic residue which gets into places it shouldn't and causes (or accelerates) corrosion. One of the reasons that the dragboxes at the 'door end' is typically much worse than at the 'fixed end' apparently. Except that on the rebodied wagons they often (though not always) reversed the body compared with the original, so that these often have equally bad dragboxes at both ends. Or so I am told!
     
    pmh_74, Dec 22, 2020
    #130
  11. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    The first floor section was put into the wagon on Tuesday, but it needs fitting before welding. We are also taking off most of the sheet steel on the end door. DSC00371.JPG
     
    Flying Phil, Dec 24, 2020
    #131
  12. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    Just before the latest lockdown, we were able to get more of the steel plate removed from the end door using a plasma cutter. DSC00374 Plasma cutting.JPG
     
    Flying Phil, Jan 13, 2021
    #132
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  13. class8mikado

    class8mikado Part of the furniture

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    HEY NOW, HEY NOW-NOW NOW.... singe this corrosion for me ...
    guessing not many Sisters of Mercy fans on here then
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2021
    class8mikado, Jan 13, 2021
    #133
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  14. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    I was able to see the current state of our wagon and the floor was nearly ready for welding when the latest lockdown started.
    DSC00509.JPG
     
    Flying Phil, Mar 26, 2021
    #134
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  15. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    We are now back at work and already one of the floor plates has been welded in place.
    DSC00568.JPG

    We have also started to go right back to largely bare metal for when we re-paint our wagon.....
    DSC00567.JPG
     
    Flying Phil, Apr 20, 2021
    #135
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  16. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    A good workday yesterday saw more paint rubbing down and a start on side door refurbishing.
    DSC00575.JPG

    Here the old skin is being "removed" from the frame.
     
    Flying Phil, Apr 22, 2021
    #136
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  17. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Did it involve a lot of brute force and swearing? :)
     
    Matt37401, Apr 22, 2021
    #137
  18. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    Hi Matt37401......Yes!!

    All three floor plates are now welded into the wagon and a start made on a lower side sheet, which is now tacked in place. The other side door has been deskinned and more paint has been rubbed down.
    DSC00577.JPG
     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2021
    Flying Phil, Apr 28, 2021
    #138
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  19. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    Further progress has seen more steel sheet welded and tacked into place. The fixed end is looking solid again!
    DSC00612 (2).JPG
     
    Flying Phil, May 13, 2021
    #139
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  20. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    Another useful couple of days work has seen the end plates fully welded and two of the side plates partially welded. The door has had a new skin and side frame welded and we tried it in place.... DSC00625.JPG
     
    Flying Phil, May 20, 2021
    #140
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