12T Vans

No, not on a rustic part of Redhill, but posed on the Shake-the-Box layout,
construction of which was serialised in Hornby Magazine.

Although a poor second to the 16T mineral wagon in quantity, the 12T van infested the rail network throughout the 1970s.

Bachmann include a variety of 12T BR standard vans in their range and will provide the basis for most of the ones on the layout.

Modifications include:

• Instanter couplings in place of tension locks - Click here for a fitting guide (albeit on a 16T mineral)
• Additional weight
• Renumbering/lettering
• Weathering

Couplings:
Given that only the cement trains will be shunted, all the other stock will receive suitable prototype couplings. In the case of the 12T vans these will be Smith’s Instanters.

Weight:
Increasing the weight of your rolling stock gives better track holding so I have adopted a standard of around 50g per wagon. They are weighted using weights from Bachmann 16T mineral wagosn that have been weighted with lead. The extra weights have been glued to the van floor.

Renumbering: ...but as I've only finished a couple they have retained their original numbers.

Weathering: The chassis have been coated in a brown gunk coloured paint.

The bodies have recieved various thin coats, washes and splodges of orange, rust, grey and black - in some cases these were scrubbed off straight after application to just leave some remnants in corners and along edges.

Loads: That’s the nice thing about vans - they don't need any.