Over the last 15 years or so, there has been an ever increasing trend to throw things away, rather than see if they can be repaired and brought back into use. As a person nearing retirement, this is an unacceptable trend for me, for, when I was much younger, money was in short supply, and we learned to repair things where we could, so as to prolong their lives. After all, modern technology and repair materials were unavailable in those days, but we did our best....!
Nowadays, when a wagon has lost a buffer or more, it is usually ‘consigned to the waste bin’ as both unsightly and no longer of any use.
NOT SO.... if some thought and patience, coupled with modern supplies and adhesives available, can be employed.
The concept of ‘Unique Wagons’ was created in early 2012, after a number of ‘broken wagons’ were retrieved from a waste bin. After some thought, and purchasing a variety of ‘bits and bobs’, these wagons were repaired (using replacement buffers made by Dart Castings) and taken to my model railway club ‘workday’, so as to show colleagues ‘during a workshop session’ how they could also ‘retrieve’ otherwise unacceptable and rejected items. This then lead to requests to show colleagues how items could be changed.... either by simple re-
My own layout (‘Brewston’ a 00 gauge joint GWR/SR) needed some extra wagons, so I started to experiment, as one does, and created some extra GWR, LSWR, LBSCR and SECR wagons and vans to provide some extra interest. Quite a few of these were subsequently run on the club layout at several shows, and the mixed ‘horsebox’ train plus the ‘signal department work train’ certainly caused a lot of interest from the public and other exhibitors, as these were a ‘first’ on the model railway show ‘circuit’.......!
I often hear folk say that ‘model railways should be fun and enjoyable’. I could not agree more with that comment. In 00 gauge, it is good to see ‘prototypical’ models, as now being manufactured, but the unusual ‘representative’ type ones (albeit lacking the correct number of rivets, etc.) still have a place on any modeller’s layout.....!
I hope that you find this website interesting and can appreciate what can be achieved in ‘rescuing’ some models that would otherwise be ‘consigned’ to the ‘waste bin’.....!