Bawnboy Road

[Colin R]

I have been talking to Nev about this and he is also willing to produce one off kits for people if they have the etches ready to go, I don't know just how far he has got but he was looking to produce a new Cavan and Leitrim 4 wheel van body in resin, the trouble is the last time I looked at this I think there was a possible 70 odd variations on a theme which would make every C&L van unique if you were to model them.

Just to give you guys a taste here are just some of the basic's

Two types of body Low roof or High roof

Three basic doors : paneled, half paneled and no panels.

Vents of 6, 3, 1 or no vents at all on the sides left and right hand sides of each door could also be different 

Vents 6, 3, 1 or none on the ends but each end could be different    

Finally there where at least three different wheel bases due to rebuilding over time

One other major item to recall was that the cattle vans, they had half opening doors that the bottom half would form the ramp into the van so again this was different to either the normal low or high vans, but it was also possible that either the high or low roof vans could have also been rebuilt for cattle traffic at some point as well.

So you can see why it would be difficult to produce just one C&L van kit with the amount of knowledge that is known about these vans.

I would suggest that by the later life of the railway I doubt if two vans were turned out the same from the works after a rebuild.  

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Colin R

[Mayner]

1 hour ago, Colin R said:

I have been talking to Nev about this and he is also willing to produce one off kits for people if they have the etches ready to go, I don't know just how far he has got but he was looking to produce a new Cavan and Leitrim 4 wheel van body in resin, the trouble is the last time I looked at this I think there was a possible 70 odd variations on a theme which would make every C&L van unique if you were to model them.

Just to give you guys a taste here are just some of the basic's

Two types of body Low roof or High roof

Three basic doors : paneled, half paneled and no panels.

Vents of 6, 3, 1 or no vents at all on the sides left and right hand sides of each door could also be different 

Vents 6, 3, 1 or none on the ends but each end could be different    

Finally there where at least three different wheel bases due to rebuilding over time

One other major item to recall was that the cattle vans, they had half opening doors that the bottom half would form the ramp into the van so again this was different to either the normal low or high vans, but it was also possible that either the high or low roof vans could have also been rebuilt for cattle traffic at some point as well.

So you can see why it would be difficult to produce just one C&L van kit with the amount of knowledge that is known about these vans.

I would suggest that by the later life of the railway I doubt if two vans were turned out the same from the works after a rebuild.  

 

The IRRS Flickr site is a great resource for modelling the C&L, seemingly every enthusiast/photographer visited the line and recorded every loco and item of rolling stock in great detail.

3D printing is probably the best option for producing wagons and possibly coaches, white metal or resin casting from metal or plasticard patterns is not really a viable option in this day and age. Etched metal or scratchbuilding is likely to remain the only viable option for producing locos, putting a C&L 4-4-0T, Passage 2-4-2T or Kerry 2-6-0T/2-6-2T on a TT gauge chassis is unlikely to work.

The main drawback with the Backwoods kits is that the models are based on 30 year old technology, and chassis/gearboxes would require upgrading to allow the locos to operate reliably and Pete incorporated a number of significant errors/oddities in his C&L kits.

While the C&L 4-4-0T builds into a nice model capable of running reliably, the large square coaling flap in the rear of the cab is completely incorrect, as the locos had a pair of relatively tall rectangular doors. Similarily the 4w Passenger Van is a hybrid that incorporates a mixture of original and simplified panelling and can be assembled with the original Birdcage look out, the Convertible Wagon is based on a wagon that had original doors with the original outside framing on one side and a half-door arrangement on the opposite side with one leaf with the original outside framing and the other replaced with vertical planking,  I ended up buying 4 C&L vans to build 2 with doors in original condition and replaced the half/paneled doors on the remaining two with vertical planked plasticard.

Quality and durability with 3D printed models is pretty much a case of selecting a printer (printing bureau or a physical printer) capable of printing small scale models in suitable materials to fine tolerances, something home desktop and some commercial printers will struggle to achieve.