CRA09 – Furness Railway No 9 oil axlebox + 5 leaf spring + buffer guides 4mm scale

Description

History

These FR N^o 9 oil axleboxes were fitted to later Furness Railway wagons, underneath 5 leaf springs.

The first drawing featuring a N^o 9 axlebox is dated late 1906, and they were used on new build 110 and 12 ton wagons from 1907 until the end of the FR in 1923.

They were also fitted to some older wagons during rebuilds in Barrow works, usually with the fitting of 5 leaf springs and more modern brakes at the same time.

The only surviving FR wagon, one of the Diagram 43 bogie rail wagons of 1918, carries No 9 axleboxes to this day.

Using the wagon diagram book numbers prepared by the FR for the incoming LMS in 1923, wagons built with FR N^o 9 axleboxes and 5 leaf springs include:

• Open wagons of Diagrams 1, 2, 3, 4 and most of Diagram 5 (some Diagram 5 were built earlier with grease axleboxes)
• Ore hoppers of Diagrams 27, 28, 29, 30
• Plate/Rail wagons of Diagram 40 and 43
• Loco coal wagons of Diagram 51
• Goods brake vans of Diagram 54 and some of Diagram 55

Copies of these Diagrams are available for download from the CRA website.

You are advised to check a prototype photo if you wish to ensure you use the correct combination of axleboxes, springs, brakes and number.

NB: the book about FR rolling stock by RW Rush uses a different diagram numbering system based on drawings produced over a decade after Grouping in the 1930s.

Using these parts

These 3D prints have been produced for the CRA by Rumney Models using high quality resin. They have been removed from their support structure but may benefit from further filing.

The axleboxes are designed for model wagons fitted with etched W irons including those with sprung bearings, as they have a slot to allow the bearing to move. They can also be fitted to W irons giving a rigid or compensated chassis.

It is recommended to glue the combined axlebox and spring to the underside of the solebar and to the outside face of the W iron, using a sparing amount of epoxy resin (such as Araldite) or a thicker cyanoacrylate “superglue”.

If your prototype requires a different combination of spring and axlebox, these parts can be separated by careful cutting using a very fine piercing saw blade.

Painting

On leaving the workshop after overhaul, FR axleboxes and springs were painted black, but they were never cleaned in service, so would have become dirty with spilled grease, oil and rust, dust from the wagon’s loads and smuts from the locomotives.