CRA27 – Furness Railway wagon buffer guides 4mm scale

Description

History

These FR buffer guides were fitted to most Furness Railway wagons. They are first seen on wagons built from about 1870 and were used until the end of the FR in 1923.

Using the wagon diagram book numbers prepared by the FR for the incoming LMS in 1923, the following were NOT built with these standard buffers:

• old wagons generally from the 1850s and 1860s which had been built with wooden dumb buffers, or with sprung buffers mounted in wooden housings. Some of these were rebuilt with metal sprung buffers but these had the buffing spring within the buffer guide (“self contained buffers”) which meant the guide was of a larger diameter
• bogie rail wagons to Diagram 42 also had self-contained buffers as there was no room for buffing springs under the body due to the bogies
• FR goods brake van, to Diagrams 56, which had larger conical buffer guides, it is thought to provide a smoother ride for the guard.

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 buffer guides.

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 buffer guides are designed for both sprung and fixed buffers.

It is recommended to glue the buffer guide into the headstock using a sparing amount of epoxy resin (such as Araldite) or a thicker cyanoacrylate “superglue”.

They can be sprung using various systems available for 4mm models including those from Rumney Models and Alan Gibson Workshop.  These should be fitted following the relevant instructions. The hole through the buffer housing might need easing out slightly using a drill in a pin vice turned gently by hand. Note that the guide has a hole of uniform diameter all the way through, so if using a product that has the spring inside the buffer housing, bushes such as those sold by Gibson will be required.

Painting

On leaving the workshop after overhaul, FR axleboxes and springs were painted “lead grey” (a mid grey) along with the rest of the wagon body, headstocks and solebars, but they were never cleaned in service, so would have become dirty with use.