Steel Pot Wagon

The updates from my railway modelling are currently few. With work in Norway and the 1:1 scale narrow gauge railway in demand of work, I haven't much time. Last week a new model arrived, though. A steel pot wagon used for the transport of fluid steel in steel works. It's a H0 wagon destined for my small 1/87 scale diorama that I am currently working on (not working, actually!). In my main scale of 1/19 I'm ready to install the Loco Remote unit in the Baguley-Drewry.

The wagon is a 1/87 scale version of a heavy frame special wagon for carrying a vessel, pot or ladle for the transport of molten metal. Wagons of this type were usually employed in steel works that had several production sites and needed to move fluid metal from a central smelter. In service the pot would be filled, carried by rail and at the destination an overhead gantry crane would lift the pot to it's final destination. 

The model is the Trix 23598 labelled as 'Roheisenwagen Mannesmann' made with a heavy cast metal frame, metal bogies and an injected plastic pot. It's quite a simple model without many details - pretty much how the prototype looked. I haven't checked the model against drawings to find out if it's true to scale as this is meant to be a model to help place my little diorama in a steel producing location in southeastern Ukraine, not a wagon meant to shine in itself.

Straight from the cardboard box the model has landed in Denmark. Original boxing with a scratched lid.

With the lid off the model looks much better. It doesn't look like the model has seen much use. The box is worn far more than the wagon itself.

I bought the model on eBay from a Dutch seller for a resonably price. The model now goes into storage awaiting progress on the diorama. The wagon will be slightly altered and will be having a repaint and weathering to make it look like a real steel works wagon.

My new wagon resting on the broad gauge track embankment in the sun.

Rhubarb Logistics 2026

As usual the rhubarb harvesting in my garden utilizes the 1/19 scale railway for logistical support. This year's first harvest was brought in without help from the industrial railway as I was away on work in Norway. The second harvest, however, used the complete narrow gauge ressources available.

The rhubarb harvest is loaded on the train and ready to depart to the processing facility. In the background chopped off top leaves from the plants can be seen.

One of the recently finished coupling bars and the long coupling pole was used to safely connect all 4 timber bogies and propelled by Nystrup Gravel loco 8 there was no wheel slipping this year. Last year wet rails and the tiny Lister RT only allowed one set of bogies to be used. Peco SM32 track panels, suitably rust painted, supplied the temporary infrastructure needed for the transports.

Unloaded wagons being pushed forward to the harvesting area. 

A loaded train is pulling away from the rhubarb felling site. Shortly the train will curve sharply to the right to reach the gradient toward the washing and processing area.

I ran my first rhubarb train in 2022 and it has become a tradition that I get out the track panels and haul in at least one of the 2-3 harvests of rhubarb that our garden supply us with. I'm not planning a garden line, but if I did, it certainly had to have a siding for rhubarb transports.