The final details of the wagon have now my attention. The rear and front steps, handrails, cable rings, bufferbeam grips etc.
The rear steps were the first to be made. These are supported by 3 x 8 mm bars and the steps are made of 4 mm beech wood. A metal plate below the wood makes them hopefully more resistant to impact. (Used on ground level track they can be kicked by a steel capped safety shoe or during loading/unloading in the car).
The corner profiles are removed, so the handrails can be attached.
On the top of the profile a catch plate is riveted. This plate will lock the side boards in place. As explained earlier on previous blogs; on the real wagon the side boards were removable.
For the bending machine I've made a small mandrel for bending rings.
To test this method I used a piece of scrap metal that fitted nicely in the machine (35mm).
It worked and I made a set of rings.
Soldering to the brass eyes.
I drilled holes in the lower steel bar and fixed some rings. They appeared a bit on the large side; measuring for a Märklin wagon and scaling them up to 7¼" is not always correct.
Checking with photographs in the book "Güterwagen band 3 Offene Wagen", by Stefan Carstens, I decided to make some smaller rings.
They look more to size (although in the book you'll find pictures of wagons that have even a mix of small and bigger rings)
The grips below the buffers (not seen on British wagons, but widely on the continent) were bend in the bending machine and vice. A piece of scrap metal was used as depth gauge.
The front bufferbeam with rings and grips.
Not CNC, but with file and hacksaw, the support of the front step was cut to shape.
The complete support for the front step.
Again a wooden step with a steel support plate. As on the real wagon, the support plate has bended edges, to prevent that the shunter can slip of the step.
Even on the front end door a handrail is provided for the shunter.
On the rear the handrail are also fixed. These rails are bended from 2,5mm welding rod.
Bending 4mm steel rod.
These little triangle eyes are fixed on the front as well. Why they are there is not explained in the book of these wagons, but Kristian (a member of the German live steam forum) kindly explained me their purpose. On small goods yards there was not always a shunting loco available and with a winch they could move the wagon to the loading ramp.
The door handles are simple devices, but they lock the doors nicely.
View from the inside. A wooden catch block holds the handle in position.
