B Prepared

While my wait continues for the etches for Bettendorf bogies to appear I have found myself scratching around for useful things I can be doing.

I'm reluctant to launch into a big new project only to find I have to drop it halfway through if the bogies turn up out of the blue.

So I've been busying myself casting the parts for the first tranche of B wagon orders.

These are the parts for one pair:

Unfortunately I dont' have the option of doing the same and trying to get ahead of the game with the NGY ballast wagons - much as I would like to - because it won't be just the bogies which are being etched but also the cogs and brackets of the ballast door mechanism and I can't be 100% sure that I will not have to re-design any of the cast parts after I have had to the chance to try out the brass bits on my prototype wagon.