122 TWF was one of 8 tank wagons built at Newport Workshops in 1928-29 for Esso. These 3 dome tankers had a capacity of 8700 gal and rode on 40 ton cast bogies. These are the closest VR tank wagons in appearance to the propriety 3 dome rivetted tank wagons offered by a number of manufacturers.
The two groups that are easiest to model from the standard American 3 dome tanker are those from the following diagrams:
TW 58 104, 107, 108, 110, 111, 112, 114, 130
TW 59 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122
I chose to model VTQY 122, as it had shorter walkways on the sides of the tank.
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| 122 TWF, note that the walkways on the side of the tank are shorter than the in diagram and tank indicator is positioned closer tothe centre of the wagon. Photo from Mark Bau's Victorian Railways website. |
For the conversion I like to use Athearn blue box 3 dome tanker as the tank can be separated from the frame which makes removing some of the details that are required and painting the model (if modelling one of the wagons with a silver tank) easier. You can also use the 3 dome tankers from other manufaxtures that are a single moulding.
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| Unmodified Athearn bluebox 3 dome rivetted tank wagon |
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| Modified tank with the handrail holders removed |
Use a file to sand the body and the handrail holders smooth, being careful not to damage the rivet detail. Use modelling putty to fill the holes in the tank where the ladder was on each side.
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| Modifications to the underframe |
Modifications to the underframe are quite simple. Out of 20tou styrene sheet cut 3mm wide strips and fix these to the ends and side sill. Once the glue is set sand the corners and edges so they are flush with the frame. Florist wire is used for the handrails, and a brake lever (from SEM) is attached at one end. shunters steps from SEM are attached to each end. I used Matt Black and Silver aerosol spray paint to paint the tank and the underframe separately.
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| Freshly painted 122 TWF stands in the yard at Ballarat North Railway workshops. |
Once the paint was dry the underframe was attached to the tank and ladders fitted. I used Steam Era Models decals to label the tank plus leftovers from other projects for the underframe.
The tank has been weathered with powders at some stage in the future I'll add some oil stains. It will be used on the layout in the block oil trains to Horsham and Mildura, plus to the oil depots at Eureka, Ballarat North and Redan.
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| 122 TWF in the consist of the Horsham block oil train in Ballarat Yard. |
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