The UK was/is famous for the Fish & Chips, and the codfish was caught in the North Sea, mostly off the NE and Scottish coasts. Along with other catch, the codfish had to be transported to London and other markets, and the railways evolved to handle the traffic.
The primary transport was a Fish Van, which was insulated and had a longer wheelbase than the plain goods van. As the cargo was perishable, the fish trains ran at speed - 60mph and then 75mph after they retrofitted roller bearings. Here’s a train of empties being sent back for more.
There’s some fascinating information here:
https://www.bloodandcustard.net/bluespot.html
Occasionally they would add the fish van(s) to the front of a scheduled passenger train, as long as it wasn’t likely to exceed 60mph!
So, now I have a couple of LNER locomotives, the question arose of what freight they could pull. Fish Vans came to mind, though the locos did pull ‘regular’ pick-up goods trains. This pic of “Gnu” has a few goods vans an some mineral wagons - easy to find/buy.
Unfortunately, I have not yet found a vendor who has made a 1/32nd scale model of a fish van. I have found an N scale 3D print:
The developer, when I inquired about 1/32nd scale, kindly upsized the files for me, so in theory I am ready to go.
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/n-gauge-1-148-scale-british-rail-spv-parcel-van
However, I have not yet invested in a printer, so this post is to ask for your opinions on the next step. Google says there are several services who could print my files. Would it be cheaper to use my own printer?
Your expert thoughts would be appreciated.
