With a bit of luck , the trucks that the little red engine pulls
EDIT No luck , I shall try again . Mike the dense
Aha , scruffy scrap slate truck ,courtesy of a very patient and understanding John Bouck who would not post the picture , but made me do it myself .
Thanks John. Mike
Not quite so dusty and used for carrying decent slate to the docks .
And a different one again .
Wooden one this time
And , finally for now , the only one with brakes on . The brakeman sat somehow on this and used the brake as required on the descent from the quarry to the docks . Brave man . The writing on all of them was deliberately created to copy the slightly childish writing of the original . I rite better’nat .
Whudyuh do, Mike.
Dig those first two out the bottom of the ocean? 
j
OOps
forgot ,the scruffy rust bucket is scratch built from brass , and is about 2.75 inches long . Its load --well , how did i do dat den ?
The others are based on kits from Slaters , and are similar in size to the scrap one . All to 1/19 scale ,O track -32mm .
They are nice kits to build , the "wooden " one is plastic and brass , the others are all brass .
Mike
See what teaching me has done ? You won’t stop me now , I already have pics in the camera of my current project --that will bore you senseless . Hey , thanks John , you make a good teecha .
It is a bit like a scrap sub , isn’t it ? Have to ask Dave .
Mike
Actually , John’s comment about underwater isn’t far wrong . These little scrap wagons worked at the bottom of some very deep and VERY wet quarries . They were lifted to the surface by a lift system known as a “Blondin” after Blondini , the (famous?) circus artist . The wagons are little because they are man hauled at the quarry bottom .
A traverser cable was strung across the quarry , and a cradle with lifting tackle ran along it , this lift gear lifted the men in at the start of shift , and lifted them out at the end,between times the lift shifted slate for processing , and dross for getting shut of . At the Welsh Slate Mining Museum at Llechwydd (pronounced Llechwydd) there is a permanent (until the cable rusts through ) exhibit of one of these hanging over a most delightful flooded quarry. I say delightful because it really is pretty , there are trees sprouting all round , and the water is the deepest blue imaginable ,and when the sun is on it --well , it takes some beating .
I shall find a pic and post it here .
Mike
That’s really nice work Mike.
I have seen the quarry you mention, and agree with your description!
Mind you, with a surname like Morgan, you should be able to pronounce, er, Kkhleckhhhworthhh! 
Neil H
What weathering!
Leave a car in West Drayton for a week and it’ll look like that.
Where do you think I copied it from , Rod ?
Very nice, Mike, and I’m happy to see you’ve got that photo thing happening for you. Slate looks very slate-like as well, I think. A nice complement to the cars. Never would have guessed brass–so that’s saying a lot, eh? You were serious about the braking operation, then–at first I just thought you were joking. Man…I think that’s a car that would really do well to have one of those ‘Safety First’ signs on it.
Thanks , Bongo -or do you prefer Kirk ?
I have to confess the slate is real Welsh slate from a disused quarry , I picked up some large pieces ,and working in a similar way to those I had seen demonstrating the art , I split the lumps down to slices , then smashed the slices into the pieces shown .
For those interested , slate is split in a similar manner to wood , you take a chisel (probably called a Tyisyl )
and holding it VERY accurately along the grain of the lump , strike it a smart blow with a Hammyr .the slate then splits cleanly (hah , try it ).and the slate is then dressed to shape --on a syapyr -for final use .
The dust is slate dust , I took an old file and filed a corner off a lump . I now have sufficient slate to provide a few loads , and a box of dust for weathering .
This all goes to prove what a lot of people have suspected for a long time .
Us modellers is peculiar . So is the Welsh language .
I made up the words Tyisil , Hammyr and Syapyr ., but by golly , they look very like the Welsh language signs along the roadsides there .
And before the Welsh language twits get uppity , I am proud of my Welsh antecedents . But I despair for the "professors " of Welsh language who have to invent a word for everything in Welsh .
I mean , how daft is “teleweli” ? Guess what that means folks .
By the bye , Kirk , I got the photos on line after tuition by a very patient John Bouck , who finally believed me when I said I was thick , and made it into simpletons’ language for me . Now , of course , my pooter has thrown a wobbly ,and poor John will have to start again when --guess what–another site member , Timmy , has helped me sort the thing out . I think he is also beginning to believe I am lacking in the brain department .
Mike M
Oh , yes , the brakes , .The brakeman sat on the slate load which loaded level with the top rail of the wagon . As the slate is loaded on end , ie sticking up a bit sharply–it cuts fingers very easily --you may imagine the brakeman being a bit cut up about his job . I have yet to see any information regarding whether or not they put protection in place. Remember , these people wore rags , so sitting on one would be considered a bit wasteful.
We tend not to think how hard things were for our forebears .
Mike
Mike,
Very nice modeling and weathering indeed! Please feel free to “bore” us with many more photos. I always enjoy viewing fine modelwork like that.
Richard ,
from you , I take that as a compliment indeed . Thank you .
Mike