Model Making
I was asked by a friend who was a member of the St John Ambulance and a collector of transport models to make a model Litter as illustrated in his very early St John Ambulance manual. The Litter, probably of around 1900 vintage, comprised a canvas stretcher mounted on a two wheel cart as the picture shows. A recent search on the Internet highlighted that the term Litter is still used for modern equivalents. Readers who may like to delve into this piece of old medical equipment may like to follow this link.
Seeking some help with making the wheels I purchased John Thompson's book "Making
Model Horse-drawn Vehicles" that included in it the plans for making a Monmouth
Wagon. This resulting in me eventually making a model of this also. There is often
some discussion as to whether such an item should be considered model engineering.
There are though 508 metal items to be made not including the links of the chain
being the only finished item that I purchased. I gained a bronze medal at the 1990
Model Engineering Exhibition at Alexandra Palace for this model
The third cart, a Farm Tip Cart, came about as a result of being away from work for seven months and wanting something to do during this time. It was though some 12 years before it was eventually finished. The photo of the cart was included in the above book from where I gained the idea. Plans by John Thompson in 1/12th scale were obtained to enable construction to take place.
John Thompson's book may not now be in print but second hand copies are to be found
on the Internet, typically from Amazon. The ISBN numbers are, ISBN-
John Thompson's many plans for carts, wagons and coaches are though still to be had. one such supplier is “Wild Horse books” No doubt there are other sources also.
This picture was taken from a rather poor quality slide. Viewers who may have slides that they would like converting to digital images should see myPhotography pages.These show that excellent results can be achieved using DIY methods from good quality images on slide.
Clip on pictures for larger images
Model Carts
