New Accurascale 1800s Chaldron Wagons | Unboxing & Review 

Many thanks for your review, Sam! We're delighted that you really like the Chaldrons and are having fun with them. Look out for more pre-grouping models from us again in the future. :)

Originally horse-drawn; there were hundreds of these already in use in the mines when Stephenson built 'Locomotion'. So he built it to suit the gauge of the wagons, and the rest is history. 🙂

Love, love, love this super early era trains. More of this, please, manufacturers!

I was thrilled when mine arrived and when opening the box I heard myself say 'Bloody hell they've sent me the wrong scale!' (D'oh!) I was shocked at how tiny they are but my (slight) disappointment soon evaporated as I realised what they were truly like. I don't have an issue with their free-running. Most wagons these days run too freely - try a shunting layout, as we did at the weekend at an exhibition, and the operator chap had glued tiny pieces of foam above the axles to give them some drag. I think these would continually bounce back and forward if they ran any free-er. Warning: Don't sneeze or you won't see them again...

Hi Sam. Great review. Those wagons were designed for use on track with tight curves so, to prevent buffer-lock, square wooden blocks were fitted to them. I own a Dapol (D10-LN) 'Lancashire & Yorkshire Class 21 0-4-0ST (pug) No:19' in all black with thin red lining. This loco is also fitted with square wooden blocks as buffers for the very same reason, so I suggest you purchase one of these as it would be the perfect loco for hauling your Chaldron wagons. Also, Guards Vans were not attached to the rear as they would have served no practical purpose. Paul. 👍

I am up to 4 rakes of Accurascale wagons. Run them all the time and have never had a single one de rail. They are not only lovely to look at but they are such great value. Their PCA wagons are the best. Have 18 of them and they look amazing.

These early wagons and cars and engines are what I really love about this hobby. The details of these wagons are awesome I would like to put them in a glass show case with your engine copper knob. I really enjoyed this review I hope the manufacturers start bringing out more. I got to give to Accurascale I think they hit a home run with these.

The first train on the Stockton and Darlington Railway ran on this day in 1825 when 12 of these wagons loaded with coal were hauled up an incline by a stationary engine from Witton Park County Durham. Locomotion number 1 took over the train at Shildon and 21 more wagons with seats were added for passengers before it set off for Darlington. Fully loaded the train struggled to reach 4 mph, probably just as well because the locomotive had no brakes and the wagon brakes had to be pinned down by brakemen riding on some of the wagons to stop it. Now that would be something to see on a model railway!

27.00 This is why locos used with dumb-buffered wagons always have a separate lower set of buffers or massive wooden blocks matched to the wagon dimensions. Such wagons could be seen in 'internal use only' situations into the 1950s. In fact trying to work such wagons with just regular-buffered locos was against Board of Trade regulations, so whoever coupled Old Coppernob at the head of this train is due for a stiff talking-to. If you have an industrial loco -- e.g. a Sentinel -- fitted with such blocks, you should have no problems propelling dumb-buffered wagons. Beautiful models, and Accurascale's magnetic five-link couplings are an ingenious solution. Obviously these are not for the 'playing with toy trains' market, so a certain amount of fiddling with couplings can be tolerated. Thanks for a great review as usual. 31.42 Your 'Whistle' board should be set up at right-angles to the track, facing oncoming locos. Just saying.

I purchased some Accurascale wagons recently, I was blown away by the detail - they're the first non-Hornby wagons I've purchased, I'm very happy with the result and I'll be buying more :)

Love seeing these up at Beamish. Being able to ride on the old locos up there was always a highlight as a kid.

I'm so glad you reviewed these Sam, I was debating whether to get them and now I will. I always check your reviews before buying anything!

Acura scale CEO when informed about hornby's Stevenson's Rocket 'Waggons' : Oh, no! Anyway.

Those are so cool. Awesome review. Keep up the good work Sam!!!

Great review as usual. I saw these wagons in operation at Seaham in the 1960s. The locomotive was the Lewin -an 0-4-0 ST - and they were used to carry materials for repairs to the pier. A rake of three is about right and there was no brake van. The locomotive buffers matched the wagons.

I ordered 3 packs. I ordered the Londonderry and Vane/Londonderry ones alongside the IIAs (which arrived back in april), and the Seaham Dock Company ones (era 6, so BR late crest) more recently. Accurascale shipped the first 2 packs a couple of weeks ago, but because it was the 2nd half of an order, they sent it to the original address instead of the new one, so I haven't got these yet. The second pack, ordered through Rails, arrived on friday, and they're so cute and awesome, and will get their first proper run tomorrow night at club (because I don't have a proper layout in my current flat). I've also discovered that the magnets stick to the metal hooks on standard tension locks, which for a rake of 3 is strong enough. And the 3 wagons in the Seaham Dock Co set are different to the set you have, and the couplings are more functional. I think the issues with the couplings here are because the loco's buffers are differently spaced to those on the buffers. Interesting to note. When I saw an early sample, I said I hope they'll have proper metal bearings. To which accurascale said yes they would have them... I hope Accurascale release the Lewin, the loco the Seaham Dock Co used on the Seaham Harbour railway to move these wagons about (because presumably the diesels and 21T hoppers were too heavy for the wooden structure upon which the railway sat). This loco also had dumb buffers, so are perfect for shunting these about.

Oh wow, wonderfully brilliant, especially with the exquisite loco you made. With these Chaldrons she even pops more, hahah. The Chaldrons look cute don’t they. The coupling solution is indeed a bit of a thing, but it seems to work with patience, and does approach the prototype better this way. However, could very thin black linking rods not work better? Although not prototypical perhaps. We’ve noticed that some chain beads are very much openly malformed to a point that they may unlink. Tad sloppy there. As for magnet couplings, they are relatively a newer and neat solution. They can work as long as they are strong enough. Märklin even let them pass current. Brilliant. Neodymium couplings can do all this, however longer consists may still suffer from decouplings. We’ve looked at the solution leaving us unconvinced yet. That is, beware when to use them. Fair review Sam and we concur on all your points.

Great to see your own loco again Sam, great video!

when they were announced I thought not for me but after seeing them I thought they would be wonderful parked up in a exchange siding great video

The NER had some Locos/Tenders with two sets of buffers. One pair was specifically pitched to match the chaldon waggon (note the double G) dumb buffers.

I could be wrong, but I thought that stiff rolling may actually have been a historically accurate feature. Bearing in mind that these wagons were a direct development of horse-drawn coal wagons and were only expected to move very short distances at low speeds. Oftentimes they had basically no bearings at all, just a spot where the axle was attached to the frame that the crew would have to grease as thoroughly as they could. Axle failures and even friction fires were common, but wagons like these were so cheap to make that nobody really cared.

Very fine and detailed tiny wagons. They did look great behind the Ol' Coppernob ;-) Have to buy some chaldrons and print Old Coppernob to enjoy it myself! Another great review. Cheers

Old copper nob looks amazing hauling these! I'm still impressed by your scratch builds

Another truly great video review. Thanks. I, too, love these early wagons and engines. These look so great with Copper Knob. Perhaps running in or a little lubrication might help with the free rolling. Yes it would be very interesting to see how a group of 6 might perform. Thanks again. P,S, Have you ever thought of making Copper Knob available as a kit. Individuals could do their own assembly and painting etc? The kit could include all the extra bits that are not 3Dprinted.

Those wagons lookin kinda good I also like how you used your "Old Coppernob"locomotive as "in terms of era"

In reverse the chauldrons propel beautifully if there are appropriate dumb buffers on the loco. Yours derailed because the loco had the buffers in the wrong place for propelling. For photos- see the pic of the Seaham loco in the wagon packaging for how it should be done.

I'm glad more models of primitive (pre-1850s) trains are on the market! I'm amazed these wagons are narrower than the buffers on later stock, and they are shorter than the doors on the brake van!

Great review Sam! I think those wagons could be just as good with a small Ruston shunter too

Awesome review today Sam really nice wagons

Nice review of interesting wagons. I would suggest, If you apply graphite grease to the axles, it will improvove the rolling though I dont think it is much of a problem in this case. I find it strange there is some thing magnetic on the wagon to make the couplings behave the way they do. See if you can work out if it is the chains. If so using a brass chain might be a practical solution.

Lovely little review Sam. I bought mine this weekend, one issue I am having is with the hornby curved points I have on my layout, they derail every time without fail in either direction. Thought I’d let you know of this issue

Hello Sam. I've tried a rake of 9 Accurascale Chaldrons behind Hornby's Lion. I put a small loop of steel on Lion's finescale chain peg and attached Accurascale's magnet. The Hornby Lion did pull 9 chaldrons. Neither Lion nor the chaldrons were broken in. Further, the couplings did stand the test, unless I deliberately slammed Lion to full power from a dead stop. That is, you could force them to decouple, if you wanted to. Otherwise, they were fine. Just wanted to let you know my results, as you did ask this question in the review.

Very cool little wagons sam 😎👍

These look so nice especially with your Old Coppernob!

Would it be worth gluing some of the coupling chain links together, stiffening the chain, so that they are less likely to swing back on themselves.

Sam - you need to run them with a loco and brake van which are fitted with additional block buffers set to contact the ones on the wagon. This is per the prototype - see at least a couple of the locos at Beamish Museum - the Lewin (ex Seaham Harbour) 0-4-0ST and the vertical boilered Head Wrightson loco. Even some 1800s built mainline (NER) tender locos had these additional buffers and quite a lot of even more 'modern' industrial locos in Durham had them when chaldron wagons were used both on the main line and on colliery and coal shipping dock systems. Later (even up until the 1960s!) they could be found on the latter systems only. Thanks for the review - I am anticipating delivery of mine later today.

Quite an intereting review. It seems to be these items are intended for static exhibition and not as rolling stock. Accurscale deserve commendation for tackling this project, which no other manufacturer has attempted, and as you say Hornby's offering is a black version of the Rocket tender. A good buy for those with a mine scene on their layout. Quite a good item for Isle of Sodar layouts where anything goes! Thanks for uploading.

20.45 This is why locos which work with dumb-buffered wagons always have massive wooden blocks on their buffer-beams inside the regular buffers. Your review is honest and thoughtful as always. However, I'd suggest that the good-looking but somewhat impractical couplings are not a serious drawback, since these wagons would not be individually shunted in local goods yards in the same way as later-era revenue-service wagons. Lovely little animals though.

I have a pack as well and agree with what you’ve said here Sam. I just wonder why, if using magnets for couplings, they would persist with steel for the chains and chassis. Brass chain and zinc chassis would make more sense to me.

Great models! And such a nice loco pulling them, I wonder who built that 🤣😉

The hardest thing I find with Model Railway as a hobby is deciding which era to have the layout based in, and then choosing liveries to match the era. So many varieties and so many different styles, as shown on your hundreds of reviews. It can be overwhelming for a new person just starting, or someone who might want to play with trains, but have at least some kind of consistent theme to their layout. Accurascale are sometimes overlooked, but they do make some great products. I think sometimes it is nice to go and look at the smaller guys as the big guns like Hornby seem to have lost the plot a little with price to quality ration. It looks like the included the chains to use on your locomotive or other wagons to attach them, assuming your loco has NEM pockets. This is not necessarily bad, as a lot don't like tension couplings. Back in the day when these were used, the coupling would have been pretty well full manually done.... Not ideal on a model railway but I guess most chains will need a slight "hand of God" influence. Not sure if reverse, with the loco at the back pushing, would have been done, except for shunting, in the real world.

Love the wagons - i have seen and photographed the ones at Beamish which i noticed they give a credit to in the literature, I'll put them on my list! - Stay safe

Stunning little chaps!

Even in your 'Close up's' the Links on Chains were pulling appart. Can see them Dropping off in NoTime. Something Small to be Lost very Quickly and Easy..! Vacuuming Nightmare..!! Just Putting it Out There..! Great review Sam..! 😎

Have you ever considered of 3D print one of the original coffee pot engines? You could possibly fit it well along with the Chaldron wagons.

I've found cocktail sticks very useful for persuading magnets to hang down rather than turn back against the chassis.

I believe these wagons looks really cool, and maybe with a pull apart and some lubricant they will roll better! I think ill be getting 6 to put behind my Peckett W4 and B2

Would you be able to pull an 8-coach MK1 rake using the magnets for the loco-train coupling? Not intermediately between the coaches but just at the ends

I love these Chaldrons. I think Accurascale may have missed a trick. I believe the coupling chains are steel, if they were made of brass I think the problems would disappear. I think your reviews are great Sam but I think it unfair to use a brake van which when the train is reversed would inevitably derail the much lighter wagons. Can’t wait for a comparative review of the Lion loco. From Rapido and Hornby. Keep up the good work

Nice. Whether the stiff axles are intentional or not, they will give some simulated weight to the wagons when being pulled and stop them jostling too much when travelling on less-than-perfect track.

Hi Sam, just watched your video about the chaldron wagons. A solution to the buffer locking would be to use an engine with dumb buffers as well. I have some pictures from a recent visit to Beamish open air museum which show this and the dumb buffers can be bigger. The couplings could be improved by having a fixed magnet at one end of the wagon and a chain on the other end. It would mean the wagons would have to be placed on the rails the right way round. If you are interested in the picture how do I get them to you? I'm not on twitter or instagram.

This might be a good "wake up" call to Hornby and Bachmann; to what sell as in price/value + level of modeling and detailing.

9 minutes in and I already absolutely love these like, I'd just love to make some magnetized loads of coal and brick to haul around

Nice old fashioned look that these wagons have!

Thanks for the very thorough review, Sam. Me? I'm off to the chemist to fetch a chaldron of coal to heat me tea.

This shows the need for an 0-4-0 tank loco with its own big dumb buffers, hope we get one.

Thank you for testing the strength of the magnetic couplers, was considering using these on my passenger cars, but after seeing what you did, probably not the best choice

Re the couplings: would a drop of superglue on the chain links, when extended, help to avoid the magnets being able to attach where they are not wanted? You would apply it when they are coupled to get the right tension and look, perhaps leaving the very last link free to allow a little bit of pivoting. What think ye?

Now you need to get locos !😊

my parents are building a house near an old copper mine that has a tourist railway so i see mine cart type gondola trucks like these whenever i go there

Since they need the die cast chasies only solution to the couplings I can think of is to have a male and female though that does mean you need to have all the wagons facing the same way. Using Brass chains ofcource to avoid the magnet grabbing its self.

I wonder if the Kadee style underttrack magnets might work to reset the couplings. Might be worth a try.

Could you do a video testing what rolling stock can get round the tightest corner and how tight it is. Like you did with the locos.

Hi Sam. For the level of detail provided, I too think the pack price is acceptable. If you mentioned whether the wheels are plastic or metal, I missed it. I saw that some of the links in the couplings were open - I can't imagine this was deliberate. I think you have to set up the couplings by ensuring that they are positioned so that they dangle to get them to couple properly. Where did you get the additional coupling for the brake van? I only remember an extra coupling for the loco (tender). I was intrigued by the image on the top of the box showing one of the wagons being taller than the others, but the wagons themselves are all the same height.

Hi sam I hope you're ok These are great models they look great

Hi Sam- this video actually convinced me to buy a second set of Chaldrons. However I'd like to re-letter mine and am currently designing some transfers for them. Is there anyway you could get me the text height or flat wall side in mm? Mine are still sitting in my hattons trunk. Thanks!

Beautiful little wagons - works of art, in fact. Would these be likely to get you 3-D printing something era correct, like 'Puffing Billy' to pull them?

hi sam. nice wagons the only set back i see is you really need an era 1 layout setting with era 1 locos. although your copper knob is close but have to say the large tender looks out of place also you need small hands to handle them...my little finger probably covers the model :)

do you ask for faulty models? as mine roll perfectly fine & I have two packs or them.. and I don't get the issues with the couplings

You should look into the Irish stuff accurascale have it's really good they still have a a class loco . It's called Irish railway models .

I model the great laxey mine railway in 1/35 scale and the wagons are very similar to these. may I suggest putting a bit of weight in them and the covering them with cat litter

These seem like the kind of trucks that you can punt around a shunting yard for fun

I like these wagons even though I have no use for them. Items like this of this quality make me hope Accurascale will start making 009 models. We could really do with some high spec Ffestiniog carriages and wagons. Peco is not making the stuff fast enough.

They probably should have made those couplings out of brass or similar... They would need to be chunkier due to the softer metal, but they wouldn't attract the magnets. Adding a load might help performance too...

apart from the couplers being a bit fidily, there doesnt really seem to be any negative parts about these wagons. great and fair price, great detail, uniqe, and then even come in a proper storage box

Great review. While I won’t be getting these wagons, I must admit that they are pretty damn neat. Hope you get another pack, just say the word and I’ll buy you one for Christmas 😂😂jk. Seriously though, great review and take care Sam.

Perhaps a little rolling resistance is beneficial to the coupling design - at least when pulling. I noticed how the free-rolling brake van was sort of pulsing behind the last hopper.

Do they sell a pack of dumb buffers to fit to a loco so they can shunt these? If you noticed in your research of manning wardle class L locos Sir Berekley still has a set of dumb buffers fitted between standard buffers to shunt Chaldrons

Would like to see these in O gauge.

Hi sam I hope you are well? I do like the idea of the magnetic couplings on these for era stuff But the look as bad as hornby one on rocket. I guess it pros and cons Thank you for sharing your models with us. And your thoughts too Keep safe ARP

Very nice, love the details

I think if they made the chains plastic and attempted to add safeguards to keep the magnets from touching the metal parts the couplings could be better but that’s just a idea

To be very fair to Accurascale, regarding price issue (& without any club membership fee), purchase 2 or packs from their website results in 10% off plus points earned that adds a loyalty type cash reward for future purchases.

Cute very early wagons, but maybe the coupling chains should be made of brass? It would solve part of the coupling problem. Btw, I really love your Old Coppernob. Thing of beauty, on which my womenfolk agree. Thanks for the review, Sam!

The couplings would probably work better if they we set up so that the cars only ran in one direction so to speak, having a chain and magnet on one end, and a fixed, chainless magnet on the opposite buffer beam. Probably could have them run closer together also and look more realistic.

Hiya Sam: Not that it would change the review (and nor would I want to) but soldering (or CA glueing) a couple of the chain links together might render them more user friendly...? I'm thinking a sorta hybrid between these and the rigid Hornby type. Just my 2 cents worth....Great video as ever.

Hats off to Accurascale again. So impressive for such a good price. Would look good with Lion or your Coppernob. Also it shows the terrible Hornby wagons again, being unrealistic, lazy designs and most importantly stupidly expensive. These are better in every single way. The coupling solution is very fun and I don't mind fiddling with them a bit I mean real chainlink couplers also do. Really like them looks great behind your Coppernob 👍👍

How about you try out the accurascale pfa nuclear waste 3 pack sam?

A couple of thoughts: firstly, the buffers are meant to touch when pushing wagons, ie in shunting. It was never considered good practice to propel loose-coupled wagons for any distance and at any kind of speed IRL. Secondly, thinking of the couplings, I suspect that a better solution, and more realistic, would be the use of traditional three-link couplings. Okay, it would mean the 'hand in the sky', but this never used to be a problem for serious modellers.

With the drop in the Pound Stirling in a few months Sam will be calling the price quite a bargain from the good old days. That coupling system seems to be a pain. I'd modify them to use the Kadee couplers. Or, maybe use the pre knuckle coupler U.S. link and pin system which pushes you a bit closer to British chain couplings but without the slack issues. I'm not sure anyone makes the H.O. link and pin now as they were never that popular.

The buffer height doesn't match that of "modern" rolling stock (I suppose that's prototypical), so it's best not to push them against other wagons

If they needed more weight, I’m sure people could hide some under a load of some sort! Easy fix, beautiful models, and great review

You remember you saying how much time it took when you 3-D printed your own rolling stock? That's where the money goes, not in the cost of the plastic and metal, but the time taken in research, design, toolmaking, moulding, painting, and fitting the separate parts. So, a tiny wee wagon like these, with lots of separate parts and excellent decoration, will cost a bit, although at close to £15 each, I reckon they are a steal. I suspect the idea is that yyou couple the wagons as a rake of three, and leave them that way, not shunt them individually. The couplings would work fine that way.

Well, first, the price is acceptable at first glance. GBP45 for three, when you see two axle vans sold above GBP 20, and I am nice for some manufacturers by saying that... Superb finish and detail level, worth the price. The potential problem I see is what kind of model train you can do with those. A period 1 engine does the trick, but I regret that they are not better rolling (no possibility to put bronze bearings holding the axles ?). You would not breed bonsai horses to pull those wagons, so it limits them, outside of being pulled by a period engine, to decorative items, usually besides a canal loading dock. Better free rolling, you could have used them in a gravity train, pulled up empty by a stationary steam engine, and down full by gravity alone, which was prototypical of the time. Maybe possible if you load them with lead pellets to simulate coal ? You get a nice idea of 3D printing there, don't you ? Build some useable ones, maybe with N coulings or Kadee, blatantly unprototypical but that can works.

The chains looked ready to fail at a few points. I think they should include a set of long tweezers for handling the couplings. Otherwise it would be a good idea to have set on hand.

New intro! I like it, nice wipe mask effect

Brake levers are not flimsy. looks like these are designed as *functional* brakes. I've zoomed on a screenshot of the video at 17:22, the pivot point behind the brake pads has a U-shaped separately snapped in place rod used as a bushing to allow the lever to pivot. Impressive detail. Sad they've not put much effort on more basic things like the axles. Too bad the axles have no turned bearings of some sort. The axles have so much drag that the somewhat functional brake is useless :P (and your 3D printed loco looks very classy with these wagons!)

Nice to see some realy old wagons!

Hi Sam, Nice review wagons look ok, But not for me, I do 1950s may look a bit funny on the layout, All the best Brian 😃

If i'm honest the chain going over a hook might have been a better coupling solution. Old coppernob looks good but is really crying out for some loco crew