Goods Rolling Stock

I've pretty much sorted out my motive power for the GWR Shunting Layout and, latterly, an Inglenook layout in early British Railways days. Now, I need to assemble a decent variety of goods wagons and vans to be shunted around on both layouts, which raises some interesting questions, given the high price tag of ready to run rolling stock these days. I need at least half a dozen wagons of varied format but consistent wheelbase to operate on both layouts, having only got three or four to use at the moment.

I don't mind using second hand wagons but prefer to pick and choose what I use for a couple of reasons. I have a soft spot for the old Mainline and Airfix goods wagons, as I had a few of these in my youth, mixed in with more up to date wagons from Bachmann and Hornby. I also need to consider geographical location, West Wales and Northumberland respectively, when choosing private owner wagons and company rolling stock, not to mention the operational context of the layouts themselves, both of which are rural with local mineral or industrial traffic as a feature.

I'll start looking for some bargains on eBay and pop down to the local model railway shop to see what they have to offer. I don't mind a bit of kit building, if it works out cheaper or more prototypical, but I prefer the 'off the shelf' convenience of ready to run rolling stock too. I also like to do my own weathering, so there should be plenty of opportunity to tone things down a bit. I plan to gather together a good variety of goods wagons and vans, perhaps a couple of dozen over time, so that I will be able to run some decent shunting operations with plenty of variety.