As shown before in my blog, I have been modifying various bits and pieces to try to create a plausible set of rolling stock for this Great Southern Railway, including a Wainwright C Class (from the Great British Locomotives magazine series of static 00 gauge models, mounted on a hacked-about Hornby Jinty chassis, and with clack valves and plumbing liberated from a LSWR 700 series by a club member who is turning one into a North British Railway engine!) and an Electrotren continental 0-6-0 (which has had its boilertop sandbox removed, its buffers re-spaced to match 00 scale stock, its safety valves and whistle replaced, and various other little anglicisations).

A tidy through one of those various boxes of indeterminate boxes of bits that all modellers seem to acquire over time found me unearthing a pack of red lining transfers that had been used for lining out one side of the tank engine. This has led to me lining the other side of that model, along with the larger tender engine. As such, here are two locomotives of the Great Southern Railway in fully-lined blue livery. Unfortunately, I've never got the hang of neatly curving transfers, so any curves in the lining (splashers, and the curves on the cab) are painted by hand with a brush, the red being painted first over-width then carefully touching in the blue and black either side.

And a closer view of one of the coaches in the panelled blue and white livery. These are mostly chopped-about Triang clerestories. So far there's a brake 3rd and a full 1st completed, and a full 3rd, a corridor 1st and a short full brake (undecided whether it will remain with very short bogies as it fitted just now, or whether it would better suit being a 4- or 6-wheel vehicle) in progress.

Finally, as promised a few posts back, a more detailed view of my first laser-cutting project. Having joined the Edinburgh Hacklab, I've been learning how to use their laser cutter to produce card kits. I really like the mixture of the very traditional modelling material with the very modern method of cutting the parts. This milk van was based on an illustration in a Thomas the Tank Engine book (of all places!), stretched a little to fit a Dapol RTR wooden-framed chassis. Only later did I find out how closely it resembles a GWR milk van (specifically, about 2/3 of a Diagram 04 6-wheel milk van!). The model was cut from 1mm card, glued with PVA glue and painted with acrylics. A very simple kit to assemble, it took about 5 minutes to glue together!

With GSR locos in red-lined blue, LB&SCR locos in either Improved Engine Green or Marsh Umber, LSWR locos in various shades of green and SE&CR locos in bright, lined green (yes, I have a Hornby H class on pre-order...) there will certainly be a lot more variety than endless locos in grubby black that would have made it down this branch line in BR days...