1) The Locomotive Fleet, part 1.
Welcome, one and all, to Auden's Pledge. This blog shall cover the development of my OO scale layout. I think the most logical starting point is to introduce you to my locomotives. This will be part 1 of 3, otherwise you'll be here for absolutely ages...
Let's get started.
Lion Works Collieries no. 1 (Hornby)
This is where it all started- my very first locomotive. As is the case with most of us, my journey in this hobby started with a Hornby train set. In my case, it was 'The Industrial' which featured this loco, a lowmac, a stone wagon, a four wheel carriage and a box van. As you can see, I did attempt weathering a few years ago when I came back to the hobby. It's not the best, but I was pretty pleased at the time.
My modellers brain tells me that it is overscale, and needs a cut & shut job to make it scale length, plus a scale chassis. As it's my first engine and I'm very attached to it, it will be spared that fate until the existing Hornby motor burns out. When that does happen, it will retain its current fictional livery, as I consider it to be very plausible.
Thomas the Tank Engine (Hornby)
Yes, I'm a Thomas fan...😱 Not much to say about this one. I've painted the running plate grey, picked out the moulded draw hooks, as well as making some lamp irons.
London, Midland & Scottish Railway no. 16440 (Hornby)
Some of my early improvements. Tried making the livery more authentic by painting the black borders, then hand painted some extra yellow lining... Not too bad, considering the plan when I got it for Christmas about ten years ago was to repaint it green.
The scale on this one is funny. The wheel diameters and wheelbase are more or less correct for a Jinty (compared with my Bachmann one. We'll get to that later.) but the body sits higher than it should. If the running plate was longer (again, compared with my Bachmann) then the body should be able to sit lower, as the running plate is shorter than the chassis length. Perhaps I could explore that as a modification...
Percy the Small Engine (Hornby)
This Percy was supposedly a limited edition. However, despite the 'Limited Edition' nature, it was just your average Percy. So I gave it some special treatment, weathering it to match the episode 'Percy's Chocolate Crunch', in which Percy smashes his way through a chocolate factory... I'm actually quite pleased with how this turned out.
British Railways no. 56025 'Smokey Joe' (Hornby)
Well, we all know who this is, don't we? Before Lion Works Collieries no. 1, this was the first loco I ever wanted. Alas, that never happened, but I did stumble upon this one when I bought Percy, so I couldn't leave him behind.
I've painted some lining on the saddle tank, decorated the cab interior, and picked out the smokebox detail and buffer beams. A printed number plate was glued to the smokebox. It's currently chassis-less, as I've reused the chassis elsewhere. The plan now is to cut & shut the body to scale length, and build the Branchlines Caledonian Pug chassis. It'll stay as 56025, but I will absolutely keep the name.
Dowlais Ironworks no. 40 'King George V.' (Hornby)
Ok, seriously, what is this, a Hornby fest?! This one started as a numberless LMS loco, with maroon smokebox. Interesting story, I actually completely forgot I even had this model. When I came back to the hobby, I unpacked my models, and there it was... It didn't take long for the livery and lack of number to start to bother me (unlike the earlier LWC no.1, it wasn't what I deemed plausible) so I repainted it into the real life prototype for the model, King George V. Currently, it has had the paint in this photo stripped off, and has been cut & shut to scale length. (I'll save that for a future entry.)
North Western Railway no.11 (Airfix)
The first loco bought for me when I returned to the hobby. This is a realistic take on Oliver, from the Railway Series. Not much to say. I repainted it, and it's yet to get transfers.
North Western Railway no. 6 (Dapol)
Now, here is a model I am very pleased with, my realistic take on Percy. A Pug seemed a reasonable choice for a realistic Percy, as they were right next door to Sodor in LMS territory. A small bunker has been added, as well as some proper buffers. Lamp irons have been made from plasticard, and vacuum pipes made from wire. A separate smokebox dart has also been fitted. The weathering is honestly some of my best. The only things I still need to do is make some cylinder drain cocks, and a cab sheet like the one on the other side to hide the motor a bit better.
Thomas & Friends 'Stepney' (Hornby)
My first Terrier! You'll see a lot more of these soon. This is the old Dapol/Hornby tooling, and since it's too tall, I plan to convert it into a prop replica of Stepney from Thomas & Friends. The first step will be to sculpt a show accurate face from modelling clay.
Tidmouth, Knapford & Elsbridge Tramway no. 2 'Jane' (Hornby (kind of))
My first scratchbuild! This is a 'Coffee Pot' vertical boiler locomotive, from the Island of Sodor. She's on a shortened Hornby 0-4-0 chassis. This is her second body, and I'm planning to replace it with a third, final body.
Thomas & Friends 'Emily' (Bachmann)
I've upgraded this model of Emily to more closely resemble the prop used on the show. Some scale screwlinks, separate handrails and window frames, and I've drilled out the coal rails on the tender. Thanks to Bachmann's insane idea of printing lining on a gloss surface without applying varnish, some lining has chipped off, so it needs to be patched up with transfers. Once that's done, she needs a coat of matt varnish to bring her to full prop accuracy.
Well, that's Part 1 done. I hope you've enjoyed meeting the first 11 locos in the fleet. Part 2 will follow soon.
Edited by Audens Pledge
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