So I was reading the external blog of Chris Nevard's and latterly Graham Dent's. If you don't read them, I do actually urge you to do so! There's some good laughs on there as well as useful articles on how to do stuff.

One article which piqued my interest was one about a converted Bachmann Junior locomotive into a nice, generic industrial locomotive.

After reading it I was so inspired I set out and got myself a Bachmann Junior engine and a Dapol Pug kit.

Unfortunately the locomotive has changed from the quaint Thomas-style tank engine to an Austerity style tak locomotive. It's a shame that it's transformed from some semi-realistic locomotives that could be easily kitbashed (and used many components from the Percy and Thomas models) to this less realistic one, but oh well.

The model is only about 4 inches long and a is quite nicely proportioned.

First thing I did was pop the body off. Knowing that the body comes right off, while leaving the chassis and floorplate is very useful, and may in the future lead to a scratchbuilt or even a kitbuilt body going straight on top of it, especially as it's really quite cheap to buy.

Main improvements are a complete repaint from the BR colours after carefully removing the emblams and number.

Various bits of the Dapol pug went onto it. Namely the oversized sand/tool boxes at the front of the locomotive were sawn in half and stuck in various places.

The handbrake, and entire smokebox went into the model complete with regulator (not seen in this image) and various bits and pieces were added to the dome and where the toy whistle was. Another part of the pug kit went into making a lid for the water tank itself, which is obviously lacking on the original model.

(Sorry it's blurry) Final alteration was the removal of the small nubs where the hook would be, replacing them instead with the hooks from the Dapol Pug. One of the "numbered" pieces of a sprue has become a place to stand while cleaning the chimney!

So, as it stands... this whole thing cost me about £30 in total and does look reasonably attractive, especially considering it's really the first time I have sat down and modified something like this.

This would probably be more suited, ultimately, as a private colliery locomotive, but it will be appearing on my light-railway themed layout once that gets fully under way. It'll be a 1920s-built Hunslet of some indefinable origin and would've been bought for the line as part of its "renewal" under the brief tenure of Richard Harpur-Crewe, in my reality he lives until 1936, still childless, instead of dying in 1921. This allows me to kick-start renewal early, before the line, and estate pass to his aunt, Hilda. This allows the estate to still slowly down through the latter half of the 20th century.

A more detailed history of the harpur-crewe's private railway in a later blog post.

Comments, and advice is greatly welcomed!

James