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James Hilton

Entry posted by James Hilton

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I really ought to start a seperate blog for this project, but for fear of duplication I'll stick to this one for now.

 

So the large scale bug has well and truly bitten - so much so that I'm sat here contemplating selling some of my OO stock to make it pay it's way - however, in the short term at least I'm all spent up having no more disposable/savings before my birthday in August. So what's been happening in the last few weeks?

It all started with the repainting of my LGB 2-axle coaches into a representation of Zillertalbahn coaches which I mentioned last time. The full description on how this was done is on G-scale central.

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I've since acquired some new bits and pieces - these workshop characters are perfect for my new engine shed (the plans of which are drawn up ready for construction to start). The station characters were picked by my daughter - and no doubt are the start of a small collection of people to populate her carriage. These seem quite good value for money from Bachmann Scenecraft at about £7 a pair.

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The big acquisition is this classic LGB U-tank. These are no longer made by the company and this is an example that was still made by LGB In the old factory in West Germany - and is brand new in the box. Lovely! It's not got the fine detail of some of the more recent releases, or the Bachmann US models, but it has a bunchful of character. The U-tanks were synonomous with Austrian narrow gauge with several examples still operating today on the preserved OGEG and Zillertalbahn. 298.56 itself is operated by Club 760.

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So what next? Next is building construction and now the U-tank has arrived I've got the dimensions for the engine shed for the EJ&KLR - following that will be a small station building. These will be fabricated from various sizes of MDF and weatherproofed - although they will not 'live' permanently in the garden. I'm going to base them on a sort of European/English hybrid as the EJ&KLR is in my mind, a UK based preserved railway inspired by the Welshpool and Llanfair. I'd like to build a second rake of coaching stock in the summer, but it's more important to make sure we've got the civil engineering aspects ready for the spring and so any spare cash will be diverted that way.

 

So I hope sharing this stuff with you all is interesting? Questions comments etc welcome as usual. I've found this quite liberating, working in a large scale with no previous experience. The physical size and weight of the stuff is really intoxicating - it feels really heavy and real, and makes the 4mm stuff feel tiny. Working on the Class 58 last night felt SO fiddily in comparison. I would recommend it though, trying something new, something different to your usual modelling - be that prototype, scale, steam/diesel - it's refreshing and helps polish the skills you learn - everything is transferrable. In this case I can't wait to get all this out in the garden this summer!

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Jon020

James,

I'm really beginning to see the attraction in this.... really getting the kids engaged and being able to play in the garden when the sun shines (even in Macc ;) )... watching the trains go by.... hmmm, a cool beer in hand. Sounds great! I hope that the permanent way work outside proves fruitfull and fun. But don't give up on OO yet James ... I still hope to see that 58 and 66 , which I'm sure will be fantastic B) .

Watching with interest... as always

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James Hilton

Jon - thanks! I can just picture it now, a nice cold (but not too cold) Wychcraft and the U-class chugging around the flowerbeds, whilst reading a book on Austrian Narrow Gauge and enjoying the summer sunshine. Bliss! Yes Elly really loves these big trains - and now I've got this one the Stainz (shown in the second of the U-class photos for size comparison) is definitely hers... at least in the wife's eyes! For a sense of scale the U-class is about a foot long (30cm from tank front to cab back) and 17cm tall. Big (but not as big as Dad's Shay - that's nearly 70cm long!).

 

The 58 is coming slowly - it and the 66 as projects are quite interesting - both technically quite involved (for me) so should keep me engaged but I've never really connected with the prototypes and I find myself lagging, even considering finishing them to sell on. The 33s, 37s and my 08s I feel totally different about. Guess I never really grew up around 58s and the 66s are todays engine - and although I appreciate them as the saviour of British rail freight, I don't really have a connection with them.

 

I can see another project starting and finishing before they're both complete but we'll see - I think I'm going to finish off the 58 body mods quite quickly and get onto fading and weathering it, something I know I'll really enjoy.

 

 

 

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