Until now wagons for the facing sidings at Dale End have been rope-shunted at Slaghill, to get the engine at the correct end of the train. However the imminent scenic development of Slaghill threatens to surround the railway with tall industrial structures, making rope-shunting impractical. The simplest solution seemed to be to provide the railway with a second loco.

Luckily in the spares box I had a Tenshodo SPUD (24.5mm wheelbase), which could be used as the basis for a small industrial critter. So a Knightwing Industrial Loco plastic kit was purchased, with a view to kitbashing it to resemble something like a Ruston 48DS. I must say it's only a very approximate resemblance, and probably more freelance than Ruston, but as Tweedale is an overtly freelance layout anyway, I'm not particularly concerned. Drawings for the Ruston were found on the Internet, so at least I had some basic measurements to go by. I started by making up a plasticard footplate and side frames (using the Ruston dimensions), with buffer beams cut down from those in the kit. Plasticard clips were glued underneath to hold the SPUD in place.

The kit's cab was reduced in length by 2mm, which gave the roof a more Ruston-like overhang. The engine housing was cut back to fit the remaining space on the footplate. A 4 ounce lead weight was obtained from a local fishing shop for 50p, and cut up into chunks, from which I managed to squeeze about 3 ounces into the engine housing and lower half of the cab.

The cab and engine housing were glued to the footplate, and details added. The loco was fitted with Alex Jackson couplings, as I wanted to test whether AJs would be a feasible replacement for the obtrusive hook and bar couplings currently in use. I'm not very optimistic, what with the amount of sideplay on the OO stock and the 18 inch radius curves, but it's worth a try.

The loco was then given a base coat of 'mucky black' paint. The formula for that, using Humbrol matt enamels, was 2 parts black to 3 parts dark-earth.

When dry, most of the body was dry-brushed with dark green, the buffer beams with red, and the cab roof grey, leaving me with a loco suffering from years of neglect beneath soot laden skies. Bless.

Hmmm, shame about the windows... I should have painted the openings before glueing in the glazing, and the unpainted cab interior is annoying me too now. Heh, live and learn.

To accommodate the new loco, the track at Slaghill was pushed through the backscene onto a short extension made from scraps of wood and card. The railway's 04 shunter can now leave wagons in the station ready for the new loco to push up to Dale End.

The finished loco weighs in at about 3.5 ounces and I'm very pleased with how smoothly it runs, especially compared to the 04 which has always limped along on crutches.

Cheers, Alan.