Two Feet is Good, Three Feet is Better

[Chris Williamson]

Two Feet is Good, Three Feet is Better – to pinch an expression from the Isle of Man 15mm Group on Face Book.

 

As I mentioned in my last Balley-yn-Eas post, while the Great Distraction has been underway, I've been exploring the possibilities of another project.  In part, this is the result of having nowhere to work apart from a small corner of the garage.

 

For those with back issues or access to the on-line archive, the IoM Model Railway Group’s 4mm Castletown station featured in another publisher’s magazine, Railway Modeller- part one in Sept 1993 and part two in Dec 1993.

 

This is a left-over piece of test track that I found in the garage during a big clear-out over ten years ago.  Built by my late father, I never had the heart to throw it out and so set it to one side.  This year, for a variety of reasons, I’ve been tempted to have a go at kit building and see if I can develop the basic skills needed to successfully construct Branchlines and Roxey IoMR kits.  More to follow in due course.

 

Edited June 27, 2022 by Chris Williamson

[Mike Buttell]

Watching with interest Chris. 

[Chris Williamson]

My young self was forever overambitious when it came to model railway projects. The resulting frustration was, perhaps, one of the reasons I gave up in the end. So, a determined effort to keep it simple this time and not attempt to run before learning to walk.

 

The Branchlines wagons were the obvious starting point and availability at the time of ordering limited my choice to the K series cattle wagon.  Care is needed to get the solebars glued in exactly the right position.  The spacing between the solebars is critical to free running.  Being made of white-metal, accurate fettling is required to ensure a perfectly straight edge that's glued to the underside of the wagon body.  In the same respect, attention has to be paid to cleaning any flash from the body. I had to resort to a sharp blade at least twice before I was happy that my endeavours hadn't resulted in a wagon that wouldn't roll freely or that only stood on three of its wheels at any one time!

 

Here's the end result of my first effort, as yet unpainted and with couplings still to be decided.

 

[Chris Williamson]

What next after the K seriers cattle wagon?  My Branchlines order also included a 2-4-0 chassis kit and a 5-Compartment Brake-Third (F45/6).  I’d also ordered a Foxdale Coach from Roxey Mouldings.

 

An order placed with Eileen’s Emporium left me waiting for both a Hold & Fold jig and a Chassis Squared jig.

 

I contemplated both the coach kits and, having re-read the instructions several times over, elected to explore the possibility of something less complex.  The considerable number of small parts in both these kits was overwhelming.

 

A Roxey 1876 Guard Third duly arrived in the post.  Plenty of small and fiddly parts, but the chances of completing a satisfactory assembly looked rather more likely for a first attempt / learning experience.

 

Here’s the bogie assembly.  Construction used a mix of Eileen’s 180 solder and 180 solder paint.  Retiling the bathroom has provided a good supply of substantial leftover ceramic tiles.  After a bit of head scratching and abortive tweezer use – at least soldering allows you to keep trying until your happy with the end result – I hit on the idea of holding small components in place with Blutack.

 

  

 

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by Chris Williamson