TurboSnail

You might notice I've found a lining style I like... this loco was the reason for getting that set in the first place. It's missing some lining around the cab, and some on the sandboxes, but otherwise not too far off the real thing (the green looks darker in real life). A couple of compromises - the wheels and wheelbase aren't quite perfect, but can't improve that without going to a custom chassis, I'd rather keep the RTR one for it's running qualities (especially now I've added a flywheel to it). This also means the tank is a tiny bit too tall (<1mm) but overall I think it works pretty well. Still needs a light weathering, cab windows, Salter safety valves and some lead sheet in the tank. Happy with it for now though!

The transfers are from Fox, and the cab side plates are custom transfers that I drew up and got produced by Railway Mania. The paint is Humbrol 67 Tank Grey, a bit darker than most RTR manufacturers use but I think it gives the impression it's not fresh from the paint shop.

Eventually, after about 3 years and at least 5 failed attempts, I've got a Hunslet 22hp with running qualities that I'm happy with!

Whether it's worth the cost of re-motoring a W4 is up to you, however, if you want to: You'd need a 12mm diameter motor with a 1mm shaft diameter. It's quite simple to dismantle as it all just screws together, although the motor mount might need some hacking if you pick a longer motor. If the motor is relatively short and you don't use DCC, there's space for a flywheel on the other end. You could change the worm to fit a motor with a different shaft diameter, but matching worms to gears can be tricky so I'd recommend re-using the Hornby one. The Tramfabriek gear puller is very good in my experience, if a little fragile.

I may or may not have plans in this regard... With a couple of issues - one, that the B4s haven't been as cheaply available as the Pecketts, so I've never had the chance to take one apart. I'm hoping the release of the new run pushes a few onto the secondhand market. And two, they are a bit bigger in wheelbase and wheel diameter, so I think there is a bit less choice of prototype out there - happy to be corrected if anyone knows better. If the motor extends into the side tanks, for example, that limits a lot of the potential prototypes for a body kit.

By delving deep into obscure forums (having to sign up for as well!) I managed to get something good enough for the main dimensions. Details will still have to be done from photos but that's much better than having nothing to go from at all! By means of a slight rant against the Science Museum group, apparently the drawings I was looking for used to be freely available, judging by all the now-dead links on forums from about 2012-13. Since then, getting hold of drawings, even scanned ones, appears to be only possible by booking a visit or emailing in with an up to 20-day response time (although "at present it is taking longer to respond than usual"). Apologies, that's a little bit "man complains he can't have something for free", but at least thanks to someone's old forum screenshots we can have a semi-accurate locomotive model!

Yes, hopefully plenty more on the way, some older kits revisited and some new ones too One currently at early stages in the works...

Well, someone was going to, so I might as well have a go! I hope it doesn't make anyone too cross... The tank design is based on a photo of a Boulton-esque 0-4-2T - the firebox is a bit of an anomaly but I'm not too worried about that. Also has dumb buffers added, brake shoes on the rear drivers, a brake handle, a cab back sheet and a stack of coal on the cab floor, as well as removing the loco-tender connector and wiring in pickups to the trailing wheels. And filling the tank full of lead, it's up to 175g now!

A contractor's Hawthorn & Co. "Large Tank" brings in the first train of the day as construction continues at Guilford Colliery. The ex-SECR ballast wagons were probably hauled straight out of the scrap road and are being used on this job to move spoil from the pit excavations to reinforce earthworks elsewhere on site. It needs a light weathering to tone down the paintwork a bit, but I'm fairly pleased with how it's turned out! It was envisaged as the colliery's "pet" loco so I think a bit of brasswork and lining is justified (at least, that's my excuse)

Thanks for the info - that's exactly why I'm looking for drawings/dimensions before I go making anything! I'll see what I can find.

My reason for asking the previous post is that I sent a Peckett body to a friend, and now have a spare chassis. A quick experiment last night showed it was really simple to add a flywheel, only needing a little bit of carving the motor bracket with a knife and soldering two wires. This won't do much as it's quite a small flywheel, but everything helps - I could have fitted a bigger one if I was prepared to do some Dremel work on the boiler casting, and I might do that in future. Anyway, I now need to make something to go on it! The Chapman and Furneux type is the main plan, but I might also look at Beyer Peacock or Vulcan designs if I can find any drawings of them.

Not that I'm getting distracted from other projects (again), but does anyone know where I might find drawings for a Chapman and Furneaux (or Black Hawthorn) 12" 0-4-0ST like this?:

That's the plan! It'll be a bit of a compromise to fit the chassis (slightly different valve gear, slightly shorter wheelbase, probably needs a slightly larger boiler too) and because I'm only working on a side drawing from Boulton's Siding 7mm plans, which may not be entirely accurate anyway... Interestingly the drawing shows a different configuration to the preserved locomotive, so I'm going with the drawing and filling in the gaps from photos, which will hopefully get me close enough.

A new project on the go, starting with a heavily modified Fleischmann DRG 89 chassis - it's had one axle removed, the chassis block shortened, new motor mount, new motor/flywheel and replacement cylinders.

That's as close to done as it's going to get for a while - pretty happy with it, even the garish livery! There are a few compromises, mainly the cylinders being horizontal instead of inclined, but other than that the J70 chassis is very close to the correct dimensions.

The chassis is off a Hornby 48DS. It's even still got the decoder socket!

I've also been working on this thing for a while - a rough approximation of Tottenham Gas Works' Garrett Traction Engine conversion. One of the stranger things I've worked on and hardly the most accomplished model but I do need to remember we model for fun sometimes, and it definitely fitted that brief!

With the aid of the 3D printer, we have this: the mk2. The mk1 is in the background and had some printing issues as well as minor mechanical problems where I hadn't quite measured it perfectly. Mk2 fits well, so it's on with the painting and details!

I walked the Harrow's Scar section of the wall a few weeks ago, a lovely part of the world - if a brief diversion into railway matters is permitted, I spotted this van at farm/B&B along the way (forget the scenery, must photograph railway-related thing). I suspect with the corrugated ends it is of LMS origin, but I'm no expert on anything north of Reading (and very little south of there...).

Those in glass houses...!

Some time later, the CAD was done - I've not aimed to replicate exactly the Gretna loco, it's closer to other contemporary Barclays in areas like the buffer beams. Now to see if I can get the 3D printer back up and running!

You may recall I was looking for drawings for the Barclay fireless locos that worked at Gretna Munitions Factory a while ago, I eventually gave up looking for drawings. The solution... drive from Hampshire to Scotland with a notebook and a tape measure! (Ok, I may have been on holiday about an hour's drive away) Thus was had a fun morning, and yes I did drive the train!

I seem to be painting everything grey at the moment - this Rapido 6-wheeler has been repainted (it had the brown post-36 livery) to represent no. 5408, the first of the double-veranda as built vans, fresh out of the works in 1910. I think this livery is right - the earlier vans had the lettering higher up in the middle of the body, but later on it seems to have moved to the lower edge to match the wagons - I'm assuming this change would have happened by 1910. The lettering spacing is not quite right, but I had to work with the transfers I had

For the first project on the new workbench, this C Class got a repaint into grey - I've done the same repaint before, but sold that loco and then regretted it, hence this! The tooling is starting to show its age a bit, but I still think it's a very nice model

Some of the locos I've built on this thread over the last couple of years are now up for sale on eBay - I'd keep them all, but need to clear some space and fund parts for a few "in-progress" builds! Including Manning Wardle H, RS Haydock, RS Ogee 0-6-0ST, Barclay Fireless, DJM Austerity and a freelance tank body. Listings here, ending today, please do take a look if interested! https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/ts_modelengineering