TurboSnail

More Peckett work going on! Two versions to test two different motorisation methods - one with an N20 vertically in the firebox, which leaves lots of space for weight in the boiler and tanks. The other has a 'proper' gearbox with a 5-pole motor, which traditional wisdom says will be smoother. Doubly so if I add a flywheel. Experiments to begin shortly...

SPUDs don't have a great reputation, but I think they can be made to work ok. This one needs running in, which I think will help cure the slight stutter every now and then. I'm pretty happy with it though!

The Q is a bit smaller all round apart from a longer wheelbase, the tank is a bit lower and narrower and I think the boiler/smokebox is smaller too. Though I'm sure Manning Wardle would supply a larger tank if requested... A re-wheeled Terrier chassis might get you close (wheelbase almost spot on, but 3ft 6in wheels instead of the Terrier's 4ft 0in).

Hang on, is that not normal?

I had a look at these a while back - if you remind me later I'll have a dig through the CAD bucket and see where I got to.

Apologies to be a bit sales-y, but I'm still thinning out the collection. Hard to let them go when I've put a lot of work into them, but realistically aren't going to get a lot of use on the layout. Up on eBay at the moment if anyone's interested, are: SECR C Class, repainted to wartime grey https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294433031662 Furness Sharp Stewart 0-4-0st https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294433072648 SECR liveried SER van https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294433104019

Had a little running session on the layout tonight (I'm not used to having a layout that actually works!), here's one small scene from it.

As well as the loco liveries shown a while ago, my experiments with inkjet printer transfers also involve wagon liveries. These two were made from @Skinnylinny's excellent CAD, I've only done the transfer design - one on clear backed transfer paper, one on white backed. A little bit of touch-up work required in places, but I think they look alright! A couple more loco liveries were printed at the same time, but I haven't got round to applying those yet. Watch this space...

It's a grey day, both outside and on the layout! Finished repainting the C Class chassis this morning, so I guess I can call it done... sort of. Does anyone else find that there are multiple stages of a project being completed? Stage one done for me tends to be finished in 'pristine' finish and usable on the layout, and it'll get left like this for a while while I do other things. Then eventually I get round to making it stage two done, which involves some extra detailing, crew, weathering etc. Or maybe it's just me being lazy and not finishing it properly the first time round!

Could you add a slice of thick plasticard to the side of the tanks, and file it back to get both the tank sticking out from the cab, and the distinctive curve to the top of the tank?

And here it is in operation!

Having a weird mix of stock pays off when you need unique vehicles for a shunting puzzle! The loco, all wagons and all buildings in this pic are scratchbuilt, which not that long ago I would have thought beyond my skillset. They may not be perfect, but it's encouraging to know I may be able to do better in a few more years time.

I feel like I've passed a fairly major milestone today - completion of the first shunting puzzle on the layout! What allowed this was the fitting of the remote uncoupling gear - just some plates between the rails that lift when the levers on the edge of the baseboard are moved, simple but effective. The puzzle itself is just a twist on the Inglenook format, with a couple of differences - a) that the goods van in the train has to be delivered at some point to the stores in the bottom right corner of the layout before being returned into the train later on and b) the brake van starts on the left hand end (i.e. train coming into the colliery) and ends on the right hand end (i.e. train leaving the colliery), which is why it isn't marked out on the order cards.

Yep - if I was attempting it now with some of the skills I've acquired since I'd have a go at changing the boiler, but I'm happy with it as it is. I think the main thing is the placement of the dome and lack of boiler bands, but that would be serious surgery and I'm unwilling to repaint it again!

I've not seen that picture of it before, not sure where that is given presumably GW and LNWR wagons behind it? There are loads of details and pipework missing off my 751, but I have added a few things over the base Dapol model. Must have been one of the first detail/repaint jobs I ever did, maybe 9 or 10 years ago - I think it still holds up reasonably well considering!

More SECR wagons, I'm afraid - do we think I've finally managed to get some accurate colours now? Managed to bodge together enough transfers, none of the normal ones for numbering, tare and tonnage would fit due to how small these vans are! Even the lettering is a wee bit too big.

Mine has Terrier rods fitted, but I decided 2mm oversize wheels was a bit much in OO - but obviously not as big a difference in N!

Not sure where you'd find a chassis small enough for this one! 3ft 6in wheels on a 12ft wheelbase

There are more grey things emerging from the works...

This was the version I was planning to do originally, but once I'd already printed the model I chickened out of doing the full Wainwright! Maybe one day...

Does one not feed both cylinders? Looking at other photos of the class, there seems to be one on the right hand side of the smokebox (looking from the front) and nothing on the left, but that could just be coincidence as there aren't that many photos and none are of the same loco twice. Anyway, it wasn't the only loco to get transferred up last night!

There appears to be no mention of why in the text. I don't know a lot about how these things are fed, but if the pressure is provided by gravity then it may have been moved up to create a greater head of pressure. Just a guess! The other locos in the class all seem to have it on the smokebox side. I should also list some of the errors/compromises I've made on this loco, just for the sake of honesty: Firstly, I've alternated between calling it a Class O and a Class Q - it's a Q. Think I just misread it by missing the tail off! Those cylinder lubricators (assuming that's what they are) - I've fitted two. None of the photos I have show whether it has one on the opposite side too, but having now looked at it in more detail, I suspect there should only be one. The pipework I've done going into the safety valve cover from the sides - this should stop short of the cover and go into the firebox instead. I only found a pic showing this after making it! There's a lot of pipework missing, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life fiddling with it... The chimney should not be capped - but I much prefer the look with a cap, so I left it on. In a similar vein, the brass bits should probably be painted over too. The tank front handrail is bent a bit too square, but those things are a right pain in the proverbial to bend accurately. The numbering is a bit too big really, but that's the only size Fox do. The centre wheel should be slightly further back, but I've shifted it forwards so I could pinch the conrods from a Hornby Terrier - better than trying to 3D print them, and cheaper than custom etching. It's only 2/3rds of a mm out though.

Nearly there! There are definitely a few things wrong with this loco, but I'm really pleased with how it's turning out nonetheless. I've added some basic pipework, sanding pipes, whatever those valve-like thingies on the front of the tank are, and of course transfers - the cabside and rear SECR plates are from Corbs, the numbering from Fox. Need to refit the vac pipes, add crew and do a light weathering, then it's done.

Progress as usual is glacial, but I've added in the last bit of the main ground cover, and plugged the gap in the backscene with this wall and gate. Just brick plasticard and plastic strip, with a bit of scribed cardboard for the gate. Not the best weathering job I've ever done, but it'll do! The space still looks a bit bare, so I think I'll recycle a failed SER van print into a grounded body store, and maybe make a junk pile or something to go with it on the left hand side.