Narrow Minded

"Work in progress" report today After stripping down, de-greasing and masking, bits of the Caradoc got painted.

The cab roof, tank tops and coal greedy are now satin black, the smokebox and chimney are matte black, and the buffer beams are now red at the front and black behind instead of the Accucraft 'orange all over'

You could scratch build one from plasticard or foam board Mike, and if you see a "He Man" castle in a secondhand store I've seen a good looking model made from one of those.

Of course, there's always the Pola "Castle Ruins" in their G scale range.......

Nice job so far O.B. - and as per usual you're off to a flying start!

The open cab back is really there to make manual operation that much easier (since this is a freelance loco), but of course, some narrow gauge loco's had similar arrangements anyway.

Nothing to stop you altering it in any way, but I reckon the simplest prototype  "disguise" is a rolled-up tarp' cover......

........ and I think you'll find that those "lamp brackets" are actually firing iron brackets

I've marked the above as "informative/useful" but would like to add "craftsmanship/clever"

Thanks for sharing

"testing the track with the Liverpool mob in attendance" - did you count the sleepers when they'd gone

Gorgeous loco! and don't it look right at home on your line?!

The only thing I'd suggest at an early opportunity would be to get the smokebox and chimney sprayed matte black (Hi Temp barbeque / wood burner paint)

It might be Schrödinger's dog, opening the box would ruin the paradox

Yay!

Thanks Phil, the info has gone into "the blue book" for future reference

Rooting out those photo's of old loco's turned up some more "archive" views from the line, just thought I'd share my nostalgia trip

This "look-alike" is actually taken at the local club track - the Westwood & Loscoe has never had any dual gauge sections

I like how you've bolted the collars to the wheels to make 'em gauge adjustable - an idea I'll definitely be using

The question is though, where do you get the collars?

I was wondering myself that if i left a few un-painted how nice they'd look glittering in the dark

How big are they? Just thinking that the clear and red ones might be useful for some scratchbuilt lamps??

That picture of the two brick piers with the spirit level across them and the bubble right in the centre. Wow.

Yeah, I had a broken spirit level like that once

Small progress report on the Caradoc, but another tick on the "To Do" list all the same

The knobs have been replaced by the regulator handles!

Next job I reckon will be the smokebox, tank tops and cab roof (I might paint the cab interior as part of that batch)

Very true. I appreciate that most of them are cottage industries, but some are truly shocking. 

 

As an aside, it would appear The Lineside Hut http://www.thelinesidehut.co.uk/ are ceasing trading (its where I got my brake van from), which is sad as they had some fantastic stuff. I've just put a bulk order in of the remaining kits I need. 

Hmmm, "artistic differences" - it sounds very Rock'n'Roll

Sad loss though cos they do some great models. I might also have to get a few ordered before they disappear (which of course, will probably ensure that the range continues under another guise )

A thumbs up here for the engine de-greaser, I use the rattle can version and the outdoor hose tap - congratulations on being allowed to use the kitchen drainer (in fact, the kitchen!)

Nice work on the wagons so far, excellent stuff!

Thanks Idris, this is how the Mortimer turned out,

and here's the Leader before its disposal.

Hopefully some more progress on the Caradoc soon, but I'm shocked at how many of our hobby suppliers don't even answer emails or their website's "contact" messages

They're obviously earning too much money to have to bother with customer queries

I apologise for my 'brief' answer Idris - very remiss of me

My first "proper" live steam loco (after dabbling with Mamods, as was the norm back then) was the Accucraft Edrig. A fantastic engine for beginners, with its open cab giving easy access to all the controls with a good sized, single fill boiler giving a long run time. But, it wasn't much of a "looker" and I eventually bought the 16mm 'Baldrig' body kit.

Fast forward a couple of years, and the Baldrig (along with an Accucraft Mortimer) were traded in for my Pearse "Earl" to join the Accucraft "Countess" on the W&L. No regrets, but I missed the simple, bomb proof manual 0-4-0  

So, imagine my surprise when I called in to the old "Back 2 Bay 6" shop on the way to a steam up and spotted a pre-owned Caradoc for sale - it went with me to the steam up and had as much track time as any other loco

Then a couple of events coincided - Accucraft released the "Leader", and I discovered the The Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway in Kent (another 2ft 6in line BTW) - so, the Caradoc was traded for.........

This turned out to be a real "looker", but I found it a terrible loco to run manually, needing almost constant attention, so it was swapped for my 5" loco and driving truck.....

...... and when the opportunity to own another Caradoc came up, we're back to the future

Finally got around to watching the video's Callum, and I'm impressed with your narrative style

I liked your treatment of the Bluebells, my better 'alf has some in a shaded corner that spread their leaves all over the track - but I'm not allowed to "get rid" of 'em The standard procedure here is to put some stonework in place as a temporary barrier (and nip off errant leaves when she's not about). Once the plants have died back, the stones go back into 'storage' ready for next year

Nice work on the new loop and siding, and looking forward to future updates

CONGRATULATIONS

It's been a long time coming, but well worth the wait Well done you!!!!!

Just a thought Andy, but are you aware that "Garden Railway Specialists" sell kits that are designed to fit on the Otto chassis?

Here's just one of them that I've built in the past....

Loads of room for batteries etc inside that saddle tank

Always missed my old one, and this one turned up at the right time at the right price

Thanks again Edwardian. My own inspiration came originally from the late great Peter Jones and his "Compton Down Railway". I'd heartily recommend having a look at some of his work.

I was a retired (rehabilitated??) wargamer of many years, but I got back into it to help a friend wean his son away from the playstation / xbox, and into something more constructive and sociable

You've definitely got it right Phil, I'm into my 60's now so tying my shoe laces will be a problem soon, let alone managing a ground level line

Thanks Idris, funny how the memory plays tricks - I was sure the "camera coach" idea would work without having to do anything to the interior A waft of paint seems to have done the trick though.

Rowlands Mix is a good old tried-and-tested method of ballasting, but from personal experience, the addition of compost to encourage moss growth is a bit of a time bomb. Eventually it created enough of a water trap to cause problems with frost in the winter

I don't think the "perfect" ballast solution has been found yet.

Not much to report from this weekend since we were quite busy, but the regulator handles have arrived from Acme Model Engineering to replace the 'orrible plastic knobs on the Caradoc

and "Ogwen" put in some mileage while the pruning and general tidy up continued yesterday afternoon. I raised the terrace row behind the station at Westwood slightly to see if they improved the appearance - the jury is still out as to whether it's worked

  Wow!

That is gobsmacking progress - very well done!

I use a water butt connected to the guttering on my shed. I then run the water through some coffee filter paper which removes all the muck before I use it. Simples!

Pretty much the same, but my water butt is "free standing" - I found I was getting too much detritus washed off the shed roof and guttering. Just having an open top allows plenty of rainwater to be caught.

I saved up a collection of empty windscreen wash / anti-freeze etc plastic containers and fill them then store 'em in a dark corner of the shed (direct sunlight will encourage algae)

A plastic funnel lined with "J Cloths" and coffee filters is used to transfer 'stored water' into the 'loco' water bottle - filtered and ready to use.

We actually live in a good area for tap water, (check the insides of your kettle...... if you've had it a good while and you use it frequently and there's no scaling inside, you're good to go), but I prefer not to risk it.

Oh, and the Shunters Pole is obviously some sort of dental tool, and it turned up on a car boot sale table!

There's also been a LOT of debate on whether de-ionised water is safe to use, but again, for the sake of gathering up some free rainwater and running it through a filter, why risk it?