Caley 439

Thanks Shez, slowly making my way through the locomotives I would like when I have a layout again. It's just a case of balancing it out companywise - currently a very heavy leaning towards the Caley with the NB and HR getting a small look in, the GNSR even less and the GSWR nothing at all! Just had a look at the NB Models site (with a Scott and a Glen at the top!), the kits do look very nice. I picked up some chimney castings at Peterborough from the 247 stand (a box of random loose chimney castings), and the shorter one could do nicely for a Scott/Glen It's a slippery slope , though I was in turn encouraged by seeing others work on here. All the best with it

A small comparison of the 812 and 700. Tender frames now painted, and definitely makes a visual difference - having a look at images of 828 yesterday has made me realise it will be a job getting the lining around the axle boxes, maybe a simplified Caledonian livery to start off with. Other good news just in - the floor in the cab should be raised. I'll take the 'not a Dremel' and cut out the existing floor and put in a new one in plastic card, this now should give sufficient clearance for the gear on the rear axle!

Not a lot happened with 828 over Christmas,or so it seems at first..... Tender structure mostly complete, just to fix a bolt/screw for fixing the body to the chassis and then painting. The spare 3D printed buffers came in handy here The loco though Some more filing of the chassis and body to bring the buffer height down to that of the tender and a sample of wagons. Unfortunately the gear on the rear axle is in contact with the underside of the cab floor! Will take the 'not a Dremel' to it again tonight to file away some more material so it hopefully all works with no issues - currently the rear is a bit higher than the front of the loco, which is at the right height

Wow. I like the fact that you've used an excellent image of a G class John, and a quick visit has turned up some interesting images. Many thanks for doing this

Halfway down the page that he begins backdating a 700 class. Only slight problem now is getting a suitable motor for this - one of the stalls at Peterborough two weeks ago had some Mashima motors of around a suitable size Really enjoying your Terrier and 700 kit conversions by the way uax6! Just that I'm usually not logged in, reading on my phone when I'm on the train or bus. Wondering if the old Dapol or Hornby Terriers could be used as a basis for the No 13 class, and modified in the same manner as you have done?

A picture of the worm gear just behind the backhead - the lovely 3D printed backhead fits over here quite happily with no apparent issues. Once it is in place - when hacking of the chassis is finished - then the rest of the cab details can be fitted in such as the reverser and crew (Langley, bought at Peterborough and a bit of a test for some dry brushing?

A bit more filing this morning, motor retainers width reduced and the body now sits on the chassis with the mechanics in place (pickups not fitted back on though!). Tender frames drilled out too, just some work to do on shaping the cutouts. Coming along nicely just now.

After cutting images. The large break off at the smokebox & boiler front was also seen to with the cutting disk - it terminated at the centre of the boiler, where the moulding line is and I didn't want it to lead to the loco body splitting down the centre. The loco has already got the characteristic crack from the buffer beam to the smokebox

Work started today on the M7 conversion. First thing was to dig out the old model of 15123, to use for comparison. Whilst not a perfect model of a 19 class I feel that it looks enough like one. An advantage about doing a 19 class with an old M7 is that the bunker can be left untouched when cutting, which is good for keeping it as a secure mounting point to the chassis. First time using the cutting disk.......

Thanks Compound, I seem to have developed some strange 'expertise' in railway company benches - have discovered over the years images of this style of bench (though not with the Caley initials) in London, and I have seen with my own eyes several in a park in Fleetwood. To be fair, when researching the benches (yes some of us have done that) of the Highland and Great North of Scotland Railways, the associations for said lines were extremely helpful

And the Caley bench....

All of the hacking today of the 700 class chassis has had some good results - without the motor retainers on it, the 812 body fits on nicely, just a little more filing needed at the rear so the wheels line up with the splashers correctly. The other cab hand rail also bit the dust Just to remove the wheels in readiness for painting blue. Thinking of leaving the body in gloss blue (as it looks like a good shade of Caley blue anyway) with the smokebox in matt black

Hi BrightonBoi, what CAD package do you use for your drawings? A very effective way of getting the engines you desire please keep it up (I'll be following progress with interest)

That coach is magnificent Steve, amazing what can be done with the silhouette cutter. Really is a testament to your skills

Enjoyed the show on Saturday, first time I have been though I knew where to get the shuttle bus having used it previously for the National Garden Railway Show - also held at the East of England Showground. One of those shows where it is handy that a lot of the big names attend as it's an opportunity to see items up close rather than viewing images on the interweb. Will hopefully manage to make it next year.

Long day yesterday, chaos with the trains at Manchester on the way back, but a fairly good time at the Peterborough show. Picked up this rather nice M7 which appears to have had a nasty fall. I already have an old conversion of one to a Class 19 which I picked up several years ago, so unsure whether this M7 will be converted to another Class 19 (I rather like the 19 class), done as 55124 or convert to a 439 class and do as 419 in preserved condition. Well this is sufficiently far down the pipeline so can mull it over. Also picked up some wheels suitable for use on the bogie for Gordon Highlander

Some advancement with the signal box, and the storage hut for it too. The roof of the signal box is not glued in place yet so the window frames can be fitted

A little further with the tenders, will see if there are any goodies suitable for them at Peterborough tomorrow - springs or axle boxes would be handy, though if nothing I can laser cut some in a week and a bit.

Wouldn't be surprised if it has - have tried looking for it in a couple of places (one of which I bought my last issue from) and no luck

Thanks Steve strangely enough I was reading through "Steve's Caledonian loco work bench" the other day having a look at your Dunalastair conversions! The local model shop, with cabinets full of new and 2nd hand locos, has a narrow cab T9 at a tempting price - albeit with an 8 wheel tender - and the thought of picking it up for my own Dunalastair conversion has crossed my mind, though I would do it as 721. To be fair I'd like to get a GNSR or Highland engine (I think my quasi-scale representation of Loch Tay in late LMS condition will stand out poorly against my other engines now) before I start going for more Caley engines - Adams Radial tanks are in the sights for this, though finding one at a price where I don't feel bad about hacking at it is more difficult. Keeping this within a student budget is an additional constraint Hope things go ok for you and look forward to seeing how your builds go - the Conner engines are interesting and unusual ones. Not so familiar with GSWR engines to be fair (more familiar with their ships), it's a pity they were made extinct relatively early

Thanks Tod, I had seen the adverts when looking for suitable decals - I'm sure they will be very nice, but unfortunately a bit above my budget. There was a heavily modified M7 on the GNSR stand at Perth this year which had been modified to represent the GNoS tank, not sure if it had it's original chassis though. I've gone a long wishlist, it's also a case of finishing off current projects - doesn't help when I leave parts back home (such as Glen Douglas's smokebox door) as it means I need to wait until said job can be completed! Hope at least some of your wishlist comes to fruition - I just hope that my posts show that it can be simple (well at least sometimes.....) to build pre-grouping engines, mind I have sort of cheated with 828 as the body for that is a one piece 3D print

Work on a 3000 gallon tender for 828 coming along nicely. Based on images and the Caley Coaches notes (which were invaluable for the wealth of information) for their kit of this type of tender. Begun a second one as I had some sheet left over from the first one which was already the right length - you never know, it might sprout a Caley loco Hacking the 812 body kit has also given an idea of what parts of the chassis need to be hacked at when home at Christmas Final image is still Caley related, being a 1:12 version of my 1:19 Caledonian Railway station bench kit. A small thank you gift for someone who models dolls houses, this being painted up in the style of the Coaches from that railway.

I'd be interested in the book on Highland locomotives if still available

A print off kit for a Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR, it's a bit of a mouthful to keep typing this out again and again) granite goods shed starting to get closer to completion now. A small signal box now started, the main bit of work at the moment is replacing the solid windows with frames made of plastic strip. These kits are off a disk of kits purchased from the GNSR Association stand at the Perth show this year. I have modified the goods shed, based on the one which used to be at Peterhead, to be closer to the surviving example in the goods yard at Keith. The main difference here is the addition of a chimney at one end - for now I won't add the wooden shed seen on the end of the Keith one. To be fair, I'm not sure if the shed was built with the chimney in that position or with a wooden shed on the end, but both look like they've been there for a while

That tender is very tempting......easier than building another tender too...... Must resist!