Caley 439

As a result of some work with the pillar drill tonight the tender frames now have wheels running quite happily between them. Whilst working on the tender body I realised that I'm going to need to go and get a few pictures of Glen Douglas in current condition as the drawings I'm using state that the coal plate was added by the LNER to the tenders and I'm wondering if this was removed or left in place when restored in 1959 (some bits such as the wing plate on the smokebox were reinstated for example) The next few days will probably see the splashers started and more work done on the tender - the axleboxes are going to be interesting as usually this is the sort of thing I would laser cut or 3D print but I don't have access to these machines until September at the earliest. That said I have a good idea of how to do it in layers of plastic card. The rest of the tender should be fairly simple once suitable buffers are sourced and a trip to the Riverside Museum has been undertaken to check necessary details.

Have made a new topic for the 4-4-0 builds (as really they are going to be almost entirely scratchbuilt) https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/145967-pre-gouping-scottish-4-4-0s-most-of-the-time/ Anyway, another pug tender has been built on the chassis purchased at Perth. Still to have external ironwork added then painted in some dark grime colour as per a picture I found online of a G class (LNER Y9) attached to a tender.

So I figured that as my build of North British Railway #256 Glen Douglas is very much a scratchbuild - loco body and tender scratchbuilt, on a cut down B12 chassis - it would be more suitable to put the build in a topic here that in my workbench feed in Modifying and Detailing RTR stock https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/134921-caley-439s-workbench/ I also plan to build a model of Great North of Scotland Railway #49 Gordon Highlander and there will no doubt be future pre-grouping builds as a Dunalastair of some sort would be nice as well as the numerous 0-6-0s etc. The modifying of the chassis is based on the method used by Londontram when building his Caledonian 4-4-0s - this had the dangerous impact of giving me the confidence that I could maybe do something similar https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/92190-steves-caledonian-loco-work-bench/ I'm aware that the wheels of the B12 are rather different design from the prototypes I am building, but they're close enough to the correct size and I'll probably eventually replace them in the distant future. Hopefully it won't be too obvious

Chassis parts arrived this morning, and so work began on #256 Glen Douglas. First thing was to cut the B12 chassis down to a 4-4-0, measuring twice (and making sure it matched with the drawings) and cutting once! A D49 bogie was used, as there were no B12 ones when I ordered the other parts, and a small amount of bodging was required for this to be attached to give a roughly scale wheelbase. Fortunately I found my stockpile of off-cuts of thick plastic sheet (~1.8mm) from when vacuum forming 16mm scale tipper wagons, and so a footplate was made up from this. Need to see about picking up a suitable motor before making any serious progress with the cab and boiler, but can at least make a start on the front end of the loco and get cab sheets made up. I'm expecting that the motor will take up a good chunk of the cab interior, though fairly the cab is a fairly enclosed design so this won't be seen too much (and similar situation for when doing #49 Gordon Highlander) In the meantime can make a start on the tenders for both engines - went to Bo'ness yesterday and took numerous pictures of #49, so all sorted for details on the tender and will try and pop along to the Riverside Museum at some point and detailed pictures of #256.

Guess I better update here! The Caledonian Railway association Diagram 22 wagon is complete, bar the brake lever and ratchet. The Diagram 3 van is on wheels (just need the roof added and iron work picked out in black), and the diagram 59 is not really much further on than last time (though the coat of red oxide is pretty much complete). As the spacing between the solebars of the Diagram 3 kit is slightly greater than that on the Diagram 59, I decided to substitute my laser cut W irons here and use the one piece castings for the Diagram 59 as the castings aren't as thick as the mountboard which the W irons are cut in A kit for the CR 50 ton bogie ore wagon arrive this morning from Peter's Spares (fantastic customer service from them, and was only sent yesterday!) and has now been assembled

Thanks Oliver, regarding the previous posts the first pug tender is finished though still to finish off the coal load in it - currently just bits of scraps glued in and painted as a base before adding some actual coal and scatter. It's a bit rough but does the job (weathering will hopefully cover up the worst of it), the 2nd one with the laser cut frames has stalled as I've managed to misplace the frames - the etched W irons are safely packaged. I'm hoping that the G class conversion will be the first of several LNER-constituent company builds. At Perth I also picked up a set of plans for a NBR K class (the Glen Class) and suitable tender from the NB study group, and a CD of self print kits for Great North of Scotland Railway buildings (everything from stations and engine shed down to a lamp hut) from the GNSR association stand. As a result models (as preserved, so I can do the green livery for #49) of NBR 256 Glen Douglas and GNSR 49 Gordon Highlander (GNSR F class, LNER D40) are on the cards. A similar idea as used by Londontram will be employed to modify each B12 chassis to create a 4-4-0 chassis - to only major hiccup currently is getting large wheels for the bogie for #49. Hoping to get along to Bo'ness tomorrow and take a few pictures and dimensions of #49

After some filling in with Milliput and the water filling cap on the saddle re-positioned, painting began. Current condition tonight

Here's my pugbash, currently a work in progress. Conversion to a North British Railway G class, to be painted as per No 42 at Bo'ness

So on Monday a chimney design was drawn out in AutoCAD, and test printed. A rough drawing was done for the overhanging cab roof and this was drawn out in AutoCAD and test printed this morning - a pretty good job straight off! Now stuck on to the loco (chimney not yet glued on though). Water filler cap has been cut off and will be reattached behind the dome. Also did a stovepipe chimney design for possible future acquisitions (when found to be missing a chimney)

More recently at the Perth show last weekend I picked up another CR type pug, in a rather sorry state. Chimney broken off, no motor, and as I discovered when home only one pick-up. Picked up with a good condition Tri-ang wagon chassis (for a 2nd tender) for a very reasonable price, and this seemed perfect for an idea I've had in my mind for a while - conversion to a North British Railway G class. Basically the NBR equivalent of the Caley's pugs

Been all quiet on here for a year! Towards the end of last summer I picked up an old Hornby Midland Compound which looked like it had been stripped back in preparation for super detailing. This has been bodged into a take on the Highland Railway Loch class (in condition as rebuilt by the LMS), planning to do it as 14385 Loch Tay, the last survivor of the class, which passed into BR ownership though never received her BR number . Have renamed the topic as I'll use this as a general page for my bodges of ready to run items into Scottish pre-grouping locos and stock

Pictures of the parts for the early style tender Unfortunately the laser cut chassis seems to be too wide to use, though I'll see if it's possible to modify it to fit. At worst i need to cut a narrower chassis and I'm cutting parts next week so I'll add this to my list (plenty of scraps to use anyway)

Attached are some pictures of progress on the wagon kits - the shade of paint looks right so I'm happy (also compared to one of the repainted coke wagons which I picked up a while ago) I also got several internal W irons cut out in mountboard so I can finish off the third wagon - slightly wider (~0.8mm) than the whitemetal one, but a trial fit has shown it to be a good fit underneath the wagon body. I've also cut out a few extra sets for the HR society Jones van kit and possible future scratchbuilds

Picked up more pugs and some bits from the CR association stand including a set of outside W irons. An underframe has now been laser cut in ply so it's just a case of seeing how the parts come together - the underframe is significantly shorter than any rtr wagons I have so will hopefully give that antiquated touch

Thanks to everyone who's replied, will hopefully get some pictures up of progress in the next couple of days I used this mix (a little more of the brick red though), with a dab of red paint (No 60 I think) and it seems to have worked. The approx ratio I used of No 60:No 70:No 100 was 1:6:3. It is only the first coat, but I'll paint another one tomorrow. The True Line kits I have are the diagram 22 and diagram 59 open wagons and the diagram 3 box van. Realised when I was digging out the castings to paint that I had been supplied with the axleboxes for the D59 for P4! I'm quite content with 00 gauge. I'll draw out a set of the W irons to go behind for mounting the axlebox assemblies to the underside of the body and get them laser cut in mountboard I have to confess, I'm not modelling the Caley specifically, more of a selection of Scottish pre-grouping - there's a rebuilt Loch class on the go at the moment (and has been for the last year and a bit) and an attempt was made at building a J36 using parts of a J83, a Glen or Scott may be on the cards this year if I can complete CAD drawings for the frames. That said most of my 'pre-grouping' stock is Caledonian - I've picked up a set of 4 CR 6 wheelers bodged from rtr and kit parts and a set of Hornby coke wagons which had been repainted into Caley colours (with lettering painted on) from my local model shop and while not being part of the association I do try and pick up a kit or parts from their stand at the Perth show each year. In my other modelling scale (16mm/ft) I have been supplying models of the ornate Caledonian station benches for the last year or so

So I picked up another kit from the Caledonian Railway Society at the Perth show today - I also have a number of other kits purchased over the last two or three years. Looking to get paint for them, - I was told that red oxide is the colour (for Caledonian condition), and was thinking that a 1:1 mix of Humbrol 73 matt wine and 100 matt red brown would give a good result. What paints have others used? Picked up bearings as well, so on Tuesday I plan to buy wheels (local model shop isn't open on Mondays). These will also cover a Highland Railway Jones 8 ton van - have the whitemetal axleboxes for this but will need to laser cut some springs for it as when I bought it they had run out of them - and a scratch build pug tender

Excellent day out, a great show as always. A good selection of layouts too - which is probably why I keep visiting year after year! Look forward to next year.

Hi Booking Hall, I removed all the brake gear from the wagon I used (thinking it was all too 'modern' looking) and once I came to adding detail regretted that decision - my plan for the next few tenders will be to retain the brake gear on one side. I've added running boards to mine now, and a big crude lever and making a start on a coal load currently building up the base with any scraps that are lying around. I'm planning on attending the Perth show this Saturday, so will see what wagon wrecks there are going for a reasonable price - tender No 1 will likely be finished for BR days (just need to pick up a liveried BR pug now!), and then I'll need to make a tender the LMS and Caledonian (probably the only difference being LMS and CR on the tender). Looking at a Triang chassis just now, it is ~5mm shorter than the Lima chassis so more ideal for representing the prototype, if I can pick up a few chassis I'll look at 3D printing the bodies or have parts laser cut. Alternatively if I find some suitable axleboxes I'll do the chassis (short dumb buffer type) in laser ply.

So to complement my ever increasing collection of Hornby Caledonian pugs (12 and still going) I thought I'd have a go at bodging an open wagon into a tender as was often coupled to these engines. I picked up a Lima 7 plank wagon cheaply (it had been repainted into a pink-grey colour) and cut it down - 2 planks high at the rear, and 4 planks high for the actual coal carrying part, based off of pictures of these tenders. I'm aware that it's too long, and the chassis style is too modern but it's a start. I plan to build another more prototypical one later, and this will be based off the size of my still to be completed True Line Models Diagram 22 wagon