SteveyDee68

A while back, an excellent pugbash of the above was shown by James using the original chassis/motor. Wondering if anyone has tried the Mainline J72 chassis/wheels under this body shell to make a small wheeled "industrial" styled shunter? Maybe it is a *lot* shorter and would look silly - I can't gauge the relative length from photographs of the two models! (Have yet to source a donor body, but do have a chassis that I *might* be able to repair to go under it!) Steve Steve

Oh dear - another inspiring small shunter! Brilliant upgrading, Rob, and thank you for the information about 14mm Romford wheels. I shall now start watching the Bay of Fleas and see if I might acquire one of these in the very near future to add to my rapidly increasing fleet of "dock authority" shunters! Steve

I may be responding to an old thread, but I really like what you guys have done with the Railroad Bagnall. Looking at the above, I think cutting the cab down a little would mean reshaping the front cab windows like the above around the bonnet. Shortening the cab slightly and lowering/widening the side window to create the "triple" side window, then open out the rear cab window to create the single rear door. Leave the roof "as is" to make the overhanging rear "veranda"... Oh dear, I feel another impulse purchase coming on! Saying that, watching Chris and Robert at The LocoShed restore old Triang dock shutters into smooth running locos means I am also drawn towards acquiring one of those, too! Why am I suddenly wanting to acquire all manner of dock shutters?! Stop doing such inspiring pugbashes!! Steve

Hi Views sought. Drawing pins as buffer heads on industrial locos? Purchased some yesterday from local pound shop, 10mm across, scale 2'6" (30") diameter. Is this simply too big in 4mm, or acceptable? Steve

Thanks Gibbo - have saved that as an additional reference for my next bash! (I do like the red livery, too!) Steve

Alastairq said: "That chassis is a Mantua item.....[USA stuff]...usually has a [Plymouth?] switcher body of their own design stuck on top. As an aside, the Manuta switcher has been said to be more S scale than HO....." The next photo down showed the attached body - you are right, I think, it is a Plymouth type design. (Couldn't for the life of me remember the loco name when I was typing before!) Alastairq said: "Be wary of the cranks coming undone......they are only held on by riveted-over pins.....These work loose. Might do to plop a drop of loctite on each axle end?" Thanks for that advice - will look into that as a precautionary measure. Alastairq said: "Those motors come from an age when electricity was generated in coal fired power stations.....try running the loco with a decent load.....watch all the lights around where you live, go dim? Nowadays, full throttle will bring half your local windfarm to a sparking screeching halt!" Ha ha! It zipped around a circle of track no problems at all and I assumed the lights dimming in the kitchen was the dodgy wiring put in about twenty years ago by the (very dodgy) kitchen fitters! (How dodgy, you ask? They make my modelling bodges look like precision engineering!)

Durty Diesels #2 So, what to do with the redundant USA switcher body left over from the previous bash? Remember I asked about this a few days ago? Having read the thread on the Playcraft/Jouef North British shunter and seen the excellent improvement by putting it on a replacement chassis, I've been sourcing a "pug" for it which means the chassis will be going spare... Here it is in all its simple glory. Quick offering up of switcher body and it looked a possibility. So, hacked off the redundant detail front and rear plus the rear "toolbox" from the body to see if it will fit... Et voila! (Apologies for the poor lighting of the shot). Body marked up with pencil for some drastic shortening, and plans to reduce the area of the radiator grill at the front with a plasticard overlay a la Forest287 and Northmoor and I'll have another freelance industrial shunter! As I don't have one of those amazing "box of bits" that everyone seems to talk about having (doesn't it take decades to create one of those incredibly useful treasure troves?!) I am wondering about how to create industrial buffers... are drawing pins anything like the right size, or is that a bash too far? Have to say, this bashing business is mightily addictive! Steve

As there are a few "durty diesels" listed, I hope you won't mind me posting my current "bashes" (of which I am very proud despite seeing all the cackhanded faults as this is the first proper "modelling" I've done in 35 years!) I was hoping to insert photos into the text and caption them, but looks like they will all appear at the end... [edit - photos not in the order I posted them so renumbered captions, then discovered how to caption them ... but not yet how to reorder them, so photos now in slightly wrong order but each captioned correctly! Phew! Steep learning curve!) 1) My "brainwave" having seen the Knightwing 0-4-0 diesel shunter kit in The Locoshed. The chassis is about 3mm too long, so a new running plate is easier than modifying the chassis! 2) The chassis - unscrewing the keeper plate the whole thing falls apart, so "leave it be" is the modus operandi! Note the hacked bits off the original body holding the chassis together at each end... 3) Strange wee beastie impulse bought off the Bay of Fleas (just read that elsewhere - love it!) for it's outside motion. Thought it was a Lima bash but no - unknown manufacturer! (Apologies - should have taken a photo before starting to hack bits off it - it had very low relief steps at the rear and "air cylinders" at the front) 4) No photos of work in progress - got carried away! L shaped strip, some chequered embossed plasticard (possibly 7mm scale!) and bits and pieces cobbled up from sprue etc - no claims for authenticity, but it looked very bare between the running plate and the connecting rods... Anybody spotted where I glued the bonnet sides on upside down and didn't notice until having fixed the widened sections (to clear the motor block)? A case of "carry on regardless" and muddle through ... well, it was about 3am when I spotted the error! LOL What was the underslung toolbox in the original repurposed to hide handrail holes! (Started the conversion only to discover the filler I had found in the loft had set hard - probably ten years or so ago - so needs must until I can see Jim and co and purchase the necessaries!) 5) Another view, with cab placed for effect. Used L struct to lower the buffer beams slightly to get in line with Bachmann wagons, hence heavy beam work at front and rear. Need to undercoat in grey, sort out couplings, glaze, drill for handrails, paint etc. But grinning like a loon because my plan worked out! Freelance and definitely feels "bashed"!

Hi Recommendations please for locos and stock able to survive the antics of 8, 4 and 2 year old boys. Cousin's kids loved playing with an oval of track, wagons and locos I set up for them. However, repairs now required to four items of stock (one wagon may now be scrap as the wheel bearings appear to be shot) and my venerable Mainline J72 is beyond repair after the 4 year old decided to push it along by hand ... with a LOT of downward force to get the wheels to turn ... (they did, but sadly not all at the same time). Speaking with my cousin about their interest and suggesting perhaps she could have a layout for them at home, her response was that they could simply visit me and "play trains" ... So, very very small budget and bombproof/kid proof suggestions please! "Uncle" Steven PS Interesting aside - the youngest got very excited and was very keen to operate the trains ... he turned out to be the best driver, showing a very gentle touch on the controller dial, accelerating gradually and (gasp of amazement) decelerating the train to a stop, something neither of his two older siblings did! Is that innate modelling talent, I wonder?!

Thanks for all the responses, and the redirection onto the previous thread. I've spent an interesting day searching for every variation of this kit, and nobody seems to want to have one to sell! (Oh, okay, the Tyco version was 1978 so obviously this is classed as "vintage" and is long out of stock!). The Walters one is huge compared to the Pola/Hornby/Tyco/Atlas/Model Power versions and also expensive ($84 plus) and the Faller one needs a lot of modification (note the ultra modern screams "German" control cabin!). Looks like a build it myself job! Surprised nobody has filled the gap in the market for this kind of bridge (Lasercut card or 3D printed perhaps?) Cheers Steve

I've been searching on eBay and the internet in general, but have failed to find a single image of the model lifting bridge that was available in the 70s/80s and which featured in a series of articles by David Andress about his Westport Branch (8x4 oval with a harbour in the centre). This afternoon I was glancing through "Scenic Railway Modelling" by Michael Andress and there was an article by David about planning and modelling the harbour, but with no mention of the bridge itself. I've attached two (poor) iPad photos of the photos in the book in the hopes that someone may be able to identify the manufacturer of the bridge so I can hunt one down for my own layout! Remembering how quickly my loco query was answered, perhaps I might get a solution before being told to take down copyrighted material!

John, thanks for the details. Took it along to Jim at The Locoshed in Whitefield to give it a good run on his test track and Paul who works there immediately identified it! Discovered the pickups were wired up to the motor back to front, so Jim kindly soldered then on the right way around so it now runs where you point the controller! Having cleaned the wheels and pickups, I was pleased to find it could handle three Lima bogie tankers around a No 2 radius curve at a sensible speed, and also a (heavy die cast) Wrenn Presflo wagon and three TTA tankers. The more it runs, the better it seems to perform. So definitely going to have a go at “improving” it like yourself (maybe even with a “Polly” chassis!).

Wow! That looks great, John. Was it a straight swap for the Hornby chassis, or was there lots of metal work involved? I am guessing so because it looks better (IMHO) than the 06 (?) that Hornby does with their 0-4-0 chassis. Great inspiration, thanks. Steve

Thanks Jason - reading through this thread gave me the history of this model, the actual original loco upon which it was based and correct 4mm scale dimensions! Building a replacement chassis is slightly outside my skills set at the moment, but perhaps a brass overlay to the footplate and buffer beams might add some much needed weight. Steve

Wow - ask and ye shall be answered! Thank you for the information. Suspected it was HO because it is not tall enough! Now the interesting bit of turning it into something useful/interesting! Any tips or hints gratefully received! Thanks again Steve

Whoops! Apologies for the font size - I thought I was zoomed in. Won't let me select all the text and resize. At least no reading glasses are required!

Can anyone help? Purchased a dinky little diesel off eBay at a silly low price. No name anywhere on the body or chassis. Looks like a continental hook at one end, old Hornby Dublo coupling at can end (removed as it fouls points). There is an engine number "D2705" mounded into the cab side (which suggests it was produced for the UK market). The drive to the wheels is similar to a Jouef loco I've seen on eBay, which is why I suspect it is HO rather than OO. Photos (sorry, iPad) show side view, front view, underside and motor/mechanism, plus a comparison with a Bachmann 04 and a standard van. Having cleaned the wheels and oiled it thoroughly, it can zip around like an angry wasp, running slower it doesn't need a sound chip as it has an authentic diesel growl, but struggles with a 40g wagon on anything but straight track! Suggestions to improve performance welcome! Purchased because it looked small and industrial and I fancied having a go at "pugbashing" (you know what I mean!) Steve

Thanks for the picture, Gibbo - that is exactly the loco I meant. And Neil's Y4 link above was to a loco I had no knowledge of whatsoever, but which has been saved as inspirational material! The loco does have a powerful, hunkered down, brutish look about it, which is why I thought "dock shunter". Will be bidding (but not for the "rare" 'commonwealth' example, with its outrageously inflated starting price!) Thanks for the responses.

Has anyone used the old Hornby Dublo 0-4-0 steam loco from the "starter set" as the basis for a 'pugbash'? It is outside cylindered and has the looks of a dock shutter about it... maybe the electrotren 0-6-0 chassis might sit under it? Wondering as have seen one on eBay for a reasonable price and wondering how adaptable the body shell might be!

Thanks Richard - Google hasn't delivered the goods to me so far!

And that is why I enjoy the company of modellers!

Hi Thanks, Richard, but it wasn't Chris's blog (he is describing building his container ship). I've been reading his blog for a while - a very inspirational modeller with good tips and, through his build blogs, advice on where there may be difficult bits in the downloaded kits. I was referring to the 1950s/60s cargo ship, which was expanded in the article...

Recently one of the modelling magazines carried an article about adapting a Scalescenes freighter into a larger cargo ship. I saw it on the newsstand but a few days later the next issue had replaced it when I went in to buy. the problem is, i can't remember which magazine and despite searching websites for back issues and google searches and suchlike, i haven't found it. Did I imagine it?! I am certain that it was built by one of the teams involved in the recent TV programme/competition ... unless I dreamt the whole thing? Can anyone point me at the right magazine and issue so I can purchase a back order? Thanks for any info - am starting to think I imagined it! Steve

Hi Grahame Have read all fifty posts of this thread and have found it hugely inspirational. Although I intend using brick papers in 4mm scale, I am rethinking my methodology to match yours, building an inner framework first (rather than fitting inner supports to an outer skin). Looking forward to seeing your next updates, and hope all is okay with you health wise. Regards Steve S

MR161 Oct 2011 (oh the joys of the free railway magazines box at The Locoshed, Whitefield, Manchester!) featured "Brewhouse Quay" by Chris Nevard, which used Caboose Hobbies ground switches to operate the points. The supplier is listed as MG Sharp models, but the listed website comes up with a message "This domain is available for purchase" (which sort of suggests that the website no longer exists). Does MG Sharp still trade - every other search I did came up with business information with "closed" against it! Furthermore, a search on Amazon came up with several results ranging from a pack of five throws for £13.99 (free postage) to a pack of five for £48.00 plus postage, and even a single throw for £44 plus postage, all HO scale! I'm aware that there are Arthur Daley types out there, but should there be that kind of discrepancy in cost? So, can anyone tell me how much I should expect to pay for a pack of five, and also suggest any suppliers (other than Amazon, as I don't like their attitude to paying tax!)? Perhaps even a correct website for MG Sharp (if still trading)? Thanks for any advice Steve