RedGemAlchemist

Slightly off topic. Was looking through Signalbox.org and found this. https://signalbox.org/diagrams.php?id=658 I pass this station building every Thursday on the way to visit my grandparents in Thetford. It's fascinating to get a picture of how it might have looked when it was working, seeing as when the tracks were removed and it was turned into a private residence in the 60s I wasn't born yet. In fact my parents weren't even born! EDIT: Removed the picture and replaced with a link. Just read the site copyright and I'm not sure it applies to here but I'm not going to risk it.

Precisely that one. Again, I like the layout of the station as it exists now so I'm going to take some inspiration from it. With some modifications, this is the perfect basis for the station at Kelsby. Small, quaint and full of character. Add a selection of small locomotive sheds, an coach shed and a couple other things and it'd be perfect.

Yeah, it's annoying when you have two places with the same name. That one's on the Isle of Wight. The one I'm on about is the one in Norfolk.

Wrong Whitwell mate, but interesting, and a nice station building to take inspiration from. Thanks anyway.

Hmm, good point. The carriage shed is definitely an idea, and the crane and a small goods yard of some description was the plan (mainly because modelling a crane would be really fun). Hadn't thought of livestock pens and loading docks despite the fact that that is obvious Red why the heck didn't you think of something so essential you jackass. The line does get quite a bit of tourism but the main traffic is local passengers and aggregates from the quarry. The livestock is mainly on market days or in the leadup to stuff like the Royal Norfolk Show. The Whitwell comparison was because I like the general layout of the station itself.

While I was at work today I was mulling over thoughts about the layout of Kelsby station. Thinking something similar to Whitwell station as it exists today as part of the still under construction Whitwell and Reepham Railway. Anyone have any thoughts and suggestions? Like the idea of brainstorming with you guys.

Thanks so much guys. Coming from you two especially, hearing you like it is just... wow. Unfortunately the KLR locomotive works has come to a grinding halt at this moment in time. I need an L&Y Pug chassis for No.3 but unfortunately I can't find one on cheap. Especially not as I actually want an L&Y Pug to turn into a second small saddle tank because, as mentioned more than once, I love small tank engines, hence why the KLR's fleet will mostly consist of such. So for locomotives, sadly there probably won't be that much progress for the time being.

And Wild Rover is constructed. Boiler bands added, holes filled, condenser pipe added, undercoated and partially painted. And I am SO happy with the result. All that's needed now is the green and the numbers.

I am still working on the model, but I really don't want to photograph it until I'm finished with the details. So, here is some lore on the locomotive in question. KLR No.2 "Wild Rover" Wild Rover is one of the KLR's most well-known (locally speaking) locomotives thanks to its history and its unique, slightly ungainly appearance. It was built in 1921 and began life as a GER S69 numbered 1571, running on a branch line in Cambridgeshire before being severely damaged in an accident and sold to the KLR in 1935 as it was cheaper than selling it for scrap with such a large engine. It ran solidly for another seven years before being involved in an accident involving the then KLR No.6 which ruined many of its parts. What could be salvaged was salvaged and what couldn't be was replaced, resulting in the disproportionate 0-6-0 you see today. The now somewhat undersized boiler, however, did cause problems with power output and efficiency, and numerous attempts were made to rectify this over the years that were only partially successful, and resulted in the large, conspicuous condenser pipe running down the locomotive's right hand side, a superheater being installed and a still slightly underpowered and unreliable locomotive. Today, Wild Rover still runs the line's heavier passenger trains, still being stronger than the line's tank engines, but occasionally it will still run into issues and have to be replaced with usually two smaller engines.

Hmm. Definitely thinking of adding those to my shopping list along with the usual list of second-hand parts.

Ask and ye shall receive, my friends! Although apologies for the original photos and the change of location. My workspace hasn't got amazing lighting and the worklamp I usually work under is too bright for the camera to handle and totally nukes the colour balance. So, I'm taking these photos in my kitchen again, like the branch train ones (though there it was because the end result was too big to fit on my desk.) For a full list of parts: the footplate, cab, firebox and driving wheels from the old Triang/Hornby GER S69 / LNER B12 sculpt. The boiler is a piece of black 20mm outside diameter PVC pipe cut to size. The dome and chimney are from the Hornby GWR 101. The smokebox and front coupling are from the Hornby 0-4-0 industrial (the one that looks like Dowlais No.40 King George V.) The filler is Carplan Fine Surface Filler and is moulded by hand. It's of course still very much a work in progress and still needs a lot of details (boiler bands and a condenser pipe, maybe some handrails if I can work out how without a drill.)

Clearly you don't know me then lol. Although one genuinely good piece of advice is that a good sense of humour will get you through most issues in life pretty smoothly.

So, who wants some history of a couple of the KLR's locomotives? KLR No.1 "Bulldog" Mostly built by the Avonside Engine Company specifically for David Bradleigh, the 2nd Baronet Bradleigh in 1903, "the engine that built a railway" was the KLR's very first locomotive and has had as unusual and storied a history as any of the KLR's motley fleet. Bulldog was victim, unfortunately, to the 2nd Baronet's infamous impatience and ran the first two months of its career unpainted and with no cab! After it was actually completed, it spent its first few years painted in a matt sky-blue until it was painted into the pine green and dark blue it now carries, which would later become the KLR's official main livery. Bulldog was designed for industrial work rather than the mixed traffic work it has always done on the KLR and as such isn't particularly efficient or fast. But it is very powerful for its size, and more important than that it is reliable, exemplified by the fact that it is the only pre-WW1 locomotive still running on the railway. But more importantly... Surprise! Wild Rover is almost done, having successfully performed surgery on the main body with an angle grinder (!) and got the necessary pipe, the locomotive now actually LOOKS like a locomotive. Still needs some filling in and some details put on, but it's getting so close I can almost taste it!

Sorry about the delay. I had real trouble connecting to the site for several hours. Wild Rover now has a coupling, and the smokebox has a step on the front as intended. Literally all I need now is to take off the old boiler, cut a piece of 20mm pipe to fit and put it all together. I am so pleased to be so close to building my first custom locomotive. EDIT: Thanks to the block of metal in the smokebox of the S69/B12 body, it's going to be impossible to hacksaw it. Time to take it into work tomorrow then, work on it in my lunchbreak. I will either cut the boiler off, taking me sailing over the hardest hurdle towards Wild Rover's completion and onto the home sprint - or totally destroy the body and I'll have to put together a new body from... something. Wish me luck. Fingers crossed.

Ah right. Yeah, makes more sense than Leahy, but interesting to see we were thinking along the same lines with artistic types.

Back from the car boot sale at Banham. Sadly didn't find anything of use, so ONWARD TO eBAY! Thanks. To be fair, most of my ideas are probably not the most practical. Perseverance is key though. Never give up. Always try, no matter how stupid it may initially seem, because you really never know. Another model rail history lesson. Interesting. Many companies it seems have that sort of "first season weirdness", as folks in TV circles call it. And despite the fact that many remove the tension lock couplings I actually like them. And thanks for the warning. Glad to meet another enterprising light railway constructor . Also Moxy, your sig is spot on

May I suggest a name idea? Edward Daniel Leahy

BEHOLD - what may end up eventually being KLR No.3 (actual name pending.) Inspired by this thread by Captainalbino, I plan to cut and shut this little guy, then attach it to a L&Y Pug chassis to create an Avonside-style saddle tank. Probably to act as a station pilot or light goods engine. Being a fan of small tank engines, this was something I just HAVE to do. The bunker comes from the 101 I obliterated to get the dome and chimney for Wild Rover, and I lost the brass bits on the dome so I'll... think of something as I don't have a specific plan at the moment. Issue is I don't have said L&Y Pug chassis so I can't measure this totally accurately (not that roughly drawing a line in bronze Sharpie is exactly precision either). Chassis wise I've not got the best selection on hand to be honest. Three of the overclocked 0-4-0 chassis, the old Nellie one that Bulldog uses, the S69 one Wild Rover uses, and an 0-6-0 one from a Hornby Toby.

Clearly, as apparently the Mandela Effect is at play.

Oh my God that's perfect. All it needs is to have a black roof and be chocolate and bronze. Also, excellent to meet another Norfolkman. Though I must say I'm really not a pure-blooded Norfolker as my maternal grandfather is Irish. But mostly. And yes, S-FF-LK is a dirty dirty place and you are a naughty little man for going there!

...well, shows how much I know about model rail history. I don't look into the production or the behind the scenes much. What matters is Triang used to be a thing and now they aren't and the old Triang stuff, a lot of the time, is much more endearing to me than modern Hornby. Not saying Hornby is bad obviously (most of my locos are Hornby, though how long any of them remain intact or even completely made of Hornby parts remains to be seen of course) but I'm a retro man. Though my favourite is actually Airfix. I adore their old coaches and I love their 1400 Class. In fact, one might end up as the KLR's only GWR loco. Issue is if I can find one for cheap, because in my experience the original Airfix version are a teeny bit scarce. In short, "Dammit, Tim, I'm a bodger not a historian!"

Sorry to hear that, Edwardian. Though this here is the reason I use pre-made track. Or will do / will be doing potentially / plan to. Either way, the Hints have been Dropped, then doom is imminent. Best prepare the bomb shelter

Thanks. It's been a real pain in the backside. The plastic on this thing is so thick it's genuinely heavy going, especially without proper tools (though that I am working on.) Also decided to ditch the blue and white livery, so now it's just either pine green and blue or black. In Wild Rover's case, the green and blue. The hardest bit is removing the boiler, which as noted I'm not sure how to go about in a precise manner. I'll probably have to wait until I am better equipped. Shortening the footplate though was actually easier than expected though, and I don't mind that the end result has a noticeable overhang. Anyway, I may be getting some more work materials to work with soon as I'm going car boot shopping tomorrow. I'll keep an eye out, especially for old Triang stuff. Love Triang, it has so much character. Shame they went bust and got bought by Hornby. Also a question: does anyone have any advice for reattaching the front coupling? I'm not sure how to go about that as it used to be attached to the lead bogie, which of course is no longer required.

Here is the setup so far for "Wild Rover", now with the dome from the 101. Unfortunately I don't own a razor saw, so I destroyed much of the boiler of the 101 to get it out (with a breadknife and two files of all things! I told you I was working at the absolute bare bones level.) The things we do to achieve progress. So now I have a dome, the smokebox, and the locomotive itself which I don't have any way to remove the boiler of without any specialised tools. Still, it's definitely movement in the right direction. I also don't have the new boiler to hand yet.

Oh really? Awesome, now I have an excuse to build one for the KLR