Mountain Goat

The first waggons I made were probably the easiest to make. Old Triang underframes with mesh bodies. I found an old discarded mesh offcut in a back lane which had had cars going over it and had been beaten up and nicely weathered, so that was good for two waggons. I then bought a sheet of mesh and made some more. I made a rake just to have something to pull by my first loco. They now sit in a box as I have plans to convert them to run with Romford wheels, and also convert them to the new central buffer drop bar couplings which will need me to add a pair of bufferbeams to each waggon.

And coach conversions. This one started out as an old Faller 0 gauge coach. It is not quite finished as it does not have couplings yet (I have a lot of catching up to do!) But it is basically complete. It has been significantly shortened in length, width and height to fit my loading gauge. Like the waggon above, it runs on home cast resin axleboxes with Romford top hat bearings inserted and Romford 10.5mm wheels. It was quite a job!

Then there are the items of rolling stock which were converted from toys. Things like this which started life as a wagon from a toy trainset...

Then I also have coaches. This one was made from lollypop sticks and coffee sturers with a couple of pieces of wooden dowel.

I find this type of modelling liberating and fun. I can explore ideas in my mind before I try them for real to see if they work. Here is an interesting little waggon made from rusty baked bean tin (Painted over so the rust will show through eventually) and offcuts of Peco code 100 rail. Small H0 freight car wheels were used which were purchased as a job lot many years ago at a railway exhibition. The basic frame was bent around a small bottle in the form of two U shaped pieces which were soldered together to form the frame.

But going back to the term "Budget", I will show you these. Things rust well if left outdoors in these parts of the UK so I decided to take advantage of it and I left a rather large baked bean tin outdoors for a year and a half the tin was cut and folded to make th first three waggons which are open at the back. The other bodies which I made are less rusty and are complete bodies which are closed at both ends. The wheels are Romford 10.5mm and are slid onto the old Triang axles and little spacers made from cutting a plastic drinks straw have been used to prevent too much sideways play between the wheels and the cast metal frames. The frames are old Triang bogies which are lovely and heavy. They have had their couplings grounded off and also the top surfaces have been ground/filed so that they become flat. Bufferbeams were then glued onto either side and the bodies glued onto the chassis. The first one I made the body was wired onto the chassis by drilling holes. Tin actually does not like being drilled into but holes can be made much easier by using a suitable punch and a hammer. I have found though that the tops will take glue ok so the other two waggons tops were simply glued onto the chassis. The couplings are homemade. One of the waggons has yet to have its couplings fitted. There is nothing better to represent rust then real rust. The only small drawback is they are occasionally flaking off specks of rust and they will eventually rust right through... Not that it matters though. I just simply get another rusty tin and make a new body!

Even this little loco kit has had some minor alterations. No doubt you can tell which donor loco was used for the kit!

Thanks both for the kind replies. The trackwork is nothing more then Peco 00 gauge track re-sleepered using home cut PCB sleepers. I did scratchbuild three of the points and the diamond crossing, again using Peco code 100 rail rescued from 00 gauge track. It was actually easier then I expected though there was a lot of fiddling around and re-adjusting the position of rails etc. In regards to the locos and rolling stock, I tend to either scratchbuild or kitbuild as modelling in 7mm narrow gauge does not give you much choice, BUT if I can do it then most of you should be able as well, as many of you create things which are out of my league. Something I have learned though is that consistency is more important for an overall view then accuracy or fine details are. With this in mind, take a look at my loco number 1 "Ruthy" which was made from a Smallbrook Studio Clio kit. I was going to add vacuum brake hoses along with some to my coaching stock, but the more I thought about it and even had some old guitar string ready, the more I realized that somehow, it brought the little loco into a different realm, and the loco would lose its character somehow. I don't know what it is, but somehow if I added finer details and decided to hone in on the smaller details, it would not match my "Rough and ready" rolling stock. This loco is what I call "Almost finished" in that I do have a modification to do and also I have not added any engine crew. This loco looks like the standard Smallbrook Clio kit on a standard Hornby 0-4-0 chassis, but it has had some modifications and most are hidden. The first are more visible. Coal bunkers and home made name and numberplates... And the scratchbuilt couplings. But underneath is a much adapted Triang 0-4-0 chassis (The body needed a fair amount of work too to get the new chassis to fit) using modern Hornby 0-4-0 motor, gears and wheel assembly. It did mean I had to also make new pickups which look a mess but they work. But as the Triang chassis is heavier and stiffer, and the kit has added weight in the saddle tank part, and I added liquid lead in the coal bunkers before I even decided to convert it to use a Triang chassis... It has meant that this little loco is heavy. It does not wheelspin and I have had it pull a rake of ten 00 gauge bogie coaches. It really is a little too heavy to be honest, but I don't fancy rebuilding the coal bunkers as I glued the liquid lead in quite nicely! Incidently. The new Hornby motor is held into the slightly adapted later Triang 0-4-0 motors plastic motor cradle (As these chassis once used the old X03/X04 type motors so when the smaller motors came along, they made a cradle to sit them in to compensate)... Well. The new motor is held onto the cradle and chassis using a small thin cable tie and it works well.

I can only share a few 0-16.5 model locos. I think some of your locos are great.

I turned from modelling on 00 to modelling in 7mm narrow gauge for a number of reasons, but the main reason was that though I had plenty of 00 gauge, I had reached times of either no income, or a limited income due to personal situations I have found myself in. Modelling in 7mm narrow gauge enabled me to continue modelling as if I had no money but had a few bits and pieces like wheels etc, I could stay happy as I can make what I need. If I had kept to 00 gauge I would likely have given up the hobby which is a wierd position to be in as my life is rooted in model railways. So you can say the change to 7mm narrow gauge gave me new life as it enabled me to carry on with a renewed zeal and stance... Something that I had been needing for a long time. So I realize that some of you are thinking "How can 7mm narrow gauge be cheaper then modelling in 00?" And "Are there other advantages in 7mm narrow gauge?" Well. Consider this. Many narrow gauge railways considered themselves doing rather well if they could afford one locomotive and a narrow gauge railway that had three or more was doing rather wdll indeed! Locomotives for real railways were probably one of the largest single investments apart from the building of the line itself. They were jolly expensive things. The same situation exists with our models, so we can expect to need to spend a bit out here, and if one considers the starting point to a 7mm narrow gauge loco to cost a little extra then a budget 00 gauge loco if scratchbashing (If there is not such a word there is now!), and around twice the price or more of a budget 0-4-0 if one wants to buy one of those lovely body kits from the likes of Smallbrook Studio and others, then we are not exactly saving much money here. (Though a completed 0-4-0 or 0-6-0 loco kit usually still comes in at less then the price of an average 00 gauge new loco). But where I really found the savings can be made is when it comes to the rolling stock. I can build little waggons for not that much more then the price of a pair of wheels and possibly bearings (If required). I tend to scratchbuild in a variety of materials, but I tend to prefer wood and/or tin, as these two materials are either very cheap to obtain or free. But what about couplings? Don't they cost a bit? Yes. Normally they do. I found if I used tension lock couplings, they tended to cost not far off the price of a pair of wheels. However, I found the answer in making my own couplings, and after a long period of daydreamy thought and testing, I was satisfied with what I call my Mk2 couplings. They are easy to make and fit, and most importantly they work! Which is more then I can say about my Mk1 design! I also asked if there were any other advantages to 7mm narrow gauge. Yes. I have found I do not need so much space as I did when I was modelling in 00 gauge. I am slowly building a layout with an oval of track with two passing loops and a siding in a space of just shorter then 7ft by 2ft wide. Admittedly my locos and stock have to be built to take such sharp curves, and it is one reason why my Mk 1 couplings were abandoned in preference for my Mk2. But when I was into 00 gauge, for me a short formation for a loco to pull was four bogie coaches, and expresses needed 8 to 11 coaches. A minimum of eight to look right. Now as narrow gauge railway companies in the UK rarely ran long passenger trains, a typical 5 coach train including a loco will be not any longer then three 00 gauge bogie coaches. But rather then bore you with details, why don't I share a couple of photos. Be aware that my locos and stock and even my layout are all works in progress. The layout was initially meant to be just a quick build test on a single 3 1/2ft × 2ft board, but I got carried away, and not only added a second board but ended up building it the hard way! So here are a few photos... Budget waggons and things. The layout has also been built to a tight budget too.

Thank you. I am taking a look. I can see lots of topics to explore on this site.

Hello. I have just joined. How is your loco coming along? I have just seen this thread. I happen to have a similar kit in the latter stages of construction. I origionally bought a new Toby the Tram for the donor chassis, but then I decided to adapt the body and fit a slightly shortened Lima 09 chassis instead. It took a lot of work to do, but I did eventually get it to fit. I get modelling spurts where I do lots and then I live in dreamland for the rest of the time, so I have many half finished projects on the go. This one is awaiting the smaller details and the roof has not yet been fitted as I want to add some locomotive crew to it. Due to the way the pancake motor needs to be hidden and crammed into the body, the motor sits under the bonnet. Many alterations to the kit were made in order to get it all to fit, and also fit within the loading gauge width of my 7mm narrow gauge loco lift (Built from a Peco loco lift). It is all good fun! I am experimenting with this site so I hope the photograph works.

Just to say hello. I am new to this site.