Blog- Operation Abyss - new / very old shunter, revamp

RSS Fetcher · December 4, 2014

so i have been thinking about rolling stock for this layout (which is more like everyday), after attending some shows i have come to the conclusion to keep interest i need a few different locos to keep things changing and moving.

i wanted a little steam shunter. this layout will never be 100% accurate and is not based on what actually happened, its a model its more what could have been. i want to build something that pleases. i want to produce something that looks as if it could of happened.

so what could i use for a shunter?? well i happened to be at my dads house looking at his layout and what he had achieved and i found my first ever train,

it was a Hornby smokey jo that at somepoint i repainted to british railways. this train is brought for me by my nan when i was seven so is really get on in its life so its about 14 or so years old. i never threw this away as i was kinda attached to it (being my first ever train to run on my dads layout as a child.)

i put it on a test track and it run, even with dirty wheels joe chugged along happily. the seed was set this was to be my new project.

i quickly discovered that there was buckled wheels and damage to the cab roof. this was a toy train when i was young and was dropped knocked and run constantly. also about an inch of dust and dirt.

the strip was started and all components cleaned and prepared

after the primer was added this highlighted the level of damage, a chunk missing in the side of the boiler and damage to the cab roof.

so these where fixed with model filler, i didnt want it to be perfect as no loco is perfect but it needed to be a lot better,

i discovered that the silver wheels where beyond repair so new wheels and valve gear purchased in black.

next on to paint, i opted for a mix of black and green.

i decided to add meth fix transfers for two reasons 1. they look better than anything else. 2. i had some old ones knocking about. luckly these had various letters and numbers.

i opted for number 2118 as i am a police officer and that is my collar number that is the only reason.

i then decided that as the cab is open and the detail is quite good i would spend some time picking out various pipes and gauges.

i next moved onto a crew and these came from the white metal figures of aiden campbell.

the kadee coupling conversion was a little harder i actually had to cut a slot in the chassis and insert the coupling box into the slot, this was worring as if i cut the slot at the wrong height there was no room for adjustment. normally i measure twice and cut once but i think with this i measured four or five times and its perfect.

finally weathering and then put the entire train back together. DCC conversion and old joe runs and looks great.

this was never going to be a perfect true to real loco at the end of the day its a cheap old Hornby railroad smokey joe however i am happy with it, and my first ever childhood train will run again on my exhibition layout if i ever get it finished.

what do you think.

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