On the workbench.

I had acquired a kato chassis from a old gentleman after cutting a tree down for him. The wheelbase was too short to make a 'funkey' so I decided to make a very quirky machine.
It's based on a Land Rover that came from the SBR to the Ffestiniog Railway's 'Quirks and Curiosity' Gala last year.
It's made from a modified Airfix kit. The trailer came with the kit, so a bogie was cut in half and used underneath.
It's meant to be a 'modern' platelayers vehicle.

Water Tower

Over the weekend, I only managed to knock this up, which I am quite proud of (by using my non-existant brass soldering skills)
It was made using the tank from a Unit Models oil tank kit bought at the FRs shop and some bits and pieces of brass tube, wire and angle.
This is my first post via mobile, it stops me from having to run to the car to get my phone's USB cable when I want to update!

Scrapped!

Not the layout, by the way! Today was spent building the backboards, they have all been cut, only one requires attaching, which will be done Monday. I decided that since the Ffestiniog has always had a George England engine in disuse, TMR should have one too! So I built one of them out of card. Before painting, I decided I want some patched of the smoke box and saddle tank to be rusted through (similar to Welsh Pony today) so it was poked several times with a very small needle, which I think gave a good effect. It was then sprayed matt black, then the rust was applied. Tarpaulin was then laid over the cab to offer some protection from the elements.

The tarpaulin effect is achieved by cutting a 5 thou piece of plasticard to the desired shape, then after clamping the model stuck to my bench, the plasticard was laid over the model and a heat gun was aimed at it. It then got soft enough that I could gently encourage it to the shape I required with a piece of wood. The Tarpaulin is held down by rope, which is simply sewing thread, separated to it’s individual strands and glued in place. The engine then found it’s final resting place at the end of the coal siding at the Station.

Out of curiosity, can anyone guess which George England locomotive this is?

Earl's Chassis

Over the weekend, the chassis for the Earl has been started. I've decided not to use the one that is supplied with the kit as the boiler detail inside the cab is poor. The other reason is a bit long winded so here it goes... My Earl of Merioneth has been built in current form, which has a Hunslet boiler. The Langley kit is based on the original Merddin, which had a Spooner ‘Waggontop’ boiler. There are slight differences in the shape and stay arrangement, I won't go into too much detail. But basically, the Spooner ‘Waggontop’ it higher in the cab than the new Hunslet designs. So, how have I done it? Here are some pictures, which have a thousand words…

It is made of a single piece of plasticard, with slots for the bogies. Two phosphor bronze strips are pickups, which rub on the bogies’ pickups. The chassis should be finished within the next week, and then I will start on another for Merddin Emrys which will be scratch built in 1970s style (Shorter tanks, no cab, half cab sides and black domes) Here is a picture…

If anyone has some side-on photos of the engine in this condition, or some close ups, could you send them to traeth.mawr.railway@gmail.com It would be much appreciated.

Not much to say..

I have been slowly ploddering along with the layout, should be fully operating soon. It's been set up in the garage and somewhere along the line, one of the points decided not to work! So some investigation into that is needed.