Not much has been going on just lately appart from some paint on the Greenbat loco. This has been down to a bought of ill health as I got a gall bladder infection. I am better now so work will continue.
I have bought a small photo booth to get better pictures of my stock so expect new photos and a complete update of the stock pages.
Friday, 31 January 2020
Thursday, 2 January 2020
1st model of 2020
Late last year (2019) I managed to negotiate some space in the spare room for a work bench and now the first loco has been created using it.
It is a Greenbat loco built from a Phil Sharples kit. A basic loco with a single axle drive using 2 AAA batteries and a basic on/off switch.
Painting and a driver will follow although the rail at the rear of the loco might get some work on it to make it look better.
It is a Greenbat loco built from a Phil Sharples kit. A basic loco with a single axle drive using 2 AAA batteries and a basic on/off switch.
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| The loco under construction |
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| Getting its first test run |
Sunday, 24 November 2019
Update
Not much has been done on the railway this year due to other commitments which have limited my railway running time and the fact that the garden shed I have been using as a workshop is not suitable for this use. The shed is cold and quickly gets filled with rubbish.
My daughter has moved out and we now have a spare room and I have managed to persuade the wife to left me set up a work desk in there. I will take some pictures and show the first model that has been produced there.
With Christmas on its way the spare room is now full of boxes containing the decorations but I still have room to use the work desk. It needs a tidy and the drawers need to be labeled which I will do tomorrow evening and then I can get on with building kits.
I will do another update later this week with some pictures and I will also be updating the lists of locos and stock.
My daughter has moved out and we now have a spare room and I have managed to persuade the wife to left me set up a work desk in there. I will take some pictures and show the first model that has been produced there.
With Christmas on its way the spare room is now full of boxes containing the decorations but I still have room to use the work desk. It needs a tidy and the drawers need to be labeled which I will do tomorrow evening and then I can get on with building kits.
I will do another update later this week with some pictures and I will also be updating the lists of locos and stock.
Tuesday, 18 June 2019
Big update (again!)
I have not been keeping this blog up to date mainly because I have not really been able to do very much to the railway for some time as we have been doing a lot of other things that have taken up my time.
The locomotive stud has been added to with the addition of a LAT locomotive built from a PDF kit.
The kit consists of a 1 piece body with a chassis block that has a few extra pieces bolted on plus an engine block to fill in that big hole.
The body was sanded off as the 3D printing process does leave striping marks behind as the various layers are added one at a time. This does take some time but it is worth doing as it leaves a good surface for the paint to be applied.
The chassis went together very quickly with the side plates bolted on and the engine mount fitted along with the motor itself. Wheels and gears completed the build ready for use
The body and chassis were bolted together to make sure everything fitted and it all looked good.
Wiring followed and then the external paint and the roof were added. The loco was lightly weathered and had other details added.
It doesn't yet run as a loco as I am aiming on creating a battery and control wagon to run with the smaller locos that has not yet been built so the LAT will not be seen running for a while yet.
The locomotive stud has been added to with the addition of a LAT locomotive built from a PDF kit.
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| The LAT body ready for paint |
The kit consists of a 1 piece body with a chassis block that has a few extra pieces bolted on plus an engine block to fill in that big hole.
The body was sanded off as the 3D printing process does leave striping marks behind as the various layers are added one at a time. This does take some time but it is worth doing as it leaves a good surface for the paint to be applied.
The chassis went together very quickly with the side plates bolted on and the engine mount fitted along with the motor itself. Wheels and gears completed the build ready for use
The body and chassis were bolted together to make sure everything fitted and it all looked good.
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| Loco in one piece |
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| With the engine casting fitted the loco looks great |
It doesn't yet run as a loco as I am aiming on creating a battery and control wagon to run with the smaller locos that has not yet been built so the LAT will not be seen running for a while yet.
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| The roof, vents and paint added. |
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| Completed (almost) loco out on the railway. |
Wednesday, 3 October 2018
Wittenberg Schafer Loco
This little box cab locomotive is a nicely detailed kit from the Houston Gate Locomotives Works and is one of their usual laser cut wood kits. It features some nice extra detail and a neat 4 wheel drive chassis.
The kit also includes some vac formed windows which will make the glazing much easier.
I started by making the chassis which has extra detail for the drive shaft access panels and some nice axle boxes plus some nice chassis framing that is added to the sides and could be painted and added after the rest of the chassis is painted if you wanted to make them a different colour.
Once the frame is dry the axles boxes, wheels and motor are then added.
The buffer beams are completed with overlays which have rivet detail etched in although I decided to add some plastic rivet heads to them and some bolt heads to the drive shaft covers.
Once this had all dried I added the buffer beams and then I could get on with the body
This is a simple box structure with an engine compartment at the front which has a removable lid which has an air filter and control panel on it.
The engine bay is reasonably large and took 4 AA nicad's and the remote control board. An on/off switch and charger socket were added to the cab engine bay wall. Once complete the body was glued to the chassis.
The roof was now built. This is a removable roof to allow access to the batteries and consists of a frame covered with plywood sheet.
With all sections complete paint was then added and the model is slowly taking shape in a nice yellow and orange livery with framing in black.
The model is not yet finished, the final picture shows it's current condition.
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| Kit contents |
The kit also includes some vac formed windows which will make the glazing much easier.
I started by making the chassis which has extra detail for the drive shaft access panels and some nice axle boxes plus some nice chassis framing that is added to the sides and could be painted and added after the rest of the chassis is painted if you wanted to make them a different colour.
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| The chassis under construction |
Once the frame is dry the axles boxes, wheels and motor are then added.
The buffer beams are completed with overlays which have rivet detail etched in although I decided to add some plastic rivet heads to them and some bolt heads to the drive shaft covers.
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| The chassis nearing completion |
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| The body under construction |
This is a simple box structure with an engine compartment at the front which has a removable lid which has an air filter and control panel on it.
The engine bay is reasonably large and took 4 AA nicad's and the remote control board. An on/off switch and charger socket were added to the cab engine bay wall. Once complete the body was glued to the chassis.
The roof was now built. This is a removable roof to allow access to the batteries and consists of a frame covered with plywood sheet.
With all sections complete paint was then added and the model is slowly taking shape in a nice yellow and orange livery with framing in black.
The model is not yet finished, the final picture shows it's current condition.
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| The roof is removable and the frame is seen here drying |
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| The model with the external painting almost complete. |
Tuesday, 2 October 2018
Probably need to update more!
A very busy summer has lead to me not being able to update the site as I would have liked to so another big update is in order.
The railway is in the middle of a big rebuild in the station area. The platform will be relocated between the running lines in an island format and all the buildings will be repainted as they have begun to look rather shabby. The engine shed is also relocated to the opposite end of the station area.
I hope to get the track laying done this week and then the platform will be built before the weather really gets cold.
I have had some good time in the workshop where new wagons, coaches and locos have been built, all of which will be detailed in following posts.
The railway is in the middle of a big rebuild in the station area. The platform will be relocated between the running lines in an island format and all the buildings will be repainted as they have begun to look rather shabby. The engine shed is also relocated to the opposite end of the station area.
I hope to get the track laying done this week and then the platform will be built before the weather really gets cold.
I have had some good time in the workshop where new wagons, coaches and locos have been built, all of which will be detailed in following posts.
Wednesday, 10 January 2018
Into 2018
A belated Happy New Year to you all now that we are all back to normality with the Christmas Decorations down and the last of the goodies being consumed.
It is usually during these long, cold, wet and dark days of winter that the garden railway modeler starts to plan the tasks for the coming spring and I am no different.
Firstly the steam up area needs to be connected to the main railway and this will be no.1 task when the weather improves plus a general tidy up.
Next the station area needs to be redone as it is currently not working. A new platform and moving the engine shed to a new area will be the main tasks plus I want to add fencing and some general clutter to the yard area.
The factory area will, hopefully, be started in 2018 although it might not be finished until next year, depends on time and money.
The kits I received at Christmas are waiting on the bench for me to get the time to start putting them together and I am planning on making a couple of videos of the process.
Lots to do, better get on with it!
It is usually during these long, cold, wet and dark days of winter that the garden railway modeler starts to plan the tasks for the coming spring and I am no different.
Firstly the steam up area needs to be connected to the main railway and this will be no.1 task when the weather improves plus a general tidy up.
Next the station area needs to be redone as it is currently not working. A new platform and moving the engine shed to a new area will be the main tasks plus I want to add fencing and some general clutter to the yard area.
The factory area will, hopefully, be started in 2018 although it might not be finished until next year, depends on time and money.
The kits I received at Christmas are waiting on the bench for me to get the time to start putting them together and I am planning on making a couple of videos of the process.
Lots to do, better get on with it!
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