Sunday, 11 May 2025

Sunny Sunday (8) - goods train..

 Another lovely sunny Sunday,  had fun running a goods train around the garden layout...




Wagon Works - Adding transfers...

 With a number of newly acquired wagons and some older ones missing weight/tare data I finally got round to buying some transfers.

So today embarked on that tricky delightful and sometimes frustrating job to put the transfers on the wagons...

Three quarter of an hours and all nine wagons done...

Sunday, 4 May 2025

Sunny Sunday (7) - short mixed train..

Nice day, bit breezy with a bit of cloud...

A pleasant half hour or so today running a little train around the garden layout...





Sunday, 27 April 2025

Sunny Sunday (6) - short goods train..

 Today I enjoyed the lovely weather and did a test run of the re-furbished bogey goods van...


Wagon Works - Bogey Goods Van

 Having had a good look at the bogey goods van I bought, I realised it is a bit of a "fixer-upper" ...

I spotted a few things that needed doing

  • wobbly running, from side to side
  • brake lever loose
  • missing door catch on one side
  • missing brace plates on one side framing
  • missing brace plates on both sides for the corners of the doors.
  • Accucraft  couplings needed
Fixing them snags...

Wobbly running sorted by fixing some washers to the top of each bogey truck
Missing door catch, a new one added made up from a bit of brass wire and some cardboard..
Bracing plates... I measure up the ones which were present and cut some new ones out of plasticard (trying to get some bolt head detail with a hammer and sharp point). These were stuck in place and the brake lever fixed at the same time.


A quick test of an extender for a the Accucraft coupling...
The final bodge ....

A run test needed and then painting the new bits (or maybe the whole van body...)

Tuesday, 15 April 2025

Coach works(14) : First run on the garden layout...

Weather was suitable for a first run of the coaches today; I paired them with my little tender loco..... nice to see them running at last after the time spent modifying and paintung them.




ran the coaches round for a fair while until the batteries in the loco ran out of juice.

(Hmm what to do with the fourth one I bought ? Another project in the offing )

Coach works(13) : Assembling the coaches...

 At last, after finishing painting the coaches time to assemble all the parts...

parts laid out ready for assembly...
glazing and seats added
the fiddly bit... fitting the under frame to the coach body...
all done - a bit of a 'clip together' marathon