St Mewan motive power - 00 Gauge.

Three out of the four locos available for roster are ancient ReplicaRailways products.

It was decided early on that the cheapest option, except the Hornby example, would be used to minimise cost.

The exception is a Bachmann latest chassis example obtained cheaply due to incorrect boxing!

You can tell the difference by looking at the wheels!

This one is the exception- a 8750 pannier. It admittedly run better but usually 3 times the cost of the others so it should.

Some spares were obtained from Replica and some spare gears from Peters Spares which have given a new lease of life to them.

All bar 3635 , which is the haulier of the 4 wheel coaches,  are all fitted with loops for Spratt and Winkle couplings which are a feature of the GWR stock on St Mewan.

 

OO gauge Kernow Model Rail Centre LSWR Brake Van.

 

Well it has finally arrived and boy was it worth the wait!

The one I chose was SB003H in SR - mainland livery number 54611.

Beautifully finished and appears spot on when compared to published drawings.

I have changed the couplings so it can be closer coupled and added a guard but that's all.Just need lamps.

Excellent model and will have to compare it to my Smallbrook Studio example.

St Mewan in GWR guise and an update.

Some while since an update was posted regarding St. Mewan.

So to put right here are some pics, this time in GWR mode, showing the limited progress.

The Hornby 4 wheel coaches have provided an option which has negated the need for an Autotrailer.

Several Pannier Tanks are now available plus a Collett goods for motive power.

A loading gauge and platelayers hut added by the platform headshunt.

Modified OO gauge couplings.

 A while ago I posted about modifying RTR couplings to shorten the distance between coupled stock.

Well, the result is shown here. The sprung buffers on the Pannier Tank helps although on St Mewan curves are generous.

I certainly think that the appearance is much better than standard couplings.

LCut 4mm Station Valances-

There is a range of Station Valances introduced by LCut. The one above is based on the valance at Wool Station , the one below is from Bodmin. There are several others for the Southern and constituants plus a number of other companies.

As a buyer with no connection to the company other than a satisfied customer, the three sets I ordered arrived within 36 hours and ar excellent- Highly Recommended!

http://www.lcut.co.uk/index.php?page=pages/hub&title=valance&gauge=OO

 

 

00 gauge S&DJR Mechanical Horse- Completed!

The Mechanical Horse has turned out rather well I think.

Although the era is wrong it is a might have been at one of the S&D stations.

Glazing has been refitted- not the original, I destroyed that removing it. Luckily the cab is square so a piece of scored plastic glazing could be used.

Transfers are from the HMRS Pressfix range- just need to fix numberplates .

 

Knightwing Diesel and Sprat and Winkle couplings-00 gauge.

The modified Knightwing Diesel Shunter has been completed.

It has been fitted with loops for Sprat and Winkle couplings.

Below is a shot of the shunter coupled to a 7 plank wagon.

The distance between loco and wagon has been reduced as far as possible due to the tight curves to be used.

Projects being finished so a new challenge to be found soon.

 

Knightwing Diesel Shunter.

I was fortunate to be given this model by my good pal Nigel.

he had partially built it and basically it needed finishing. The bonus was that It came with a Spud bogie as a power unit!

The basic colour was applied, a dark maroon, and the footplate, buffer beams and chassis was painted matt black.

Some random Pressfix numbers were affixed plus some Railtec manufacturers plates as shown.

 

00 Gauge S&DJR Mechanical Horse.

So,I was rummaging around evil bay the other night when I came across this lovely mechanical horse model by Oxford Diecast.

There is a S&DJR example at one of their sites which gave me an idea- rare I know!

There was still some paint in the rattle can of Halfords Rover Midnight Blue so why not- would be rude not to!

Out with the drill and separate the cab from the chassis, rub down, undercoat and apply said blue.The trailer was trickey to mask to make life easier but eventually the sides and headboard- boxwood L section- was coloured similarly.

The transfers come from a HMRS Pressfix sheet and, because the paint dries gloss adhere exceptionally well!

The overspray areas were painted Matt Black- Valejo paint- and when dry the flatbed was cleaned up with some synthetic thinners.

This is an excellent project except that the glazing was destroyed during removal-ho hum!

So, on to completion. The glazing will be made from some packaging offcuts but before that a coat of Satin varnish will be applied as this is a preserved vehicle.

 

Southern Pull -Push 2 car set in 00 gauge.

The two coaches have been sprayed in Southern Region green.

After completely cured the area where the transfers are to be affixed were given a coat of gloss varnish to aid the decals' adherence.

The coach was given a coat of matt varnish once dry.

The buffers have been fitted and glazing cut to size ready for fitting.

Readying the bogies ready for re-fitting and looking for underframe gubbins- exciting times!

 

New S&DJR wagons in 0 and 00 gauge.

 New arrivals from the S&D railway Trust are a pair of 7 plank wagons, one in 0 gauge and the other in 00.

Produced exclusively by Dapol each is based on existing mouldings. However, the 0 gauge offering has a representation of the end door hinge, something I haven't seen before.

The 0 gauge wagon is limited to 35 examples whilst the 00 example is a run of 135.

Profits go to the S&D Railway trust.

00 gauge Push-pull set

 The driving trailer has been stuck together and I an fairly pleased with the result.

The grey undercoat has shown up the imperfections and will need filling.

With the side window opened up it is looking like a generic Southern push-pull driving trailer.

below is the entire side view.

The roofs- from Roxey Mouldings has been cut to size and rainstrips attached.

Holes for the vents have been drilled and just await a delivery of Torpedo vents.

The pair of coaches will be in BR (Southern) coaching stock green to give some variety.

Once the vents have been attached then the roof will be sprayed in grey primer which will also be the final colour.

00 gauge Adams 02 on a layout at last!

30207 has finally made it on to a layout albeit a Western Region one.

St Mewan is the easiest of my 00 gauge layouts to set up.

It makes a good test track having code 75 rail and pointwork so if it works on this it will probably work anywhere.

There is also a passing loop to check bogie throw , magnets are placed (removable) to make sure couplings uncouple where needed- if they work at all.

Must crack on with the push-pull set!

 

00 Gauge Southern Driving trailer from Tri-ang/Hornby bits.

When leafing through the Southern Pus-pull book by Mike King, I came across this photo which on researching can be moderately accurately from the old Tri-ang/Hornby short Clerestory coaches.

The driving trailer fronts were somewhat daunting so I spoke to Roxey Mouldings. It was confirmed that they produce such a white metal casting so a couple were ordered.

I must admit I was somewhat surprised when they arrived through the letterbox the next day- now that is impressive!

The casting is excellent and has the same roof curvature required.

Using a razor saw the end was removed from part of a brake coach and the casting thinned to fit. This was glued to gether with superglue and allowed to cure before some epoxy is used to firm up the joints. 

Some filling will be needed to smooth some of the joints but not too much as, for once, I managed to cut almost precisely!

Held together by a rubber band whilst setting, the ducket section of the end was removed.

The pieces I have were cut to enable an extra compartment to be added to the coach in place of the guards compartment on the original.

Some slight shortening of one side was needed but it seems to butt together well. Seen here are the two parts ready to be fitted together. The tumblehomes fit well and will benefit from some strengthening once fitted together.

All in all a good couple of hours work and almost ready to be finally fitted tomorrow.

There are also the drivers compartment side windows to fret out but this will be done once all is solid.

 

How short is a 00 gauge coach?

 Twice as long as half a one of course!

Whilst rummaging through the 'bits' box I came across six pieces of Hornby 4 wheel coach- the old one.

When put together it produced the coach shown. A bit of fun which may be a talking point at future events.

All I have to do is replace the footboards, square up the roofs and epoxy the whole lot when the superglue has cured to beef up the butt joints (not ideal). Then fill any gaps and then undercoat. 

Final finish- who knows.