Saying goodbye to some of my Heljan original 47’s on Sunday. Below are the ones already sold, but I will be at the Stowmarket Railway Modelling Club’s Swap-Meet at Needham Market this Sunday (1st) selling about 20 more, Super Detailed Hornby Class 86’s, about 10. Also some Hornby and Bachmann Steam Locos. all mint and never used. My move to O Gauge continues.
This is an industrial O Gauge Tank Loco that has been named and weathered to a medium standard. This is an EFE variety and purchased at a very good price. These are great little Locos to start your O Gauge journey.
Here is an O Gauge shunter, it is out of the box, but has been given a medium to heavy weathering. Usual methods used – dilute Humbrol matt black wash and wipe to get shadow into all the crevices, Airbrushed with four Railmatch weathering colours and finally a little dry brushing.
This is a loco purchased by a friend, it was not in the best condition, but at a reasonable price. I was given it to enhance the appearance, add back missing parts and give it a general clean up.
It did turn out to be a slightly more difficult job than expected as parts of the bodywork was ‘superglued’ together rather than the usual soldering on a brass kit. The only body part that may need replacing at a later date is the Cab Roof, its had a hard life, and is not a good fit!
Overall it has been made into a respectable static model, the motor does work, but a new set of pick-ups are required before full operation is possible.
I have just completed a MOYS wagon for a friend, It came to me in a rather tatty condition, but was solidly built and ran well. After cleaning all the dust and debris away it looked even better – so weathering commenced.
Being very old, I can remember MOYS Coal office and Staithes at my local station in the early 50’s. My Dad worked in the Goods Depot. I think I saw a lettered wagon, but can not be sure, certainly saw wooden coal wagons. what a pity photography wasn’t as easy as it is today!
I believe the other Coal Merchant on site was ‘Colliers’, and I think they outlived MOYS at our home Station.
By the way the wagons were Shunted by Horses, Charlie and Mary, I used to help groom them, very gentle giants. Charlie went on to Newmarket and was the last Shunting Horse taken out of service.
Here we have a recent purchase from a trader. I do model a little BR(M) and this loco looked something just a bit different from the normal RTR Locos available and popular kit builds.
It came with a very good specification, with a Buhler motor and a multi cog gearbox. both the Loco and Tender were compensated chassis. The paintwork was tired and in LMS with a little doubtful weathering, that did not worry me as a partial re-paint and a new BR identity was required.
The Loco duly arrived on the stated day, and I was eager to open the package. Oh dear it had had a very rough journey, despite being quite well packed. Sadly the package did not have any ‘Fragile’ or ‘Handle with Care’ stickers to indicate its contents were delicate!!!! The carrier obviously treated it badly and evidence of one nasty bash or drop appeared on one of the ends.
I decided to keep the loco and repair it as it was a rare model not often offered for sale. It took me about six hours to put it back together. repaint and re-number.
It is an unfitted loco that spent some time allocated to the southern end of the Midland Mainline in the early 50’s – so may have visited Cambridge or March in my area, but no proof of that at all.
Below is the finished loco and I have to say I am very happy with the results – its in line for weathering, but sadly that will be a while, as I am way behind.
PHOTO AS PURCHASED BELOW
This is sadly not really a success story. I have been looking for a Stanier Suburban Brake Coach for a while and when I saw exactly what I wanted – I went for it. It was very well built apart from the bogies, with a slightly ‘iffy’ paint job!
The Coach duly arrived and I was going to turn the coach into a Push/Pull variety. I spoke to a friend that helped with what was needed to be changed and it was noted for action – then – No! I could not get the roof off or the body off the chassis, this has made the conversion impossible as lots of cutting and shutting was needed!
So here we now have a reworked standard Stanier Suburban Brake.
I have photographed it with a push/pull fitted Loco. They could have appeared together, but sadly not in Push/Pull mode.
The loco in the photo is a Somerset and Dorset 1P P/P fitted variety, Both loco and coach have been weathered.
Below is the flyer for the Bressingham O Gauge Exhibition 2026. There will be approx. 20 layouts representing many types of 7mm modelling including Steam and Diesel standard gauge and a mix of narrow gauge types. There will also be Traders, Demonstrations and Society/Local Club stands.
The entrance fee is £10.75 and for that you get into the Exhibition, Steam Museum and the Gardens. This will be a great family day out.
This is my first post for over 2 months. This hiatus was because of a fall and then recouperation which took longer than expected! I did no modelling at all during this time due to pain caused by the fall. I hope to get back into the routine soon and do the work I love.
I have not purchased very much recently, but I spotted this loco on a selling website several weeks ago and thought about purchasing it. A couple of weeks passed and the price was significantly dropped. I purchased it straight away and awaited delivery.
On arrival I test run the loco and I am pleased to say, it ran very well, smooth and controllable. After research I realised just how many differences there were between a LNER variety and a BR version and the purchased loco was in LNER. Again research taught me that the change of boiler from a type 500 to a 500A boiler changed a few things and they would need to be addressed to model a BR version.. The loco has a bit of paint flaking, but a partial repaint is required anyway. The back-head is fine, but will be re-done.
I have purchased a snifter valve, a new dome, stand alone safety valves and a new loco whistle. I will also need to make drain cock pipes. From photographs it shows that some tenders were changed or modified, but some remained as in LNER days – a case of pick the right engine with the correct tender.
This is a medium term project,
