Ex B1 Departmental Loco No.17

Having already made this Loco in OO – it was always my ambition to do one in O Gauge. After selling most of my OO early Green Diesels and purchasing replacement O Gauge Locos it became a must for me.

I never wanted to pay a lot of money on a Loco to distress it the condition Departmentals were at the end of their lives. I guess I have been looking at Exhibitions and on Ebay for over five years and everything was way out of my max budget of approx £400. Well last week a ‘The Right Price Loco Co’ came up on Ebay, the starting price was £280 for this very average loco build, but it suited my purpose. At the end of the day I did not want to wait any longer for this project – so I bid and got it for just over my target price. It was duly delivered after three days, but although packaged well, it had shed several bits during transit and it had become very poor quality.

Strangely enough it was quite a good runner! Especially as when completed it will sit at the end of a carriage siding. Since its arrival I have fashioned some missing parts, re-attached the loose parts and added some detail items that probably were not included in the original kit.

I have now undercoated and top coated the Loco and tender, with lining next. Below are some photos of the Loco so far and the OO one I did before. The OO one will be available to purchase once I have finished the O Gauge one. It is suitable for 1964-67 in this condition in East Anglia, but not with other Steam as the region was dieselised by 1964.

Class 56 – Croft

This is the last of the batch I recently weathered. This is a standard Heljan O Gauge release, but I have added Protoneo plates.

Again ‘Croft’ was a visitor to East Anglia on Aggregate trains and was seen several times. It has received a medium weathering to the frame and bogies, with the bodyside having a light dusting.

Class 56 – Bardon Hill

Heljan O Gauge 56063 – now weathered. Medium Bogies and frames and light sides, I chose this Loco as it was a regular visitor into East Anglia. The Railfreight livery application by Heljan was excellent and took the weathering very well.

31128 Charybdis

This is a conversion of an O Gauge Class 31/4 back to a Class 31/1. 31128 is currently the only Class 31 with a mainline certificate. I stripped all the ETH equipment off the Loco, filled the holes, masked off the area and undercoated and top coated as necessary.

I have now given the Loco a light to medium weathering. Sadly the Heljan 31/4 does not come with snowploughs, so the Loco remains plough-less until I can source some.

Class 37 D6712 Weathered

Here we have an O Gauge Class 37 in ‘as delivered’ livery, about six months into service. It has received a medium weathering on the roof, frames and bogies but the bodyside has only received a light dusting. This assumes that some form of cleaning took place even when shedded alongside the disappearing steam locos. All detailing accessories were added and missing parts sourced and added.

Scottish 08 in O Gauge

This is my first first attempt to post on my new Computer – I think I have fathomed it all out – fingers crossed.

I have spent the last two days preparing and weathering ten pieces of O Gauge Stock – here is the first to be finished. This 08 was based at Eastfield and is in 1987 – 89 livery. This is a light to medium weathering.

Whitwell & Reepham Gala

On Sunday our group visited W & R Railway Gala. The Gala was primarily to say hello to their newly re-built ‘Agecroft No. 3’ and to say goodbye to ‘Victory’ that now retires for a couple of years for refurbishment. We were asked to do a Demo and a Display to help with the Gala atmosphere. I have split this into two sections, the Gala itself and separately our Demo and Display. All Photos by my Wife.

Heljan Class 40 -centre headcode

My latest Class 40 arrived yesterday and I have now detailed and numbered it as D358, a Scottish Loco of the mid/late 60’s. I have also varnished all the numbers and grills. Weathering will take place as soon as possible.

BR(W) Push Pull Coach

This weathering job is not for the faint hearted, a lot of care is needed when using washes for weathering and shadowing. I had to do all washes with a very small brush to ensure that the many windows were not damaged or misted. I must admit that when I started the Blood and Custard livery looked very plastic and lacked depth, I feel that after weathering it looks much more three dimensional. I am very pleased with the result, but amazed at the amount of time it took.