This little loco has a had a slow start to its life. After buying the kit etc, Mike asked his friend Ian Hammond to do the White Metal kit for him, sadly during the making of the loco, Ian passed away. After a few months another friend Barry took over the making and painting of the C12. It was passed to me for weathering a couple of weeks ago and I have just finished it.
This was a Cambridge Loco at the time and photographed by a work colleague in 1950 – what a memory!
Below are some of my detailed OO Hornby and Lima Electrics that were done during the period 1980 – 2000. These were the best models you could buy then and if you wanted to improve them, then you had to do if yourself.
Most are repainted, re-wheeled, detailed, replacement pantographs and weathered. These certainly do not match their modern replacements in any way, but with extra weight they performed on several of my old layouts, Autumn Lane being best suited.
As I have moved to O gauge now, these have become surplus to requirements and I have a couple of people interested in taking them off my hands – below is about half my stock.
Great memories of improving quite basic models into the then Exhibition standards – no out of the box running then !!!
Here we have the Sentinel that was based at ‘Potters’ of Ely for shunting their yard. The Loco has been weathered to the condition it was in just before withdrawal.
I have today finished weathering six steam Locos for my new OO layout. I have posed them on the layout to show how its all being pulled together. I still have a few items to paint and weather, three more locos and lots of sundry bits like wheelbarrows and shovels, point levers and more people. I have also got to add three link couplings to the wagons so that they can be shunted around the layout. I guess Hornby no longer do dummy screw coupling with their locos, as only one had them in the ‘add on’ pack. I have ordered some ‘Smiths Couplings’ which I will add.
Wyke Street only needs a couple of wagons, one for coal to restock the coaling stage, and the other is to take away the ash from the pits. These were both purchased cheaply and amended to my requirements, both received loads and were weathered. Both went very well, so may buy a cheap van for stores deliveries!
I have purchased some three link couplings – they arrived after I took these photos!!!
The layout is all but finished, cars have been added along with a few workers and ballast bins. Only a few more people and the point levers have not arrived yet!
Being freezing cold in the garage and work virtually impossible, I put on multiple layers of pullovers and went for a photo session! There are a couple of weathered Locos, but most await a weathering session. The factory weathered D16/3 needs special attention I think!
Well, 99% finished, just three cars, point levers, people and ballast bins to follow. Everything else has arrived and has been planted. I feel the overall blending has gone well, but I will revisit at a later date. On the downside, one of the points seems very unreliable and I may replace it before its first Exhibition.
Well, here we are at update 19. Most buildings, trees, bushes and grasses have arrived and I have added them to the layout. I am now only waiting for a small water tower, oil huts, more yard lights, cycle shed and water cranes, so no 19 update is likely to be the one before the last update and the layout is called ‘finished’ with update 20 !
I spent yesterday using all the trees, bushes and flocks I had spare from other layouts, most of it recovered. I found a couple of new packets of foliage from a box of spares. This has really started to pull the layout together and I am pleased with the results, so much so that I have thrown caution to the wind and ordered nearly £50 worth of items off Ebay that should finish the layout off. Thanks also goes to my friend Peter who has donated a building.
And a posed Loco for – Ian Trainman
Another very busy day on the layout. I have now added a five wire fence, I have coaled the Coaling Stage, I have added heaps of ash beside the ash pit and in the stabling point. I am now at the stage that I need to purchase several buildings and other lineside items, this is going to have to wait a while as I need to get the car thro’ the MOT next week. I have some bits and pieces of hedges, trees and flocks, so a little more work can be done – then limbo for a while. There is also a few things I feel I can improve that I have already done!
