Page 19 - May June 2000

very good, including the white tyres on all wheels. A search around provided four well-fitting brake shoes from something previously cut up. The ends of the arms were drilled and fitted with mounting pins. These were glued in behind each wheel. After setting they were painted matt black. The pilot was reworked with thin wood across the top, and coupler lift bars were fitted, with split pins, to small holes drilled in the pilot. Another rummage through the bits box produced a straight shanked Kadee coupler which, with some carving and packing, fitted inside the coupler mounting box at the front end. The air pipe casting was also fitted at this stage. The various sub-assemblies were now ready for painting.
It was decided that a silver smokebox and stack would look good with the rest of the loco and tender in plain black. I’ve never been successful spraying silver, so this part was brush painted. The black is a large aerosol sold by B&Q under the Plasti-Cote brand. It isn’t cheap but gives a very fine finish. The assemblies were sprayed in my garage (yes, I took the precaution of first removing the car!) The assemblies were fixed to pieces of wood, or hung on lengths of wire so they could be handled without damage to the paint.
The spraying sequence resembled “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”. If you can imagine the picture- all these weird shapes plus myself clad in old clothes with one old glove! I hold the assembly in one hand and spray with the other. To date, it seems to work, though the garage interior walls resemble Joseph’s Coat of Many Colours. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.
After two coats of black were found to be enough, the paint was left to harden for a week. Meanwhile I found some figures for a suitable crew. Two were Lionel and one from Bachmann. The latter needed some surgery around the poor fellow’s head to make him into something approaching human. At the same time various bits and pieces were gathered; re-railing jack, large and small coal hammers, two shovels, fire-irons, handlamp, brush, bucket, brake hoses, bell, and various oil cans all had to be fettled up and painted. It took a week to get these items finished - no wonder I take an age to get through a project.
When the paint had hardened the
interior of the cab was painted light green, the smokebox, stack and smokebox door brushed in silver. The latter is a push fit into the boiler. When dry I replaced the front number plate. I’d kept the original - a very good replica of a Baldwin Works Plate, and #9 seemed a good one to use anyway. Next real obeche strip wood was used to plank the cab floor. This covered the hole where the sound switch had been removed, and made a reasonable job of the floor.
By this time the loco was ready for decals. (Sorry, transfers.) Gloss varnish was applied to the areas where the decals would go. All were from Microscale but I have to make up lettering from alphabet sheets one letter at a time. A tedious job, some would say (serve me right from having such a railroad name). In the photo, the tender still needs the road name Newton & Sierra Railroad as I ran out of letters. This will be rectified when the new decal sheets arrive. After decalling a coat of matt varnish, again by Plasti-Cote, was applied. (I have no connection with this firm!)
On assembly I got as much lead into the boiler tube as possible, glazed the cab with clear acetate, picked out the various valve wheels with silver and brass, and the brake hoses were given red-painted couplings. The tools were distributed around the tender top plate and real coal added (I have a large lump of coal from Chama New Mexico, courtesy of a very good friend. This is used very sparingly though I have enough for a few locos yet!) The bell was fitted atop the boiler, and bell and whistle cords added. Finally the figures were set on the footplate.
So the Newton & Sierra R.R. has its new loco. She looks very well indeed, especially at the head-end of a combine and coach in dark green plus the odd boxcar. She can be seen handling the morning departure out of Newton and the engineer tells me she has a good turn of speed as well.
Some might say so much work isn’t worth it. Well you’ll have your own ideas on that one. For myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the exercise, but then again that’s the best part of this garden railroading for me - seeing your own creation running. If, after reading this story, someone else is inspired to have a go, then all the effort is worthwhile - if I can do it, so can you!
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
Nominations are required for the Positions, on the Region Board of Directors, of VICE-PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT, SECRETARY and TREASURER for the 2000-2001 term. Any nominations should indicate the name of the nominee and the position nominated for, and should be signed by the nominee, the proposer and seconder. All three persons should be current members of the NMRA and British Region.
Any nominations should be received by the Ballot Chairman Rai Fenton at 40 Larkshall Crescent, Chingford, London E4 6NS, by August 7th, 2000. If more than one nomination is received for a post then a postal ballot will be held of all Region members, with the result announced at the Region AGM. Any queries, please contact Rai on 020 8524 1645 or via E-mail at rjfen@raisig.demon.co.uk
soldered up from brass wire, then drilled and fitted to the footplate. The air tanks were originally under the footplate. These were removed, filler applied and sanded smooth, mounting pins fitted and the tanks placed under the cab on both sides. This makes a great deal of difference to the look of the loco. A wooden tool box made from millimetre ply was fitted to the pilot, ahead of the smokebox. One of the Phoenix padlock castings was utilised for the lock (this part of the original loco looks very bare indeed). At the same time oil lines for the cylinder lubricators were made up from brass wire and fitted in place.
Backhead details were fabricated from bits and pieces out of the scrapbox, including valve wheels, and gauges made from small castings. The cab floor was to be planked with real wood, a job that would be done after the main painting had been accomplished. The cab roof hatch was cut away, a square hole cut in its place, and a new plasticard hatch fitted in the open position. The new stack was made from plastic tube, fitted with the top from an Aristocraft chimney. White metal castings provided a new bell with frame and hanger, safety valves and a whistle. The cab itself acquired new brass hand rails and crew seating. This completed the loco body - attention was turned to the tender.
I wanted a different style of coal bunker so the tender body was removed completely. A new top was made together with the raised side pieces of the bunker, using plasticard to represent steel plates with a sloping floor to the tender footplate. Hand rails were fitted to the sides and rear of the tender, plus grab rails in the shape of a ladder so the fireman could gain access to the tender top plate for the water hatch etc. A new, cast water hatch was used, and a new brake wheel fitted on the top of the curved sides at the front of the tender, on the fireman’s side.
For the tender chassis, the truck sideframes were retained, these being fitted with the small Bachmann metal wheelsets. The chassis needing no further work, at this stage it was sprayed with grey undercoat, as were the remaining assemblies. This undercoat serves tow purposes. It forms a good base for the final colour but it also shows up blemishes in the filler. These were rectified with further applications of filler, then sanded and resprayed with undercoat. As both the tender footplate and rear of the loco chassis would have wood planking added, I had to spray two coats of black onto the chassis before proceeding. New coupler cut bars were fashioned from brass wire. Castings for the air pipes and centre drag box were fitted. The original tender to loco coupling was retained so the tender was put aside for the paint to thoroughly harden off.
The loco chassis, tackled next, required the least work. The existing paint was
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