David Holman

Bexleyheath today. The new G Class, Deutz diesel acquitted itself very well today, in somewhat trying circumstances. Nothing wrong with the show, or indeed the hospitality, but the weather highlighted the problems of a winter show. The day began in pouring rain and 1c, soon turning to snow, so by the time I reached the venue at 8am, there was an inch of slush on the ground and it was snowing hard. Not the best recipe for getting a layout 50 yards from car to halls, especially when other exhibitors vehicles blocked the way necessitating sackbarrowing the boards across more mud and slush. With the doors open, the hall was pretty damned cold, but unfortunately it stayed that way as this was the entrance and, there was NO heating! Arigna Town lives in what was once an integral garage, but now my workshop, complete with central heating, so it does not enjoy the cold. Axles boxes seem to tighten, meaning the two small tanks especially suffer from wheel slip, while the turntable also tends to catch the coping stones around its edge. Add in a broken toggle on one of the points [meaning the wire in tube could only be push/pulled using pliers] and it was a more trying day than usual, with a fair bit of remedial work needed for the next outing at the end of January. Equally, such things are all part and parcel of the exhibition scene. Layouts lead a hard life on the road, with 7-8 hours of intensive use each day, so you tend to expect stuff to happen from time to time. If only it hadn't been quite so cold! However, the little G did itself proud, substituting for the J26 on the stores/coal trains. It could probably do with a bit of weight in the bonnet to help the four wheel drive, but has proved to be a smooth, slow runner, ideal for such duties. By packing up time, at least it had stopped snowing and the roads were mercifully clear on the way home.

B*****. And there it is, in my 1960s Observers book...

Indeed! A 4mm scale Merit GPO sack masquerading as such. Don't look too closely at the builders plate either. It actually reads 'Built in Derby'...

G Class complete -ish. Remaining work was to fit the bits I'd bought at Reading. A nice set of sprung buffers [Markits from Roxey] and a much less pleasant set of axles box/spring castings from JPL, which I may well replace when I can find something better. Not their fault, these were just the best of a bad job in terms of trying to find something suitable. Despite being cut down, they are still too chunky. Thanks to all the photos and advice, I've managed to do a representation of the cab interior, while the roof [being etched in thinner brass than the rest of the 'kit'] was easy to form. A long wax casting of a horn [EDM Models], with a bit of brass shim soldered above it as a weathershield completes the picture. So to painting. I'd figured that getting some silver grey car spray paint wouldn't be difficult, as 50% of models in Britain seem to be this colour. However, there lies the problem - 50 shades of grey [at least] and all of them metallic, so not really suitable. Eventually, I found a can of 'aluminium', a bit shiny, but of course, like all other CIE silver diesels, this was never going to be clean. In fact, it is much dirtier than the pictures show, but certainly nowhere near as shiny as it started. Numbers are a bit of a bodge. I found some prefix transfers in my collection, so it is a GWR 'G', with BR numerals. Was briefly tempted to make it G604, as an extra loco for the SLNCR, but went for 602, with the cream colour painted over in green with a fine brush. Overall, not too bad, considering I only began the model a week last Wednesday and Sunday - Tuesday was at Birmingham Christmas market.

Easy-Build Coaches, Eoin. Got them at the Reading Trade Show last Saturday. They do a lovely range of coaches, DMUs and the like, plus various bogie kits that are so good you only need to shake the box to make them. Well, nearly... Website is easybuildcoaches.co.uk Proprietor is Shawn Kay, based in Camelford, Cornwall.

Thanks yet again, JB. The model is making decent progress, though am saving pictures of it until finished. However, built the chassis today. It is a sub unit, with the frames made from brass strip. Soldered two pieces together so I could drill out the bearing holes, then after separating them used some 32mm gauge spacers left over from my SLNCR Small Tank kits. As this inner frame cannot be seen, I've used the Alphagraphix/Tyrconnel trick of soldering the top hat bearings in back to front to give the correct wheel spacings. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any broad gauge axles at the Reading Trade Show, so I've borrowed a pair from my J26 loco, to go with some 3'1 DMU wheels I was able to buy. Power comes from a Premier Components 40:1 gearbox and Mashima 1933 motor - this is a ready made unit & ideal for this model. I also got some Delrin chain and idler wheels from Easy-Build Coaches. The idler gears had to be cut down a little to fit between the frames, but the model now has 4 wheel drive. Pick ups could be very basic, as they are hidden behind the outer frames, so not much more than a morning's work and the G could move smoothly under its own power. The Delrin gears make it a little more noisy than the other locos, but so far, so good.

Probably the best designer of small layouts is Iain Rice & have attached a photo of his drawing of Wantage Town, where you can see that the station is only 4' long AND, this is very much to scale! However, in his book 'Urban Layouts', he has created some real gems, including a straightforward shunting yard, but also a super little two level layout in just over 6' and finally three separate 4'6 modules, designed to be linked together vertically using cassettes. If you can get the book, it is well worth reading.

Superb. Thank you. However, at the risk of stretching things even further, given the 601s had no vacuum brakes, presumably there must have been a handbrake somewhere. Was it a wheel type or the old style brake stand we see on Steam locos. And if so, where, please...?

It is on the Irish Traction Group website, Eoin. I found it by googling CIE G class diesel. On the site are notes about various withdrawn classes and among them the G. Each loco has a click on section and one of them shows a before and after shot of the control desk.

Does the 4x1 include the fiddle yard/headshunt? The smallest prototype yard I can think of is Wantage Town, which scales out at just over 4' in 4mm scale. Not Irish of course but not dissimilar to Irish practice. The other thought is Inglenook Sidings, a shunting plank designed some years ago. No loop, just three tracks for wagon shuffling using a card system to create a puzzle. Either way, nothing is really that small, so you are better off with a track plan that suits your needs and the make it Irish in theme by deciding what the traffic source(s) will be.

Interesting to hear there were no seats in the cab, which saves me a job! Found pictures of the control desk on the web, so thank you JB. Replacement windows were done by cutting out the front and rear cab sections down to waist level with a slitting disc in a mini drill. The replacement sections were cut from same thickness brass sheet. Windows were marked out with a scriber, the corners drilled 3mm diameter while the two sheets were still soldered together. Am afraid I then used the slitting disc again to join the holes (a piercing saw would be better) and then tidied up with files. Tedious but effective.

Simple, elegant.

Should be plenty of room for weight in the bonnet, but the plan is also to use Delrin gears & chain to make it four wheel drive. Quite apt really, as when you Google a G class, a certain Mercedes 4x4 comes up.

A bit of a diversion... As reported elsewhere, I've somehow got myself building the set of Worsley Works etches I bought at ExpoNG in October. This time it is the G class, Deutz, shunter. The Reading O Gauge Trade Show was probably the stimulus, as I suddenly realised I ought to try and get all the bits and pieces for the model. Hence I dug out the etches & soon found that it should go together fairly quickly. However, model making is not like that... The Worsley etches only cover the footplate, outer frames and general bodywork, but go together very quickly - no more than 3 hours work in total. So good, so far. Now we come to the measure twice, cut once bit, or in this case, read up on the prototype first. Ought to know better really, but it quickly became obvious that my preferred prototype was the 601 class, while the Worsley etches are for the later 611 type. B*gger. So, a bit more work needed, in addition to the stuff that the etches do not cover. The list is considerable, though nothing terrible: The 601s had smaller windows, necessitating a new front and rear to the cab There is no cut away for the front steps on the footplate, so a plate needed to be soldered in place each side. Lots of hand rails and grab handles 4 brackets below the footplate A filed up top for the front of the bonnet A door each side of the bonnet, instead of a grill on the later versions Various bits of beading on the cab & bonnet Guard irons Lamp irons A horn Cab interior Lifting rings on cab roof Exhaust stack Buffers Axlebox/spring castings The small matter of a chassis/sub-frame [none provided] including wheels/motor/gears. The photos show where I've got to thus far - not bad considering I only opened the packet on Wednesday afternoon, though I did give it my full attention throughout yesterday & today. Apologies to Eoin for the poor quality of my soldering - I must do more cleaning up than most! However, it does show where I've been working. Fingers crossed I can get the bits I need tomorrow as it would be nice to finish the model for the Bexley show on Sunday week, though, as I keep reminding myself, it is a hobby, not a race.

Wow! Thanks chaps, you are all stars. Having parted with fifty squid for the Worsley etches, it seemed that I could knock up a model fairly quickly and given it is the Reading Trade Show this weekend, there was the opportunity to get the other bits I'd need. However, and I'm sure you guessed this was coming, not everything in the modelling world is ever straightforward. Life is complicated - that's why it's fun, as the saying goes. Problem numero uno is that I want to do the early version, so it can run on Arigna. Hence windows need to be altered and a cut out in the footplate filled in at the front steps. Nevertheless, the Worsley etches do go together quickly (inside three hours in fact), but of course I'm now busy back tracking and extremely grateful for the info to add to my own research. Some pictures to follow in the workshop section later. Now, can anyone tell me what the cab interior was like???

What colours were the Deutz G class diesels painted, please? Realise that they had the usual black and orange, but some photos (eg in Tom Ferris and Derek Huntress colour albums) suggest a pale blue/grey, while on Google there are a couple of models in a pale green. Am guessing the latter is the shade that followed the early silver. Is the blue/grey the shade that the 121s were painted in during the early 1960s? This would be my preferred colour for a 7mm model based around the Worsley etches, so will await answers with great interest.

As Eoin says, it could be mechanical. However, it could be electrical instead. Suggest you remove the body and check wiring from pick ups to motor. A loose wire anywhere would explain why the loco is dead... Poor, as opposed to none, running could be dirty wheels and/or pickups not touching the wheels. Alternatively, if you can hear the motor, then it might be part of the gear train is loose. Eg, the worm is not fixed to the motor spindle, or the main gear attached to the loco axle has come loose. Don't know anything about these locos, but on kit built locos the gears are held in place with grub screws and one of these may have come loose.

Good to see that there IS interest out there. No wonder 21mm looks better than 4'1... For anyone doing 7mm scale, it really is no more difficult than 32mm gauge. Loco axle available, wagon/coach axles easily adaptable, C&L bullhead track only needs a 36.75mm gauge. Plus there are plenty of kits available too. With all the high quality RTR out there, it is no surprise folk stick with what they know, but there is even more satisfaction to be had in doing your own thing and being different. Well, I would say that, wouldn't I?

Before anyone gets too disappointed, this was a small show, last weekend, with just eight layouts, however, two of them were Valencia Harbour and Arigna Town, which we also think represented two thirds of the broad gauge Irish layouts currently being exhibited. I'd love to be proved wrong but with Richard Chown no longer with us, it is likely Castle Rackrent will not be seen for a while, while Paul Green's S scale layout does not seem to go out at the moment. So that just leaves Ballyconnel Road as the third. So, tell me I'm wrong, because it would be great to see some more 5'3, in any scale!

By the way - is it the right gauge?

Much to my surprise, the hornblocks and bearings arrived in the post on Monday, despite the website suggesting up to 21 days - so well done Dart Castings & the Postie. Any ideas of continuing with the cab of the railcar were therefore ditched in favouring the chassis completed & this is what I have been doing these past few days. Having made a rolling chassis that really did run well first time, there was more than a bit of trepidation in modifying it, but the hornblock/compensation system is very forgiving. Indeed, I could probably have left the front axle as it was, but decided to follow the instructions and cut four slots 6mm wide and 4mm above axle centre line in the frames. A small engineers' square and a scriber was all that was needed, along with a slitting disc in the mini drill to do the cutting - seemed a tad more subtle than the brute force of the Dremel... A bit of tidying up with files and I was then able to solder in new fixed bearings for the driven axle. The sliding hornblocks have to be made up from the etches supplied. Nothing daunting, just a couple of folds and a bit of solder. A bit more filing was needed to enable the bearings to slide freely, but they were soon ready to be fitted to the chassis. It was at this point that I found my hornblocks alignment axles were 3/16" diameter, but it was not too difficult to make some 1/8 ones out of some old standard gauge axles in the scrap box. The axle ends need tapering, so you can fit the coupling rods over them, to ensure they are properly aligned. Just a few rude words and with the help of a couple of hair grips, the hornblocks were soldered in place. All that was then needed was a pivot, to ensure the rear axle sits level. This was easily done by drilling a hole in the rear spacer & soldering a piece of 1mm wire along the centre line of the chassis, thereby giving it the characteristics of the three legged stool - ie it will always sit level on the track, regardless of imperfections, with obvious advantages for electrical pick up as well as running quality. However, while I know the above to be true, I am also a devout believer in the Law of Sod, so there was a certain amount of trepidation when re-assembling the wheels & rods, but all was indeed well. Course, it then needed dismantling again, so I could fit the motor/gearbox! A small Mashima & 40:1 gearbox was duly installed, along with pickups [0.3mm phosphor bronze wire], followed by a bit of test running, before it was all dismantle AGAIN, to enable painting. Hopefully that will be the last time I have to re-assemble it for a while! A bit more work has since been done on the cab, while the two sandboxes were filed up from some 80thou plastic, laminated to the required thickness. Finers crossed, I'll be able to make a start on the passenger section soon, though attention is back on Arigna Town at the moment, with a show at Brighton over the weekend - so a bit of TLC required on locos - wheel cleaning, pick ups, lubrication & the like. As for the latest photos, the bottle of meths is always close at hand in my workshop - purely for cleaning purposes of course!

... and were you to ever get as far as a 7mm scale version, I would be very interested too. An utterly delightful loco.

Not surprised to see the model going together well, Eoin. Did my one using the Tyrconnel/Alphagraphix kit. A relatively simple affair [like me], seem to remember it only took about 40 hours start to finish - painting & weathering included. Runs extremely well, which still surprises me as the chassis was a single fold up etch, several levels below your workshop practice!

Definitely worth space on the layout!

Measure twice, cut once... It had all been going so well, but then the wheels arrived in the post from Slaters & upon fitting them, it soon became apparent that the chassis was sitting much higher than that of the 'Unit'. I'd taken the latter apart, so I could compare & contrast with 'the one I'd built earlier' & I found I'd drilled the bearing holes too low in the frames. So, a pox on my measuring then. A bit of head scratching [& not a little bad language] seemed to indicate two options - build a new set of frames, or investigate fitting new bearings in horn blocks, thereby adding springing or compensation. I'd done this a few years ago with a couple of Slater's Manning Wardle kits & it must be said, the locos ran superbly. However, the Slaters website only seems to have horn blocks for 3/16" axles, but the Railcar ones are 1/8". A bit more searching turned up some of the latter on the Dart Castings website. Seems they are intended for the Sharman 'flexichas' compensation system & given this is an 0-4-0 I'm working on, am hoping a fixed driven axle, with the other one able to 'rock' ought to be possible. Bearings and horn blocks are just £6. Shame postage is another £3 though! So, while waiting for these to arrive, I made a start on the bodywork for the tractor unit. A 'footplate' was cut from 80thou [2mm thick] plasticard, with a slot cut in the front, so I could let in the radiator casting I'd made for the Unit. Here, another unwanted issue presented itself. On the completed Unit, I'd put the distinctive 'side beams' level with the top of the buffer beam, when they should actually sit just above. Something else on the 'to do list' then. The cab bodywork has proved extremely challenging to get my head round, because it is made up of all sorts of different angles & levels. In itself, it is just a collection of plasticard rectangles, but working out what to cut when has caused a lot of thinking & several false starts. Using the completed Unit as a reference point has not been helpful either as its dimensions are not consistent with the 7mm Narrow Gauge Society drawings. Hence, am sticking to the latter, though the Alphagraphix card kit [which must be based on same] is helpful both as templates & for some of the inside cab detail. The 'dashboard', for example has simply been cut out & stuck in place. Same for the cab floor. Realised it was also necessary to paint the cab interior at this stage & that was done with acrylic brown, which of course dries quickly. The body work was built in layers, with a 40thou inner shell and 20thou outer shell to enable the tumblehome on the cab sides and make the bonnet sides appear separate. This work was only done up to the base of the windows, because it seemed to make sense [to me, at least] to make the upper glazed section separately & then fit the resin cast bonnet & roof sections around this. Only time will tell if this is success or not! However, while the Unit is not quite going to be the identical twin of the Railcar tractor unit, its chassis has enabled me to try the cab body on it & if the two will not be interchangeable like the real things, it is helping me carrying on building till the hornblocks arrive. Photos show progress thus far - the castings need quite a bit of fettling, while the bonnet needs a run of louvres on the long side, plus there is a fair bit of beading to add. Am just hoping I don't see any fresh errors when I go back to it...