Darius43

Good point - will have a go later. Cheers Darius

It’s a Dapol Class 73 in Network Rail livery from Olivia’s Trains. The yellow NR livery is courtesy of Dapol. I just added the buffer beam details at one end and applied light weathering to the chassis. Cheers Darius

To haul/propel the Network Rail coaches that I’ve been acquiring. Cheers Darius

Decals and light weathering to “rescued” Siphon O2. Cheers Darius

Network Rail NVA built from a 3D printed kit. Only four parts: nicely detailed complete bodyshell, chassis and two ends. I printed the decals on clear decal paper and used Bachmann bogies. Still to do are the orange cantrail lining, warning flashes and some end detailing. Cheers Darius

Just received this book, written by Joe Cassells, from the RPSI that tells the story of the spoil trains that ran from Magheramorne to Greencastle carrying the material for the reclaimed land that is now underneath the M2 motorway. Absolutely fantastic book with plenty of great photos!!! Definitely recommended. As we didn’t move to Belfast until 1978 these trains were before my time there but I do recall watching, from our house in Ben Madigan, the causeway for the M5 motorway link extending northwards. Cheers Darius

Meanwhile the Parkside chassis for the LNER steel open wagon arrived today. I used strips cut from an old etched brass fret to make the door bangers. Cheers Darius

Turned the leftover parts into another grounded van with the aid of some plasticard and cardboard. Cheers Darius

Last two wagons completed. There’s always some bits left over at the end… Cheers Darius

Brass bearings fitted to GW van chassis. Cardboard formers used to straighten out warped van body. New plasticard roof glued in place. Cheers Darius

LNER steel open wagon body (thanks to the guys on RMWeb who identified this for me). The bodyside “dimples” housed internal tie downs rings which I added using brass wire. I also repaired some damaged end stiffeners. Body painted and awaiting a Parkside LNER chassis to complete. Last wagon in the box - GWR box van. Roofless body on a mazak chassis. Googling has identified this as a wagon from a clockwork train set made by Pyramid Toys in the 1950s. It is most likely not to scale or of any actual prototype but it is rather nice so it will be re-roofed and wheeled etc. Cheers Darius

I think this one is the Ratio kit of a GWR “Iron Mink”. Painted and plastic wheels swapped for metal ones. Also eased the brake shoes away from the wheels. Cheers Darius

Managed to “squeeze” the wheels in with a little bit of bending after drilling out the axle holes and installing non-shouldered brass bearings. I sawed off the pinpoints from the centre axle and installed it in a housing so that it can float sideways. The wagon goes around 3rd radius curves without complaining. Now awaiting GW decals and a coupling resupply. Cheers Darius

Meanwhile back on the workbench, I think that this may be an old K’s white metal kit of a GWR Siphon O2. Its going to be “interesting” fitting wheels to this one given that the chassis is pretty well glued together by the original builder. Cheers Darius

Totally agree. There’s a lot of fun and satisfaction to be had restoring these decent models and getting them back into service. Considering some rtr wagons are over £40 rrp these days, these 50 plus year old models certainly hold their own. Cheers Darius PS - I see one of the chief nitpickers on RMWeb is already pointing out errors in the wagon numbers and colouring. Like it matters - this was and is just a fun project restoring the contents of someone’s box of junk. Some people seem to go out of their way not to have fun with this hobby…

Ex Dublo Van bodies refurbished with new Peco chassis, a lick of paint, new metal wheels and couplings, new decals and some light weathering. The third van body was converted to grounded form. Cheers Darius

New Peco “wonderful wagon” chassis assembled and fixed to the metal mineral truck body, followed by some weathering. Cheers Darius

Box of old wagons and bits of wagons inherited by a friend of mine and taken to the “Repair Shop” Peco wagons spruced up with new metal wheels and couplings plus a new scored cardboard floor and the paper edges painted over. Cheers Darius

Decals applied and light weathering to chassis. This is a great kit - really fun to build and amenable to added detail. Cheers Darius

Coach end hosiery added using brass wire and plastic rod. Cheers Darius

Some more progress on Test Coach Mentor. Still need to add more roof gubbins and end hosiery. Cheers Darius

Some more decals applied to UTU3, courtesy of Railtec. Cheers Darius

Made a start on a kit of the Network Rail version of Test Coach Mentor - obtained from the same eBay seller of the UTU3 coach kit. The kit-supplied pantograph looks like it was based on the Hornby “high speed pantograph” effort and is a bit over-chunky. I improved it by grafting on the Hornby arms and adding a scratch built collector soldered up from brass wire. The pantograph is non functional, fixed in the lowered position. Cheers Darius

Network Rail UTU3 coach - 3D printed resin kit that I spotted on eBay. Decals by Railtec. Cheers Darius

Spotted on eBay just in case IRM don’t follow their Mk2 coaches with this Mk2-based DEMU. Cheers Darius PS just to clarify, I am not connected to the production of these bodyshells, I just spotted them on eBay. They are made by CMAC models (m0rris on this website).