Colonel

When I first joined the Chatham Club, back in the last century, one of the then senior members scratch built all his locos from tinplate - either 5 gallon Castrol GTX tins, or catering size food tins. Indeed, thinking about it, weren't Leinster Models kits originally run plate?

Interesting piece of archaeology. Back in the day, stuff like this was all you had when there was no rtr - and very grateful we were too. Even etched brass kits were few and far between. I think I made two: a Terrier and an Adams Radial, both in EM. The Terrier was ok, but the 4-4-2T neither ran nor looked good. Chassis on both were 1/16th brass strip and the axle holes didn't match the coupling rod spacing! Ultimately, it got you into scratchbuilding...

Put a Donegal van next to a Sligo Leitrim one and there really ain't much in it.

Here's that Casserley photo I mentioned the other day, which shows just how small the six wheelers could be against more modern stock. Indeed, width over the body was often only 8'6 - not exactly making the most of the wider loading gauge. The photo comes from the book below. Well worth getting hold of a copy.

Hmmm... On the whole, coaches got washed regularly and stayed fairly clean, while locos soon acquired at least a patina of dust and dirt. So unless a loco is modelled ex works, for me, it needs at least some weathering and looks all the better for it, because it shows it is working for its living. Decals, lettering etc therefore don't need to be 100% accurate in terms of colour, so beware overthinking? Coaches maybe do need to be a bit more accurate, but then the effects of weather and daylight, plus the quality of the film processing of the time, all create confusion and the same goes for how we choose to light our models, of course. How big is a flying snail on a coach in 4mm scale? 5mm max? Add in the two foot or even one foot rule and would say accuracy and sharpness of the lettering is more important than nuances of shade. I use 4mm scale Midland Railway crest transfers on my 7mm scale Donegal stock and they provide a perfectly decent impression - to me, anyway and (so far!) haven't had any complaints. This probably isn't helping!

That reminds me - I've got one of those! Should have been using it on the current railcar project. The extra hand it offers would have been very useful.

A lot of effort for not much progress in the last few days and Maggie Coulter's goat seems less than impressed too. However, at least I now have [fingers crossed] a working chassis, so as the old saying goes, the rest is just cosmetic. Clear photographs of the prototype, especially things like details on the front pony are few and far between, so I'm relying as much on pictures of models as the real thing and the former look like their builders have been making assumptions too. So, I've made a basic frame for the front pony out of L section brass strip, with two plates each holding a top hat bearing for the wheels soldered to this. The unit has been soldered to to the brass chassis plate and then all the details [note the white metal spring/axlebox casting] will be glued in place. The next photo shows how articulated nature of the chassis works on a 3' radius reverse curve, while the third picture shows the underside. That's probably it for the next week or so, as I have a host of other stuff that needs doing, but hopefully things might then progress better after that.

Hang my head in shame: the notice in the Gauge 0 Gazette was from Allen Doherty (Worsley Works), NOT Roger Cromblehome of Alphagraphix. Many apologises to everyone and especially to Roger. Long may he and Alphagraphix prosper. Read twice, at least, before reporting...

As well as the the overall photos, it's always nice to zoom in on details too, like the last one with the water tank and that very smart looking signal cabin.

In one of H. C. Casserley's albums there is a picture of a train made up of a six wheeler and a more 'modern' bogie. The difference in size is very noticeable. Seem to remember he wanted to travel in the six wheeler, though the crew suggested he'd be more comfortable in the saloon!

The announcement is in the traders section of the Gazette.

A message,not from Roger in the latest Gauge 0 Gazette that he is retiring at the end of the year and looking to sell, it Allen Docherty of Worsley Works. Given that Worsley have been such a key part of the Irish scene for so long, it will be a real shame should his stuff is no longer be available. quite a range of etched brass locos and coaches. Such a huge range of etches, it will be a massive loss of at least some aren't picked to be carried on.

Given they are all somewhat cruel enlargements, suspect that once in 4mm scale, plus the two foot rule, the pale green one will look fine.

Flew with Logan Air to Orkney back in September and the complimentary tea or coffee come with a Caramel wafer. There are cheaper ways to buy them, of course.

Lovely to see some of Ken's stuff - and always a treat to read about what he was up to.

Thanks folks. Don't know whether the Swilly tanks are now nicely run in, after two days of successful operation, or half an hour from failure! Hopefully the former... Swillybegs is next due out at Aldershot in October, when am hoping Donegal railcard 7 or 8 will join the roster. Northport Quay at Tonbridge on 21st Feb.

Andy Cundick did Valentia a few years ago and it still goes out occasionally. Helped operate it at a show once and, despite the very simple track plan, has plenty of interest.

A handsome engine well on the way to becoming a lovely model.

Remember this [see above]? Well done if you do, because I barely can! March 24th 2024, when I last reported on Donegal Railcar Number 7 [or 8], so nearly two years ago. Well, on Tuesday evening, finally got my 3D printed motor bogie, so can at last get back to it. The bogie is certainly a neat job, though the less said about the bodywork the better as much of the plastic had delaminated, so very much a case of having to start again. So, have spent the last couple afternoons revisiting Roger Cromblehome's suggestions for building the rest of the chassis. Could have used something like a press stud to mount the bogie to the body and then pivot the front pony, but the body overhangs rather a lot at both ends, so Roger's idea of building it a bit like a six wheeled coach seems to make sense. So, what I currently have is a bit like a dragster! Blocks pf plasticard have been added to each end of the bogie, with at the front a mounting for a strip of brass which has section of brass tube at the end to take the front pony wheels. The plate at the back serves as a mounting point for the bodywork. A similar hole can be seen on the front block for the same purpose. The base for the body is seen below. The hole near the front of this takes the bolt for the second pivot. Overall, this means that both the bogie and pony can wiggle/pivot separately, with the overall movement being less that half the amount the pony would move on its own. So, now need to start the body again and then work out how to weight and balance the whole thing. At least it goes through the points ok at the moment, but time will tell.

Sometimes, less is more, plus there is the 'two foot' rule as well. The prototype rivets are very small...

Won that bet with myself! Well done chaps. Bought two similar books, one on the railways of Palestine and the other on the Hedjaz Railway for just a fiver and very interesting they are too.

Here's an interesting one I found the other day. Clearly a Deutz, but certainly not a G Class. So, where is it? The loco is apparently still with us, having been preserved in its new homeland. Might this be an occasional new thread for mystery pictures? Feel free to add. I assume there are folk out there who will know, but if not, will provide the answer in a day or two. David

Wonder what all that scrap was from in those open wagons?

Southampton Show Had a very decent weekend at this show, which was very good quality and likewise well organised. The latter included the hotel accommodation, in my case two nights in the new Holiday Inn: excellent rooms, restaurant & staff. It was also encouraging that Swillybegs ran pretty well too. Special mentions must go to both Swilly tanks, which performed admirably throughout the weekend, with no derailments [operator errors excepted!] and smooth running throughout. The Kerr Stuart 4-6-2T seemed very happy with its fish train, showing [at last] its rear pony truck can cope with the run round points. Meanwhile, the Barclay 4-6-0T worked well with a short mixed train, comprised of a bogie brake third and an ex Clogher Valley butter van. The above combo was rather forced on me, as discovered that several vans are going to need compensated chassis because [either through bad workmanship or warping] all those shown below do not sit square on the rails... Donegal Railcar 10 also deserves a special mention, as once paired with an ex CVR 'red' open was faultless all weekend. Indeed in all cases mentioned so far, the DG couplings proved pretty reliable too, which is very satisfying, especially when you can find the magnets first time. The West Donegal tram also worked well, once on the layout, but it proved impossible to drive off the fiddle yard cassette without at least one of the coaches derailing - so much so that there was no Sunday service at all. Will need to have a careful look at its cassette before the next show. Less successful was the goods train. Phoenix and the Unit ran well enough, but the DG couplings proved more problematic and I was unable to find a combination of wagons that worked well with each other. Sometimes everything was ok, but as wagons got swapped around problems kept appearing, so work needed for next time. Everybody I spoke with [& it was many] liked all the scenic side of the layout, with lots of compliments about the overall composition - something I thought long and hard about during both construction and refurbishment. Indeed, I even wondered if I might be in with a shout of best layout. Then again, the show was one of those where, if there was a 'worst layout' award, you still wouldn't mind, because as I said earlier standards were high throughout.