Making a New Start

[C&S]

Made a start on the blind-end caboose. As you can see, the sides are made up from parts of two, if not three, different vehicles. Still at the messy stage in these pictures.

 

[C&S]

Had a chance to take some new pictures at today's running session. First is a shot of #1 switching the yard at Cattewater

Next - the Mail pauses for a few minutes at Hogwood.

 

[Don Gilham]

Very nice Giles - that's a little cutie

 

[C&S]

Thanks for that, Don. If you mean the second shot, that's a camera angle I haven't used before. You still can barely avoid a bit of background cupboard, but still much better than the other side of the train where you get an unbalanced composition with the edge of the baseboard too close to the train.

 

[C&S]

Here's the mine turn heading towards the interchange at Bonneyville.

 

[C&S]

Since post #402 there's been a bit more progress on the closed caboose. The brakemens' high seats are in place, ready for the cupola when the roof's fitted, and a start has been made on painting. For the first time in a long while I've gone back to Humbrol/Airfix paints and for a start was amazed they were still fit to use. Also, unlike acrylics, half a pot of Humbrol red covered the whole of the vehicle's exterior. Whether this is the final colour or just an undercoat, time will tell - at least it's pulled together all the various body parts and makes it look like it is all one van body. Still one or two areas to fill and smooth off, however.

 

[C&S]

No progress to report on the caboose. A week of fine days has meant I could no longrer postpone some paving-slab relaying in the garden (and I begin to understand the labour and time involved in establishing a garden line). With rain forecast in the coming week I may get more indoor construction time soon.

Instead here's another view from the last running session.

 

[C&S]

Had a little more time on the caboose project this afternoon, and realised why the large windows look odd - they should have internal frames and a central crossbar. These have now been fitted and the cupola has also been glazed. Hopefully the roof goes on tomorrow or Friday and then......another photo session.

Not as quick a build as I'd hoped, but at least moving in the right direction.

 

[C&S]

Topped out the caboose today. Still a few jobs left - the roof-walks and climbing irons, truss rods and some painting.
(photo shows the body sitting temporarily on a flat car)

 

[Shawn]

Caboose looks great. Always nice seeing something different. Great work again.

 

[C&S]

Thanks Shawn. Good to hear from you - and I hope you and the Kittatinny line survived the rough weather.

Must say I like to try and produce a model now and again that isn't straight out of the catalogue. As I'd been given lots of odd freight car bits and pieces (and had a stock of my own) there were plenty of possibilities, of which this is the latest (with another still to be started). I've done more work since the last picture was taken, and hope to get down to finishing off the underframe details later this week. More pictures, perhaps, after the week-end.

 

[C&S]

Finished. (Also ito be seen in private sales)

 

[Don Gilham]

Another excellent job, Giles I can vouch for the quality of your stuff - top class

 

[C&S]

Thanks, Don. Just seen a bit of paint touching up is needed - I obviously got a bit carried away with the underfloor colour. Might also need to add grab handles for anyone riding the corner stirrups, too.

Next one will be a drover caboose, again with mixed parentage as far as ingredients are concerned, and not all LGB by the look of them.

 

[C&S]

Two Porters, #4 and #8, travelled into Oxfordshire with a mixed train to visit Cogges Rail today.

I tried to record the longest train ever hauled by C&S locos, bit couldn't get it all in shot, so you'll have to imaging another boxcar and the drover caboose following on. It was at this point the memory stick in the camera filled up, so this was the last picture of the day.

One locomotive could have handled the train, but there was a battery operated Whizzy-cranks following with a passenger train and there were a couple of short rises on the circuit where the freight was slowing down, and I didn't want to be caught up.

A good day out and nice to put some faces to the names on this site.

 

[C&S]

Here's a better shot of the double-header. We did start with the locos cab-to-cab, which looked better, however on one of the line's gradients they kept uncoupling so they ended up head-to-head.

 

[Don Gilham]

Excellent Giles !

 

[C&S]

Hi Ross,
Casey/Rusty are not the only LGB "toy" Porter loco possibilities. OTTO makes quite a good basis for a 1920's era Porter locomotive, too.

 

[C&S]

With all the outdoor activity recently I never got the chance to post the latest picture of the new drover caboose conversion. At least after my visit to Cogges Rail I now know that the main ingredients were the sides of a Bachmann centre-cupola caboose body, but by the time I got the parts thay'd already been converted into the version you see here. I've just added them to a plywood floor and used a pair of matching ends from an unknown model. The only original end from the Bachmann vehicle has become the partition between the passenger and freight compartments. The step ends and railings were left-overs from my RPO project and have been screwed onto the ends of the plywood floor.

 

[CoggesRailway]

hi giles, just been catching up with your thread - i really do love your models!