Thanks to Rick (steinman), the WGLR has a new loco, yet another diesel. It`s a GRS body mounted on a Playmobil remote control chassis. Whoever built it did a really neat job, the body simply fits straight on top of the chassis with a few strips of velcro. You may notice that the exhaust is a touch on the long side, that`s because it contains the aerial. The original battery pack and charger were both a bit suspect, so I rang the very nice man at Strikalite and he made up a 4 x AA battery pack that actually fits into the original battery holder. I`ve soldered up and modified this battery pack so that it plugs into the electrics via a BEC connector.

This afternoon, between the showers, I gave her a run for the first time on the WGLR. Slow speed running isn`t what I`m used to with my Cliff Barker RC kit (understandably) and she takes off like a scalded cat if you`re not careful when running light engine. It actually drives a little like a live steam loco and when I started adding wagons, things improved. In the end she ran for 1/2 hour pulling 5 Accucraft 4 wheelers and an IP brake van without any signs of distress or loss of performance from the little battery pack. I do have to stand right in the middle of our tiny garden to guard against glitching all the way round the railway. The old girl has certainly got some pulling power with plenty of added weight and two traction tyres.

I`ve started adding a few details like lamp irons and door handles, but there`s loads of opportunity for more and I`m really looking forward to doing that. Adding WGLR standard hook and loop couplings is certainly going to be a challenge.

I`m going to leave her operating with the Playmobil system for now, but I might replace it with a Cliff Barker receiver sometime in the future. A little belter! Thanks Rick.


This afternoon, between the showers, I gave her a run for the first time on the WGLR. Slow speed running isn`t what I`m used to with my Cliff Barker RC kit (understandably) and she takes off like a scalded cat if you`re not careful when running light engine. It actually drives a little like a live steam loco and when I started adding wagons, things improved. In the end she ran for 1/2 hour pulling 5 Accucraft 4 wheelers and an IP brake van without any signs of distress or loss of performance from the little battery pack. I do have to stand right in the middle of our tiny garden to guard against glitching all the way round the railway. The old girl has certainly got some pulling power with plenty of added weight and two traction tyres.

I`ve started adding a few details like lamp irons and door handles, but there`s loads of opportunity for more and I`m really looking forward to doing that. Adding WGLR standard hook and loop couplings is certainly going to be a challenge.

I`m going to leave her operating with the Playmobil system for now, but I might replace it with a Cliff Barker receiver sometime in the future. A little belter! Thanks Rick.

