Its been a while!

Its been a while since this was updated hasn't it! Time for a update.

Motive Power

Since the last update, the steam fleet has gone from 4 to 3 with the sale of Premier. Why was Premier Sold? Because it had various issues (most of it my own doing to be fair (cosmetic mostly) except for a leak on the boiler which the engine came with) and I had enough of the engine. Its been sold to fund more rolling stock which is detailed below. Motive power wise, hopefully we'll be returning to a 4 Steam engine fleet shortly but that depends on a number of factors. But more on that when it happens.

Rolling Stock

Rolling Stock has changed as funds come and go with some stock being sold off and others arriving. The W&LLR Coach has been sold off during a moment of money shortage while the Zillertalbahn Coaches remain for use with the remaining motive power. The Bowaters Coaches still remains at 3 staff coaches (641, 659 and 660) with two others on order (633 (Open Coach) and 657(Staff Coach)) which will form a suitable train to run with Leader. The final livery carried hasn't been decided although early preservation is a very tempting prospect especially as No.633 is a Preservation rebuild.

Wagons are still a mix bag of W&LLR stock and Bowaters Wagons. The W&LLR set consists of 5 Open wagons, 1 Cattle wagon, 1 Sheep Wagon, 1 Goods Van and 1 Brake Van with a flat wagon to follow shortly all in GWR colours (except one Open which is a private owner). The is significantly smaller than the set once was but its a more manageable size and can all fit inside one box rather than two! Hopefully it will grow as Accucraft release more wagons with any additional Open Wagons with new running numbers being a priority. The Bowaters Stock is a mix match at the moment but its getting there with 6 operational, 1 awaiting Bogies and 1 on order to form a set of 8 consisting of 2 8 Ton Pulp Wagons, 4 10 Ton Pulp Wagons and 2 14 Ton Pulp Wagons.

Future plans include a set of Chattenden and Upnor Coaches to run with Leader as well as a set of Whipsnade Coaches to run with Excelsior although it'll all depend on time, money and room in which to store it all!

Running Line

The running line has changed a lot since the last update. Rather than being in a L shape, the line has now become a complete straight as its easier to maintain and means that some of the worse shape track bed has been scrapped. The line now runs for 34ft in a dead straight before splitting into two sidings. Trains have run over the line and it works well. Hopefully it might be installed into its final resting place soon but that's open to a lot of debate at the moment. There are plans for buying a circle of track to have a small continuous run as running engines like Millie on a end to end run can be interesting to say the least.

Brazils in action

I've not been running much mainly due to work commitments, trying to get the Bowaters Model Range off the ground and generally not having a serviceable length of running line at home. However, I did manage to get to the local 16mm area group's steam up last month and since I'll be back tomorrow, its about time I got some shots of the 3 Brazil class locos in service with the SKLR stock. I've just had the 3rd and final coach arrive for my personal set so hopefully it won't be long until the full 3 coach train will see service behind the 3 sisters.

Hopefully tomorrow will see Leader, Excelsior and Millie all in use with the SKLR stock although how much each sees will vary depending on weather etc.

More Sittingbourne Stock arrives!

Following on from my last post, the remaining stock that's on order has arrived and been built. I'm just waiting on the final few headstocks before they're complete but its starting to grow into a very sizable rake of stock!

All in all, I'm very happy with how its all progressing although it now maybe some time before additional wagons/coaches arrive while I concentrate on other matters.

Cheers,

Jon

The Brazils have their own stock!

After some thinking, some designing and then some waiting for the bits to arrive, my 3 Sittingbourne Brazil class engines now have some appropriate rolling stock to pull. Based on the fact that the majority of the rolling stock that was used on the Bowaters system was based around the same design of wagon, I've been able to draw up one design of wagon and then convert into 5 different types of wagon and 3 different passenger coach designs. So far I've ordered (recieved) 2 (1) of the coaches and 5 (4) of the wagons. The eventual plan is to have about 8 of the wagons and 5 passenger Coaches although there may be more in time.

Hopefully I should be able to get some pictures of the complete goods train in the garden soon once the rest of the parts (mainly bogies and headstocks) arrive from various producers.

Cheers,

Jon

Brazil No.3 arrives

That's right, another Brazil Class has arrived. This time a Accucraft Excelsior. I got this one at a very good price from a friend who wanted to sell one of his three to fund another engine by Roundhouse. There was one main reason I wanted this particular engine. The cylinders are the originals that it left the factory with. The Excelsior, being Accucraft UK's first live steam engine, quickly gained a reputation for being not particularly powerful and amongst other things, having no super heater, a very loud burner and tiny cylinders. As such most of this type have been fitted with aftermarket larger cylinders which have sorted out most of the problems in the power department. The Excelsior I've brought, doesn't have them fitted. I already own two examples of the Accucraft Leader which is basically a seriously improved Excelsior with larger cylinders, improved burner and a super heater so I was looking for a example of the original design in as close to as built condition as possible to give me something completely different to run when it comes to power and train lengths.

I haven't had a chance to run Excelsior yet but hopefully it won't be too long until I can see what its like when running. Nameplates are on the way from the usual plate along with ones for Millie.

Check back shortly for something different......

Jon

Steaming though Febuary

Just a selection of images taken of Millie and Leader at work at a local 16mm steamup. Both showing some newly built rolling stock which will be covered in a future post.....

Until next time,

Jon

More Motive Power News

After a late night session to complete the paint work on Premier, Premier is now complete and Named. I tried the trim line and was seriously unimpressed. For something that's supposed to be self adhesive, its anything but after about 30 minutes. However, I did discover another use for it. The Masking tape I have is next to useless for painting engines as the paint normally seeps underneath the edges. However, Trim line normally holds for long enough to get a clean paint line when used instead of masking tape. Hence, Premier has been lined out using Yellow Paint by hand. From normal viewing differences, it looks OK. Up close, its not great but its something I'm happy to live with. In time, when I can afford a professional paint job, then it'll be repainted and look a lot better. That said, after the faff completing Premier to phase 2 standard, similar work on Leader has been postponed for the moment until such a time that either Leader or Premier can be sent away for a professional to line out.

Premier following detailing work. Nameplates and Builders Plates by Narrow Planet.

Leader, Premier and Millie (now with running in now in progress)

Until next time,

Jon