Junkbox Jury - Dismantled Diesel

The next excursion into the junk box revealed several disparate scratch built locomotive components, namely a collection of parts to make up a chassis frame to fit a Kato mechanism; A1 Models bonnets from a couple of incomplete builds and a set of parts to build a long bonnet using a cut-down Dapol railbus roof as the top. In the same vein as the wagon chassis in the previous post, I decided to create a locomotive that is not currently in operational condition.

That might be an understatement... as it appears to be missing a cab, gearbox, wheelsets and who knows what is/isn't under the bonnet!

The chassis parts were assembled pretty much as I would if building an actual loco, although cut-outs were made where the axleboxes should be rather than add any. Holes mark where the spring hangers and coupling block would be located plus a few random extras for good luck. This is very much a case of detailing by removal of material rather than adding it.

For the bonnet I originally planned to use a small A1 Models bonnet from a kit designed for a Tomytec chassis (see Only the Slim Need Apply). This looked a little too small for the frame so instead I used most of the set of bonnet parts I had previously created, shortening them to fit. The already narrowed railbus roof was still a little too wide so another section that had been split back into two was narrowed further, creating a pleasing peaked shape. The filler caps (Dapol Drewery crank pins) from the A1 bonnet were purloined for the new build.

The cab area is again a series of recycled material and more holes, the latter representing where the brake column and seat would have been. The sheet leaning against the back of the bonnet came from the same A1 kit with detail that I had added, the chequer plate a scrap of etch previously used on another build and flattened back out. A few railbus kit bits were also added to give "just enough" detail.

This actually became a quite enjoyable project, adding details such as the recessed filler cap and the side grilles, which are in a trademark style common with a lot of locos that I have built over the years, as featured in Some I Made earlier.

There are still a fair few bits in that junk box, including that narrowed bit of roof. Whatever next?

Colin

Junkbox Jury - Wagon Bashing

A few weeks ago I hinted that some wagon tinkering could be on the cards in the wake of my experimentation with Greenwich couplers. In passing I mentioned that there were a couple of experimental wagons started some time ago, so they were brought out of storage to see what could be done with them. You could call it a dive into the junk box...

The first was a short (5ft) wagon, currently a flat but only because it got no further! The chassis under this is a Peco 15ft unit cut-down to a 14mm wheelbase, previously under a modified RCL skip frame. It was a little unloved and has now gained fake 'Hudson' style axleboxes assembled from styrene sections.

Sorry that isn't a great photo due to all the white styrene... At present this is as far it will go pending further developments but it could end up with sides and/or ends in due course. Other than the new axle boxes the only other work completed was to fill in the cut-out in one bufferbeam that was designed to set the coupler at the higher position, to match the other end at the lower height. I didn't spot that it actually had acquired odd wheelsets until after taking the next photo...

The other was a 6ft wagon, again a flat by default, but designed to use Chivers Finelines 'Theakston' axleboxes, subsequently removed. The frame was too narrow to put a Peco chassis within, so I opted to remove the floor and save it for reuse, and then create an abandoned underframe with the remainder. The axle boxes are missing, leaving boltholes and the odd remaining bolt, using some EDM mouldings and Grandt Line versions on the frames. I had intended to use this on 'The Headshunt' to replace the damaged Hudson flat, however it soon had company...

The damaged remains of another Hudson frame surfaced... This has had the slots cut for MicroTrains couplers filled with Milliput and smoothed to shape. The intention is now that this will be destined for 'The Headshunt' and the scratchbuilt frame prepared for future use elsewhere.

Once I had started the dive into the junk box more potential uses for started-but-unfinished projects came to mind, we'll take a look at another in a future post.

Colin

Echoes of Shifting Sands

Thinking back to the picture of 'Shifting Sands' I posted last week one of the things that struck me was how I got a lot of end-to-end run in a small space. To get that same level of operation in a linear format you would need 6-7 feet of length, I know, because every time I think I can recreate the loop to fiddle yard operation (and include hands-free running around behind the scenes) in less space I find that I can't...

Since completing 'Odsock Corner' I have found myself wanting to plan something new, something that can provide some operation. I wondered if another common plan could be fit into less than its usual linear space, the 5-3-3 "Inglenook". It just so happens that another cork board (23.5" x 15.5") was to hand to try it. I've spared you the workbench clutter!

The other thing that struck me is that by going across a deep board at an angle you get a little more length to the run, essential where space is at a premium. If the main platform road didn't run at that angle up to the head shunt, and just went straight across the board, you wouldn't get three carriages in the loop. Looking again at that photo I was rather taken with the idea that the area I have outlined here in red is about 25" x 19", not far off the board I mocked-up the extended inglenook on.

I had been thinking recently about 'half-station' layouts, where you see one end of the platform and the head shunt, maybe a siding, but the rest is off under a bridge or overall roof and trains are represented by only some of their length.  They are perhaps not really my cup of tea but potentially offered a way of running the 'Shifting Sands' stock in a smaller space. As the idea grew in my head I mocked up this 3/4-station idea (with just the station throat off scene) that essentially gives a mini version of 'Shifting Sands'. It was late in the evening so the area was marked up on my desk!

Obviously it needs a workable fiddle yard to the right, with the ability to facilitate hands-free swapping of locos around stock as per the original layout. The main issue I foresee here is making that not too much longer than the layout (for balance) but still useable. With the tracks to the front it would be easier to operate this scheme than the inglenook, sitting it on the workbench without having to reach around the back as per 'Shifting Sands'. But in some ways 3/4 of the station isn't enough, I do like the act of running around a train, changing the points etc. Could I sacrifice a carriage length and actually have a fully modelled loop?

Food for thought...

Colin

Pop the Cork(board) - a 20th Anniversary

This photo popped up in my OneDrive "Memories" this week, from 14th October 2005. The creation of 'Shifting Sands' was underway with the cork board strengthened underneath and the turnouts and oddments of track loosely laid out in the original planned formation.

So here it began, taking nearly a year to become the layout featured in many of the static pages of this blog. To read more from October 2005, go to Shifting Sands: Baseboards and Track.

Back in 2025, there is a little modelling work going on, nothing spectacular but I hope to share some progress soon...

Colin