Odsock Corner at Narrow Gauge NOW 2026

Narrow Gauge NOW 2026 returns to the usual venue, Portland College near Mansfield on Saturday October 31st 2026. There are two O9 layouts booked, 'Lambert Road' by Andy Booth and 'Odsock Corner' by, er, yours truly...

As one pizza cannot possibly be enough excitement on it's own, I will also have the dioramas 'The Headshunt' and 'To The End' on display alongside, plus no doubt a few surplus models and other items for sale.

As I have a huge surplus of them, I will have packs of Owen Ryder Heywood coupler castings on sale at a very reasonable price, this is your chance to pick up a bargain!

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Do say hello if you are attending the show, for more details visit Narrow Gauge NOW 2026

Colin

Junkbox Jury - The Finale

It's nearly a year since work began on the Junkbox Jury series of models and a while since they appeared on the blog. There were a couple of loose ends that I felt needed tidying up, including one that I swore I had published here previously, but it appears that I didn't...

The first unfinished item was last seen as a flat wagon with pseudo-Hudson axleboxes and not a lot else. Combined with the A1 Models loco bonnet that ever-so-nearly ended up on the dismantled diesel they were brought together to create a generator on a flat wagon. Back in February I reached an impasse as to whether the load should be loose, sat on a couple of planks and strapped down, or should sit permanently on the wagon with some 'L' section and bolts to hold it in place... After much thought I opted for the latter.

The bonnet received an inset styrene infill at what was the cab end and this contains some familiar looking bits of Dapol railbus underframe as the controls and some sort of outlet. Holes that were once intended to house an air horn have been filled over with a fuel filler access flap from 5 thou styrene sheet, with another at the front, presumably for the water. The exhaust is brass tube in a hole drilled for that purpose back when it was going to be part of a locomotive.

The cover is removable to aid painting, when removed it reveals a crude representation of a radiator from a scrap of Evergreen siding and an indulgence in the form of an engine block rescued from a toy motorbike, just so you can see something through the holes (some careful painting required).

During all this work the wagon received a new Peco underframe, a 10 foot example cut down to fit, leaving a wheelbase of approx 16mm. Black Dog Mining-style axleboxes are fitted, using the Farish buffer heads as the centre circles. The change of underframe was prompted by the frailty of what was left of the original, it had been whittled down a little too much earlier in life and an axlebox eventually split off.

Next to be completed is the original 4w open coach that I built to a c.26mm width.

Regular readers may recall that this was replaced mid-build by a 28mm wide version when I wanted to match the width of commercial models. The first model has now been completed to the primer stage, with detailing added from Grandt Line bolt heads and Chivers (4mm scale) axleboxes added to a Peco 15ft chassis. Inside, the seats are currently only placed in position to aid future painting.

However, painting both these models will now be left to someone else, as I have opted to let them go in the near future as surplus to requirements... 

Colin

A Cunning Plan - Part 2 - Flat In/Flat Out

As indicated in the previous post, the Heywood flat wagon would spend it's time hidden behind a fence, regular readers may have guessed that the destination would be the right-angle siding on 'Odsock Corner'. In position the axleboxes are barely visible from the main viewing side and hidden behind the sheeted object from the other side. At least I have the satisfaction the axlebox detail is mostly there...

The arrival of the Heywood wagon was proceeded by the removal of the propped-up, missing axle KB Scale skip frame, which gave way easily leaving no visible glue marks or damage. The Heywood wagon is secured in place using wire wound around the axles, twisted, threaded through holes drilled in the board and held tightly in place with the insides of chocolate block connectors. A three-handed job of course! Some cast whitemetal flower pots and a twist of wire have been placed on top to break up the open space.

The skip frame has moved on to the cunning plan, part 2. It has now taken up residence at the end of the line on 'To The End', seamlessly blending into the junk pile 

Before being on 'Odsock Corner' the skip frame was resident on 'The Headshunt'. There is still a space to fill there which will be the next task...

Colin

A Cunning Plan - Part 1 - The Heywood Flat

"I have a cunning plan..." or words to that effect, muttered only to myself but possibly broadcast on the NGRM Online forum a couple of months ago. The plan directly affects both 'Odsock Corner' and 'To The End' but starts in the acquired box of Owen Ryder O9 bits with a wagon floor casting.

I didn't need an operational wagon but one that would look good hidden behind a fence (more about where in another instalment), so not having the correct axleboxes wouldn't be an issue. The top of the casting had the plank lines re-scribed using a Olfa-style cutter which made for a very neat finish once painted. Owen's coupling castings add some much needed detail. However, what lies underneath is a very different story...

A scrap Farish brakevan chassis was hacked into bits to provide some running gear. Too much hacking in fact as one W-iron actually fell off and had to be surgically reattached. This prompted me to add Heywood style suspension, much modified 3D prints from the same friend as those on the brake van. These actually had no axlebox so the original was covered with styrene strip. The original W-irons hang below the cosmetic ones, but the fence will hide a lot!

Painting was the usual black-grey wash, followed by weathered wood effects on the planking and Vallejo 'Leather Brown' as the main colour, with metalwork in black-grey. Enough weathering has been applied to give a work-a-day look ready to be placed in it's new home. It is sitting on a set of Matheson 7mm diameter wheels that had developed a bit of a wobble, ideal for a non-runner!

More soon.

Colin

Heywood Brake Van - The Paintshop

I'm pleased to report that the Heywood brake van is now complete, painted and ready for service...

Now you may be thinking that we have missed a stage somewhere as last time it appeared on the blog it was still in raw materials, and you would be right, This is the missing photo of the primed model, as always the coat of primer has brought the various elements of the build together as one, I was very happy with the finish and the way the parts sit together, my careful attention to any gaps seeming to have paid off. 

Painting started with a wash of black-grey to get in all the plank lines and corners, an under-shade so to speak. Vallejo 'Flat Earth' was used as the main colour for all the woodwork, dry-brushed as far as possible to leave the shading in the recesses. The shade of the 'Flat Earth' was varied for a light second coat, lighter on the interior and darker on the exterior, just to add variety. Metalwork was finished in black-grey with a dry-brushing of gunmetal grey and the roof in a mid grey. The plate on the bodyside was painted black with the lettering dry-brushed off-white, using an improvised mask made using a hole punch and a post-it note!

After a coat of Humbrol acrylic matt varnish from an aerosol, the painting stage was complete and I am pleased that the joins in the roof have all-but disappeared, only visible if the light hits at the wrong angle! Couplings are Greenwich for use on 'Odsock Corner' and to save building a new set, these were <ahem> "borrowed" from my recently built 8-seat coach, as was the passenger. A decision will be made about that vehicle soon...

More Heywood soon...

Colin

Denton Road - O9 at Kirklees

The annual Kirklees Light Railway gala weekend has rolled around again, this year's theme is milestones, with the 60-year old 'River Mite' and 50-year old 'Northern Rock' visiting from the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway. 

The Ratty was also represented in miniature by Daniel Winter's 'Denton Road', an O9 combination of elements from several railways. but with a strong Ratty theme to to the stock.

20 years ago I was building freelance O9 stock from bits of plastic kits and eventually evolving to scratchbuilding prototypical equipment. Daniel has embraced 3D printing to produce those components that are required over again, such as R&ER enclosed stock, but still scratchbuilds other items, including the Rivers Irt and Mite seen here with the proposed Greenly 0-8-4T single Fairlie.

There's even an Atlantic, which has prompted me to consider getting my long-stalled project out again (well, that and a visit to Rhyl during the summer...)

Not everything is unique to the layout - the Chivers Finelines open coach makes an appearance, one of the few commercial O9 items that represents true miniature railway practice. A reminder that if you wish to order one, they are only available directly from Chivers Finelines.

This was the first occasion that I have seen and had the chance to ride behind 'Northern Rock', a very impressive machine indeed, so much so that I had two rides up the hill behind her, I usually try and get an uphill ride behind all visiting locos but having ridden behind 'River Mite' before I made an exception, opting for a downhill run instead.

If you're reading this as soon as I post it, there is still a chance to see it all on Sunday 13th September!

Colin

Heywood Brake Van - The Roof

The roof of the Heywood brake van has been perhaps the most involved part of the project. The kit parts included only the main frame, I've no idea what was supplied with the kit originally for the main piece. The scrapbox revealed some 20 thou black styrene that I had already curved over a drinks can some time ago, and there was sufficient material to do the job twice, which turned out to be useful...

I had decided that the roof should be removable during the painting stages and as the frame piece really just balanced on the four pillars, I wanted some way of locating it at the final assembly stage. I opted to use some 3 x 1mm lengths of nickel silver etch fret attached to the inside of the pillars to achieve this, attached in place with superglue, 2mm on the pillar and 1mm above for the frame to locate to.

Corresponding strips of styrene on the inside edge of the roof locate it correctly fore and aft. The roof is the aforementioned styrene, which was glued to the frame with epoxy adhesive and clamped together until dry, helping to bring the material to the correct shape as it was a slightly tighter radius. When set it was trimmed to shape but the first attempt looked awful so it all came off for a fresh try with the remainder of the material. This was the result, and compared to the drawing that had kindly been provided by David John of 'Rhyd' fame, it looked wrong...

The drawing, and re-inspection of photos, revealed  that the roof frame should be wider than the sides of the vehicle, so I set about widening the roof. Had I not used the rest of the black styrene I might have started over again, but I set out to recover what was there. 40 x 60 thou styrene strips were added either side of the frame and once the glue was set they were sanded to be vertical with the vehicle sides. This reduction in width was sufficient to allow 15 x 30 thou strips to be added as extensions of the roof giving a neat overhang. The ends were treated to 15 x 20 thou strips to create a more consistent overhang once sanded gently back once the glue was dry. Milliput was used to fill all gaps and once sanded smooth the new roofline is shown below.

As an extra stage the roof has subsequently been sprayed with filler primer and smoothed out again to ensure there are no tell-tale marks for the joins. 

A good clean-up and the paintshop beckons!

Colin