It also marks a year since my 009 project started in earnest, with the "well directed" gift of the Peco V-skips, and the purchase the previous day of a Wills 'Station Garage' kit at the Newark exhibition. I gave myself a year to get the project to a satisfactory point and that point has now been reached.
Ironically, those Peco V-skips are still box fresh whilst the Wills garage kit was transformed into the buildings seen above. The focus is now on getting the motive power and rolling stock up the scratch to match the scenic work, and hereby hangs my current dilemma...
In a fit of temptation I bought a MiniTrains Bagnall wing tank at a favourable price and whilst a beautiful runner it didn't really fit my intention of the skips being pulled by an authentic looking internal combustion locomotive! That need may well be met a 3D printed Ruston destined for a Tomytec drive unit. Experimentation shows it is (just) possible to cram enough weight in there to make it run well and a degree of subterfuge employed to hide the lack of cab interior detail and motor occupying part of the space.
This is a milestone model in itself as it is my first 3D printed item as I have always been very cautious about this technique until now. So far I'm impressed and there was something for a future O9 model in the package too...
Colin