Highland Railway No.8

HR No.8 Ben Clebrig;  Drummond II livery 1902-1912

 Crew from the "Heroes of the Footplate" range of 1:43 figures

HR No.8 in ex-works condition

Phoenix P 727 paint has not reproduced well photographically.

I've been putting the finishing touches to Ben Clebrig for some time now, just adding a detail now and then when I've had a spare moment and now at last she's complete; the crew were painted ages ago, they've been waiting idly about for me to get on with the job and now at last they're in the cab and ready for a run. But they'll have to wait until I take the Ben up to Carlisle to a CD0GG running day towards the end of the month. I added a good deal of weight to the engine during her running trials on the test track and I think she'll pull a respectable load now. I'm told that the next running day will feature a "timetable"! No doubt this intimidation has rules and regulations and possibly the CD0GG police to enforce them! The Wee Ben performs well on the test track here in the studio, so I've great expectations that she'll hold her own when pitted against that timetable!

A new Loco project.

Lochgorm Tank... first moves.

My new loco project is a scratch built Highland Railway 0-6-0 Lochgorm Tank. There were three of these engines and the one I've chosen to model is HR57, built at the HR's Lochgorm Works in 1872. The engine was rebuilt in 1897 and it is in this condition that I'll build her. There are a good many castings available from LGM for the engine to help the build along. The essential boiler fittings are available including a "Stroudley chimney" which, with a little modification, should prove acceptable.
I'm using a split-axle pick up system on the outer axles which run in sprung brass hornblocks in Slater's insulated hornguides. The centre driving axle is solid and pick up from the centre wheels will be arranged later if necessary.
The centre wheels of HR57 after the rebuild were "solid" which is a problem that needs to be addressed at a very early stage; I think the solution may be to commission an etching to go over the spokes which will need to be reduced in depth a little for the etched part to fit over them. Well, that's my thinking at the moment... I'll work on it.